Sponsor
Mike Lee
Senator · R-UT
Senator · R-UT
The bill speeds credentialing for maritime workers and clarifies dredged-material rules to reduce ambiguity, but it may weaken a fitness/safety screening and create temporary regulatory uncertainty around dredged material oversight.
Maritime transportation workers: the Coast Guard can issue certificates and endorsements without delay when applicants otherwise meet eligibility despite section 12112(a)(2), speeding credentialing and reducing staffing bottlenecks for vessels.
Transportation workers and federal employees: clarifying that removal of dredged material is excluded from section 55110 reduces ambiguity about which materials are covered, simplifying enforcement and compliance for dredging and navigation activities.
Maritime transportation workers, vessel crews, and passengers: removing the section 12112(a)(2) requirement for some applicants could lessen a safety or fitness check that helps protect vessel safety, potentially increasing safety risks.
Operators who handle dredged material and maritime transportation workers: excluding dredged material from section 55110 may create regulatory gaps or shift oversight to other statutes, causing temporary uncertainty and added compliance complexity.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Clarifies certificate/endorsement eligibility for exempt persons/vessels and removes dredged material from one maritime provision's coverage.
Official title: Eliminate certain requirements with respect to dredging and dredged material, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 11, 2026 by Mike Lee · Last progress June 11, 2026
Makes small edits to U.S. maritime law governing certificates/endorsements and the statutory coverage of a section dealing with port materials. It clarifies eligibility language so persons or vessels described as exempt or meeting other criteria are explicitly eligible for a certificate and endorsement without regard to a specific prior requirement, and it removes the phrase "or dredged material" from another maritime provision so that dredged material is no longer covered by that provision.