PAC 09-09 Certain asphalt facilities opting out of MTSA

Asphalt facilities seeking to waive the requirements of MTSA need to direct the letter to the COTP, not the Commandant (CG-54), as the document seems to indicate. In speaking with Coast Guard personnel across Districts, there is a possibility that there may be some variety of interpretation of the qualifying conditions, which are:

1. The facility stores less than 42,000 aggregate gallons of any other 33 CFR 154
cargoes.
2. The facility receives no vessels subject to SOLAS.
3. The facility receives no foreign flagged vessels.
4. The facility receives no passenger vessels.
5. The facility is not regulated under another applicability factor.

One approach in writing the request for waiver is to ensure that each of these five qualifying conditions is listed and underneath each, briefly describe how the facility meets the condition. Even if all the qualifying conditions are not met at the facility (example, receives foreign-flagged vessels; has a storage of more than 42,000 gallons of another substance regulated under 154), the facility may still request a waiver.

The Policy Advisory Council document describes the reasoning behind allowing the facilities to opt out of MTSA, based largely on the properties of the cargo. The risk introduced into the situation by the presence of the vessel is not similarly addressed.