§3824 Process for considering additional controls

Summary

Lets the Administrator join the Convention’s Article 7 technical group and other groups that look at new or extra controls on antifouling systems. The Administrator can check whether an antifouling system harms other sea life or people enough to deserve changing Annex 1. The Administrator can also study the environmental, technical, and economic facts needed to judge any proposed controls, including benefits from making and using the system in the United States and elsewhere, and then make recommendations based on that study. When an antifouling system is sent to the Article 7 technical group, the Secretary of State must hold a public meeting of the Shipping Coordinating Committee to collect information and comments. The meeting must be announced in the Federal Register and on the State Department’s website. The Administrator must keep a public file (a docket) with the meeting notice, comments, minutes, and materials. Any report from the technical group must be put in that docket quickly and announced in the Federal Register. The public must have at least 30 days to comment after that announcement, and the Administrator must try to use those comments when making recommendations.