14 U.S.C. § 911: Search and rescue center…

Summary

The Secretary must create, use, and keep up basic safety rules for all Coast Guard search and rescue centers. The rules must cover things like lighting, noise, and temperature; how many people work each shift (with seasonal changes allowed); how long someone may stand watch to avoid fatigue using the best science; scheduling and workload to reduce tiredness; stress management; equipment and facility design to cut down fatigue and help operations; and getting and keeping temporary communications gear. The Secretary can add other safety requirements as needed. Congress says the Secretary should try to limit duty or watch time to no more than 12 hours in any 24-hour period, except in emergencies or unexpected situations. A search and rescue center facility is a Coast Guard shore location that runs search-and-rescue coordination and communications watches.

Title 14, §911

Coast Guard, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary shall establish, implement, and maintain the minimum standards necessary for the safe operation of all Coast Guard search and rescue center facilities, including with respect to the following:

(1)The lighting, acoustics, and temperature in the facilities.

(2)The number of individuals on a shift in the facility assigned search and rescue responsibilities (including communications), which may be adjusted based on seasonal workload.

(3)The length of time an individual may serve on watch to minimize fatigue, based on the best scientific information available.

(4)The scheduling of individuals having search and rescue responsibilities to minimize fatigue of the individual when on duty in the facility.

(5)The workload of each individual engaged in search and rescue responsibilities in the facility.

(6)Stress management for the individuals assigned search and rescue responsibilities in the facilities.

(7)The design of equipment and facilities to minimize fatigue and enhance search and rescue operations.

(8)The acquisition and maintenance of interim search and rescue command center communications equipment.

(9)Any other requirements that the Secretary believes will increase the safe operation of the search and rescue centers.

(b)Sense of Congress.—

It is the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should establish, implement, and maintain minimum standards necessary to ensure that an individual on duty or watch in a Coast Guard search and rescue command center facility does not work more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period, except in an emergency or unforeseen circumstances.

(c)Definition.—

For the purposes of this section, the term “search and rescue center facility” means a Coast Guard shore facility that maintains a search and rescue mission coordination and communications watch.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–282 renumbered section 676 of this title as this section. 2010—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 111–207 struck out subsec. (d). Text read as follows: “The Secretary shall provide a quarterly written report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, describing the status of implementation of the standards described in subsection (b), including a list of the facilities at which such standards have or have not been implemented.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Prescription of Standards Pub. L. 107–295, title IV, § 405(b), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2116, provided that: “The Secretary shall prescribe the standards required under section 675(a) [probably means section 676(a), now 911(a)] of title 14, United States Code, as enacted by subsection (a) of this section, before January 1, 2003.”

§911 Search and Rescue Center Standards