§12117 Oil Spill Response Vessels

Summary

A vessel can get a coastwise endorsement if it meets all the usual endorsement rules except the normal ownership rule, and these extra things are true. The vessel must be owned by a nonprofit oil spill response cooperative or by members who dedicate the vessel to the cooperative, at least 50 percent must be owned by the people or groups listed in section 12103(b), and the vessel must only be used to put out or move oil spills in U.S. waters or the exclusive economic zone or to run training for those spill responses. If a vessel meets those conditions, the law treats it as owned only by U.S. citizens under sections 12103, 12132, and 50501.