[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3331 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3331
To amend title 46, United States Code, with respect to merchant mariner
credential examination working groups, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 13, 2025
Mr. Carbajal (for himself and Mr. Ezell) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 46, United States Code, with respect to merchant mariner
credential examination working groups, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Mariner Exam Modernization Act''.
SEC. 2. EXAMINATIONS FOR MERCHANT MARINER CREDENTIALS.
Section 7510 of title 46, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)--
(A) in the subsection heading by striking ``Exam
Review'' and inserting ``Working Group'';
(B) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``90 days'' and inserting
``180 days'';
(ii) by striking ``Coast Guard
Authorization Act of 2016'' and insert
``Mariner Exam Modernization Act'';
(iii) by striking ``new questions for
inclusion in'' and inserting ``questions,
content, and relevancy of'';
(iv) by redesignating subparagraphs (E),
(F), and (G) as subparagraphs (F), (G), and
(H), respectively; and
(v) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the
following:
``(E) at least 2 individuals that have taken and
passed the examination in the 5 years before the
commissioning of the working group;'';
(C) in paragraph (4)--
(i) in the paragraph heading by striking
``Baseline review'' and inserting ``Review'';
(ii) in subparagraph (A)--
(I) by striking ``Within 1 year''
and inserting ``Not later than 270
days'';
(II) by striking ``Coast Guard
Authorization Act of 2016'' and
inserting ``Mariner Exam Modernization
Act'';
(III) by striking ``Secretary'' and
inserting ``Commandant'';
(IV) by redesignating clauses (i),
(ii), (iii), and (iv) as clauses (ii),
(iii), (iv), and (vii), respectively;
(V) in clause (iv), as so
redesignated, by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(VI) by inserting before clause
(ii) the following:
``(i) industry standards, practices, and
technology to be considered in the Merchant
Mariner Credentialing Examination;''; and
(VII) by inserting after clause
(iv) the following:
``(v) the relevancy of examination topics
and contents;
``(vi) any redundancy of core competencies
between the Merchant Mariner Credentialing
Examination and Standards of Training,
Certification, and Watchingkeeping
competencies; and'';
(iii) by striking subparagraph (B) and
inserting the following:
``(B) Report to commandant.--Upon completion of the
review under this paragraph, a report shall be provided
to the Commandant which shall include findings of the
review with recommendations for updates to the Merchant
Marine Credentialling Examination.'';
(D) by striking paragraphs (3), (5), and (8);
(E) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (9) as
paragraphs (5) and (8), respectively; and
(F) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Meeting of working group.--
``(A) In general.--The Commandant shall convene the
working group annually or at the creation of new
examination questions, whichever occurs sooner.
``(B) Remote participation.--The Commandant shall
allow any member of the working group to participate
remotely if the member of the working group does not
have the means to participate in person.
``(4) Use of questions.--The Commandant may not use
questions developed for use in the Merchant Mariner
Credentialing Examination until such questions are reviewed and
approved by the working group.'';
(2) by redsignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
(3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
``(d) Plan.--
``(1) Requirement.--Not later than 270 days after the
completion of the review under paragraph (4) of subsection (c),
the Commandant shall develop a plan to update and modernize the
Merchant Mariner Credentialing Examination and implement the
recommendations developed by the review under such paragraph.
``(2) Contents.--The plan developed under paragraph (1)
shall include--
``(A) the elimination or updating of outdated
topics, contents, core competencies, or questions
covered by the Merchant Mariner Credentialing
Examination;
``(B) the modernization of testing procedures
consistent with contemporary procedures for
standardized testing administration and evaluation; and
``(C) the development of methods to collect
examination data on pass and fail rates for questions
and the overall examination for future analysis and
comparison uses.
``(3) Coordination.--In developing the plan under paragraph
(1), the Commandant shall develop such plan in consultation
with the working group and individuals with expertise in modern
best practices for relevant standardized testing.
``(4) Briefing required.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of the Mariner Exam Modernization Act, the
Coast Guard shall provide to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate a briefing on the review and plan developed under this
subsection.''.
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