119-hr3331

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3331 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

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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