MTSA


FACILITIES

The Facility Security Rule applies to:
  • Facilities that receive explosives, liquefied natural or hazardous gas, or oil and other hazardous materials in bulk);
  • Transfer oil or hazardous materials;
  • Facilities that receive vessels certified to carry more than 150 passengers, if passengers embark or disembark at the facility;
  • Facilities that receive foreign cargo vessels greater than 100 gross register tons;
  • Facilities that receive vessels subject to SOLAS; or
  • Barge fleeting facilities that receive barges carrying, in bulk, cargoes regulated by 46 CFR Chapter I, subchapters D or O, or Certain Dangerous Cargoes (CDCs).
MTSA compliance is performance-based, and the terms of individual Facility Security Plans (FSPs) are therefore left up to the owners and operators of each regulated facility. However, the Coast Guard must ultimately approve the plan. In general, each FSP must:
  • Designate a Facility Security Officer in charge of implementing the FSP;
  • Describe how security measures will be implemented to ensure physical, passenger, cargo, and personnel security;
  • Identify the availability of security measures that increase in conjunction with increases in the Coast Guard’s MARSEC Level (i.e., with increases in national terrorism threat levels); and
  • Be updated at least every 5 years.
In May 2004, the Coast Guard issued NVIC 03-03: Implementation Guidance for the Regulations Mandated by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) for Facilities. The NVIC was later amended.