of Shipping. This Title will also ensure that appeals and waivers are decided by trained marine safety professionals. Title X transfers the appeals of suspension and revocation decisions to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Mariners who are unsafe should not be on our nation's waterways, but fair treatment must be assured to all individuals in any legal proceeding. The transfer of the Coast Guard's ALJ function to the NTSB will avoid even the potential appearance of unfairness. Title V sets as a national goal the elimination of the discharge of invasive species from ballast water by January 1, 2015. Beginning on January 1, 2009, all ships must install ballast water treatment equipment that meets the standard of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The U.S. standard will then be increased after that initial implementation date as treatment system technologies improve so that by 2012, ships must install a treatment system that meets a federal standard 100 times higher than the IMO standard. Additional provisions in H.R. 2830 make policy changes specifically intended to address some of the problems that mariners have brought to the Subcommittee's attention. Section 719 requires that maritime facilities must provide seamen and representatives of seamen's welfare and union organizations with access to vessels in a timely matter at no cost to these individuals. Section 715 will allow individuals applying for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) to have their fingerprints taken at any facility that currently records fingerprints for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), rather than restricting fingerprints to be taken only at a TWIC enrollment center. An amendment added during floor consideration of the bill will allow DHS to use a secondary authentication system to issue TWIC cards to workers whose fingerprints cannot be read. Another
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amendment adopted during debate requires DHS to assess the adequacy of current TWIC enrollment services, including assessing expanded service hours at enrollment centers. We now await action by the Senate on a Coast Guard Authorization Act, and I will look forward to working with my colleagues to craft a final Act that can be sent to the President.
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