Guidance Questions and Answers Concerning 49 CFR Part 39, ADA Rules Concerning Passenger Vessels

39.9

QUESTION: HOW WILL THE DEPARTMENT IMPLEMENT THE CONFLICT OF LAW WAIVER REQUEST PROVISIONS OF PART 39?

ANSWER:

*Under section 39.9, a PVO may apply for a conflict of law waiver if the legal requirement of a foreign government to which the PVO is subject creates a conflict with the requirements of the Department’s rule.

*To be considered a conflict under this section, the foreign provision must be legally mandatory (e.g., a statute or a rule) rather than guidance or a recommendation. It must explicitly prohibit something that Part 39 requires or explicitly require something that Part 39 prohibits.

*The Department would consider, under this provision, conflicts arising from a binding treaty or international agreement as well as from the law of an individual foreign nation.

*The Department recognizes that new laws are enacted and that existing laws change. The Department would consider future conflict of law waiver requests based on new or changed foreign legal requirements.

*The Department has no objection to groups of PVOs submitting a joint conflict of law waiver request. For example, suppose six cruise lines are subject to a legal requirement of Country X. The six cruise lines, or a trade association representing them, could submit a single waiver request, rather than having to submit six individual requests. The Department’s response would apply to all six cruise lines.