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National
United States Regulations
46 CFR PART 525—MARINE TERMINAL OPERATOR SCHEDULES


Title 46: Shipping



PART 525—MARINE TERMINAL OPERATOR SCHEDULES


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Authority: 46 U.S.C. app. 1702, 1707, 1709, as amended by Pub. L. 105–258, 112 Stat. 1902, and Pub. L. 105–383, 112 Stat. 3411.

Source: 64 FR 9283, Feb. 25, 1999, unless otherwise noted.

§ 525.1 Purpose and scope.
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(a) Purpose. This part implements the Shipping Act of 1984, as amended by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 and the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998. The form and manner requirements of this part are necessary to enable the Commission to meet its responsibilities with regard to identifying and preventing unreasonable preference or prejudice and unjust discrimination pursuant to section 10 of the Act.

(b) Scope. This part sets forth the regulations for the publication of terminal schedules by marine terminal operators. Information made available under this part may be used to determine marine terminal operators' compliance with shipping statutes and regulations.

(c) Definitions. The following definitions apply to the regulations of this part:

(1) Act means the Shipping Act of 1984, as amended by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 and the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998.

(2) Bulk cargo means cargo that is loaded and carried in bulk without mark or count, in a loose unpackaged form, having homogenous characteristics. Bulk cargo loaded into intermodal equipment, except LASH or Seabee barges, is subject to mark and count and is, therefore, subject to the requirements of this part.

(3) Checking means the service of counting and checking cargo against appropriate documents for the account of the cargo or the vessel, or other person requesting same.

(4) Commission means the Federal Maritime Commission.

(5) Dockage means the charge assessed against a vessel for berthing at a wharf, pier, bulkhead structure, or bank or for mooring to a vessel so berthed.

(6) Effective date means the date a schedule or an element of a schedule becomes effective. Where there are multiple publications on the same day, the last schedule or element of a schedule published with the same effective date is the one effective for that day.

(7) Expiration date means the last day, after which the entire schedule or a single element of the schedule, is no longer in effect.

(8) Forest products means forest products including, but not limited to, lumber in bundles, rough timber, ties, poles, piling, laminated beams, bundled siding, bundled plywood, bundled core stock or veneers, bundled particle or fiber boards, bundled hardwood, wood pulp in rolls, wood pulp in unitized bales, paper and paper board in rolls or in pallet or skid-sized sheets, liquid or granular by-products derived from pulping and papermaking, and engineering wood products.

(9) Free time means the period specified in the terminal schedule during which cargo may occupy space assigned to it on terminal property, including off-dock facilities, free of wharf demurrage or terminal storage charges immediately prior to the loading or subsequent to the discharge of such cargo on or off the vessel.

(10) Handling means the service of physically moving cargo between point of rest and any place on the terminal facility, other than the end of ship's tackle.

(11) Heavy lift means the service of providing heavy lift cranes and equipment for lifting cargo.

(12) Loading and unloading means the service of loading or unloading cargo between any place on the terminal and railroad cars, trucks, lighters or barges or any other means of conveyance to or from the terminal facility.

(13) Marine terminal operator means a person engaged in the United States or a commonwealth, territory, or possession thereof, in the business of furnishing wharfage, dock, warehouse or other terminal facilities in connection with a common carrier, or in connection with a common carrier and a water carrier subject to Subchapter II of Chapter 135 of Title 49, United States Code. A marine terminal operator includes, but is not limited to, terminals owned or operated by states and their political subdivisions; railroads who perform port terminal services not covered by their line haul rates; common carriers who perform port terminal services; and warehousemen who operate port terminal facilities. For the purposes of this part, marine terminal operator includes conferences of marine terminal operators.

(14) Organization name means an entity's name on file with the Commission and for which the Commission assigns an organizational number.

(15) Person includes individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, companies, corporations, joint stock associations, trustees, receivers, agents, assignees and personal representatives.

(16) Rate means a price quoted in a schedule for providing a specified level of marine terminal service or facility for a stated cargo quantity, on and after a stated effective date or within a defined time frame.

(17) Schedule means a publication containing the actual rates, charges, classifications, regulations and practices of a marine terminal operator. The term “practices” refers to those usages, customs or modes of operation which in any way affect, determine or change the rates, charges or services provided by a marine terminal operator.

(18) Terminal facilities means one or more structures comprising a terminal unit, which include, but are not limited to, wharves, warehouses, covered and/or open storage spaces, cold storage plants, cranes, grain elevators and/or bulk cargo loading and/or unloading structures, landings, and receiving stations, used for the transmission, care and convenience of cargo and/or passengers in the interchange of same between land and water carriers or between two water carriers.

(19) Terminal services includes checking, dockage, free time, handling, heavy lift, loading and unloading, terminal storage, usage, wharfage, and wharf demurrage, as defined in this section. The definitions of terminal services set forth in this section shall be set forth in terminal schedules, except that other definitions of terminal services may be used if they are correlated by footnote, or other appropriate method, to the definitions set forth herein. Any additional services which are offered shall be listed and charges therefor shall be shown in the terminal schedule.

(20) Terminal storage means the service of providing warehouse or other terminal facilities for the storage of inbound or outbound cargo after the expiration of free time, including wharf storage, shipside storage, closed or covered storage, open or ground storage, bonded storage and refrigerated storage.

(21) Usage means the use of a terminal facility by any rail carrier, lighter operator, trucker, shipper or consignee, its agents, servants, and/or employees, when it performs its own car, lighter or truck loading or unloading, or the use of said facilities for any other gainful purpose for which a charge is not otherwise specified.

(22) Wharf demurrage means a charge assessed against cargo remaining in or on terminal facilities after the expiration of free time, unless arrangements have been made for storage.

(23) Wharfage means a charge assessed against the cargo or vessel on all cargo passing or conveyed over, onto, or under wharves or between vessels (to or from barge, lighter, or water), when berthed at wharf or when moored in slip adjacent to a wharf. Wharfage is solely the charge for use of a wharf and does not include charges for any other service.

§ 525.2 Terminal schedules.
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(a) Marine terminal operator schedules. A marine terminal operator, at its discretion, may make available to the public, subject to section 10(d) of the Act, a schedule of its rates, regulations, and practices.

(1) Limitations of liability. Any limitations of liability for cargo loss or damage pertaining to receiving, delivering, handling, or storing property at the marine terminal contained in a terminal schedule must be consistent with domestic law and international conventions and agreements adopted by the United States; such terminal schedules cannot contain provisions that exculpate or relieve marine terminal operators from liability for their own negligence, or that impose upon others the obligation to indemnify or hold-harmless the terminals from liability for their own negligence.

(2) Enforcement of terminal schedules. Any schedule that is made available to the public by the marine terminal operator shall be enforceable by an appropriate court as an implied contract between the marine terminal operator and the party receiving the services rendered by the marine terminal operator, without proof that such party has actual knowledge of the provisions of the applicable terminal schedule.

(3) Contracts for terminal services. If the marine terminal operator has an actual contract with a party covering the services rendered by the marine terminal operator to that party, an existing terminal schedule covering those same services shall not be enforceable as an implied contract.

(b) Cargo types not subject to this part. (1) Except as set forth in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, this part does not apply to bulk cargo, forest products, recycled metal scrap, new assembled motor vehicles, waste paper and paper waste in terminal schedules.

(2) Marine terminal operators which voluntarily make available terminal schedules covering any of the commodities identified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section thereby subject their services with respect to those commodities to the requirements of this part.

(c) Marine terminal operator agreements. The regulations relating to agreements to which a marine terminal operator is a party are located at part 535 of this chapter.

§ 525.3 Availability of marine terminal operator schedules.
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(a) Availability of terminal schedules—(1) Availability to the Commission. A complete and current set of terminal schedules used by a marine terminal operator, or to which it is a party, shall be maintained in its office(s) for a period of five (5) years, whether or not made available to the public, and shall promptly be made available to the Commission upon request.

(2) Availability to the public. Any terminal schedule that is made available to the public shall be available during normal business hours and in electronic form. The public may be assessed a reasonable nondiscriminatory charge for access to the terminal schedules; no charge will be assessed against the Commission.

(b) Access to electronically published schedules. Marine terminal operators shall provide access to their terminal schedules via a personal computer (PC) by:

(1) Dial-up connection via public switched telephone networks (PSTN); or

(2) The Internet (Web) by:

(i) Web browser; or

(ii) Telnet session.

(c) Dial-up connection via PSTN. (1) This connection option requires that terminal schedules provide:

(i) A minimum of a 14.4Kbps modem capable of receiving incoming calls,

(ii) Smart terminal capability for VT–100 terminal or terminal emulation access, and

(iii) Telephone line(s) quality for data transmission.

(2) The modem may be included in a collection (bank) of modems as long as all modems in the bank meet the minimum speed. Smart terminal emulation provides for features such as bold, blinking, underlining and positioning to specific locations on the display screen.

(d) Internet connection. (1) This connection option requires that systems provide:

(i) A universal resource locator (URL) Internet address (e.g., http://www.tariffsrus.com or http://1.2.3.4), and/or

(ii) A universal resource locator (URL) Internet address (e.g., telnet://tariffsrus or telnet://1.2.3.4), for Telnet session access over the Internet.

(2) Marine terminal operators shall ensure that their Internet service providers shall provide static Internet addresses.

(e) Commission access. Commission telecommunications access to systems must include connectivity via a dial-up connection over public switched telephone networks (PSTN) or a connection over the Internet. Connectivity will be provided at the expense of the publishers. Any recurring connection fees, hardware rental fees, usage fees or any other charges associated with the availability of the system are the responsibility of the publisher. The Commission shall only be responsible for the long-haul charges for PSTN calls to a terminal schedule initiated by the Commission.

(f) Notification. Each marine terminal operator shall notify the Commission's Bureau of Tariffs, Certification and Licensing (“BTCL”), prior to the commencement of marine terminal operations, of its organization name, organization number, home office address, name and telephone number of firm's representative, the location of its terminal schedule(s), and the publisher, if any, used to maintain its terminal schedule, by electronically submitting Form FMC–1 via the Commission's website at www.fmc.gov. Any changes to the above information shall be immediately transmitted to BTCL. The Commission will publish a list on its website of the location of any terminal schedule made available to the public.

(g) Form and manner. Each terminal schedule made available by a marine terminal operator shall contain an individual identification number, effective date, expiration date, if any, and the complete terminal schedule in full text and/or data format showing all its rates, charges, and regulations relating to or connected with the receiving, handling, storing, and/or delivering of property at its terminal facilities.

§ 525.4 OMB control number assigned pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act.
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The Commission has received Office of Management and Budget approval for this collection of information pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, as amended. In accordance with that Act, agencies are required to display a currently valid control number. In this regard, the valid control number for this collection of information is 3072–0061.