WASHINGTON – U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Steven Cantrell testified Wednesday on the Coast Guard's Fiscal Year 2016 budget request before the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

Zukunft led his testimony by sharing his perspectives on the increasing demands the service is facing as four strategic trends converge on the Coast Guard in unprecedented ways. Those include combating transnational organized crime networks and securing our borders, safeguarding commerce, enhancing cybersecurity and adapting in the polar regions.

Zukunft stated that his highest investment priority is recapitalizing the aging Medium Endurance Cutter fleet with the Offshore Patrol Cutter. In 2014, four 210-foot cutters were sent to costly emergency dry dock where they lost 20 percent of their planned cutter underway days due to unscheduled maintenance.

"The Offshore Patrol Cutter will be the backbone of Coast Guard offshore presence and the manifestation of our at-sea authorities," said Zukunft. "The Offshore Patrol Cutter is essential to stopping smugglers at sea, interdicting undocumented migrants, rescuing people, enforcing fisheries laws, responding to disasters and protecting our ports."

Cantrell testified on the importance of recapitalization efforts to the 88,000 men and women of the Coast Guard's workforce of active duty servicemembers and reservists, civilian employees and volunteer auxiliarists.

"We are doing all we can do to be good stewards of our aging resources and limited funding while we tend to the needs of our servicemembers and their families, who make so many other sacrifices," said Cantrell. "We ask so much of our well-educated, innovative and professional workforce, some of which are serving on assets older than their parents...and supported by infrastructure that's older than their grandparents."

In addition to investments in the Offshore Patrol Cutter, the Fiscal Year 2016 budget preserves Coast Guard operations, invests in Coast Guard people and continues recapitalization efforts for cutters, boats, aircraft, systems and infrastructure.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Coast Guard Friday announced the publication of the final rule on Vessel Requirements for Notices of Arrival and Departure and Automatic Identification Systems.

This final rule amends the applicability of notice of arrival requirements to include additional vessels, sets forth a mandatory method for electronic submission of NOAs and modifies related reporting content, timeframes and procedures.

Additionally, the final rule extends applicability of AIS requirements beyond Vessel Traffic Service areas to all U.S. navigable waters and requires that additional commercial vessels install and use AIS.

These changes will improve navigation safety, enhance the Coast Guard's ability to identify and track vessels, and heighten overall maritime domain awareness, thus helping the Coast Guard address threats to maritime transportation safety and security.

The final rule takes effect March 2, 2015. Exceptions to this are amendments to 33 CFR part 160, which become effective April 30, 2015, and sections 160.204(a)(5)(vii), 160.205, 160.208 and 164.46(b) and (c), which contain collection-of-information requirements that have not yet been approved by the Office of Management and Budget. The Coast Guard will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of these four collection-of-information-related sections.

To read the final rule, go to http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-01-30/pdf/2015-01331.pdf.