Title 09 — Subtitle 26. Board of Pilots

Regular meetings of the Board shall be held quarterly at a time and date set by the Board.

Special Meetings.

The pilot members and a consumer member of the Board shall constitute the Qualification Committee.

The Qualification Committee may evaluate and conduct the actual observation of demonstrated performance required for licensure as a pilot under any kind of license at the direction of the Board and report its recommendations to the Board.

The Qualification Committee may develop model training programs for Board approval designed for apprentices and pilots with limited licenses in order to acquire sufficient ability, skill, and experience required for licensure under any kind of license.

The Chairman shall appoint one pilot member and one industry member to constitute the Incident Committee.

The Incident Committee shall:

Before making a recommendation on a complaint or an incident, the Incident Committee may request that the Department perform an investigation to obtain additional information. After receipt of this information, the Committee shall make the recommendation to the full Board.

A complaint against a licensed pilot may be filed by a member of the Board or by any other person.

A complaint shall be in writing and shall state specifically the facts on which the complaint is based.

The complaint shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Board, who shall assign it a tracking number and refer it to the Incident Committee.

The Incident Committee shall:

The Board shall review the recommendation of the Incident Committee at its next meeting.

When it is necessary for reasons of safe, efficient, or reliable pilotage that a pilot be relieved of his duties, the pilot so requesting shall arrange in a timely fashion for a relief pilot to be transferred aboard the vessel at an appropriate transfer point.

The provisions of this regulation are effective as long as the Public Service Commission provides a tariff for rates and charges applicable to a relief pilot requested under the circumstances in this regulation.

If an applicant or licensee receives from the Board a written communication requesting a response, the applicant or licensee shall respond within 30 days of the date of mailing.

The Board shall send a written communication by first class mail to the last known address furnished to the Board by an applicant or licensee.

It is a responsibility of an applicant or licensee to notify the Board in writing if there has been a change in applicant’s or licensee’s address.

Failure to respond as required by this regulation may be considered by the Board to be a violation of Business Occupations and Professions Article, §11-409, Annotated Code of Maryland.

If the Board determines that it is necessary for the protection of the commercial interest of the State, the Board may appoint any number of qualified applicants to be pilots-in-training.

In evaluating the commercial interest of the State, the Board may consider the State's interest in the availability of efficient, safe, and reliable pilotage services.

An applicant meeting the qualifications of the Business Occupations and Professions Article, §11-303, Annotated Code of Maryland, shall complete an application form approved by the Board.

In addition to the application form, an applicant shall submit:

If an applicant fails to comply with these regulations, the applicant may not be eligible for selection as a pilot-in-training.

The Board shall maintain a list of qualified applicants from which candidates shall be selected when the Board determines that apprentice pilots are required under Regulation .01 of this chapter.

To compile the list of qualified applicants, the Board:

Selection from the List.

Maintenance of the List.

An applicant selected under §F of this regulation shall pass an additional physical examination, as required by the Board, before the applicant may be appointed a pilot-in-training.

A pilot-in-training shall serve under the supervision of unlimited licensed pilots for at least 2 years after the appointment of the pilot-in-training before being licensed as a limited licensed pilot.

Before an eligible pilot-in-training may be licensed as a limited licensed pilot, the pilot-in-training shall:

In evaluating the ability, skill, and experience of a pilot-in-training, the Board shall consider the following:

A limited licensed pilot holding a license to pilot vessels not exceeding 32 feet draft may apply for a license to pilot vessels not exceeding 36 feet draft.

A limited licensed pilot holding a license to pilot vessels not exceeding 36 feet draft may apply for a license to pilot vessels not exceeding 40 feet draft.

Before a limited licensed pilot under §§A and B of this regulation may be granted a raise in grade license, the limited licensed pilot shall:

In evaluating the ability, skill, and experience of a limited licensed pilot, the Board shall consider the following:

A limited licensed pilot shall serve for at least 3 years after being licensed before being licensed as an unlimited licensed pilot.

Before an eligible limited licensed pilot may be licensed as an unlimited licensed pilot, the limited licensed pilot shall:

In evaluating the ability, skill, and experience of a limited licensed pilot, the Board shall consider the following:

An application filed under this regulation may be treated as an application filed under Regulation .04 of this chapter in the discretion of the Board.

Once every 5 years, a licensed pilot shall satisfactorily complete a course approved by the Board or a course offered at an institute approved by the Board in each of the following subject areas:

At the request of a pilot, the Board may give the pilot an additional year beyond the normal 5-year time period on one continuing education cycle to extend the renewal date of the ARPA or ROR so that the dates are coincident for the purposes of federal licensing requirements.

A licensed pilot who completed a required course while a pilot-in-training shall complete the course again within 5 years of the prior course completion and every 5 years thereafter.

A licensee shall provide the Board with satisfactory evidence of completion of the continuing education requirements either through electronic completion notices provided directly to the Board by the course provider or through other documentation from the course provider that is acceptable to the Board.

The documentation shall be submitted within 30 days of the completion of the course.

The Board at its discretion may audit up to 10 percent of randomly selected licensees to ascertain compliance with the continuing education requirements.

Licensees who are audited shall provide any additional documentation required by the Board to complete the audit.

Each licensed pilot shall maintain an active United States Coast Guard license.

A licensed pilot shall give the Board immediate notice of any lapse in the pilot's United States Coast Guard license.

If the lapse is the result of a delay that occurs in the United States Coast Guard renewal process, the pilot shall be permitted to continue piloting pending re-issuance of the license upon a showing by the pilot to the Board that:

All contested case hearings before the Board shall be governed by COMAR 09.01.02.

All contested case hearings delegated to the Office of Administrative Hearings shall be governed by COMAR 09.01.03.

The Chairman shall appoint one consumer member, one member representing the steamship industry, and one pilot member to serve on the Committee on Work Rules.

The Association shall submit to the Committee all proposed changes in the Association's work rules that affect pilot list administration, appointments, assignment intervals, or relief pilots.

The Committee may meet in person or through a conference call to consider and discuss whether any of the proposed changes affect safe operations of vessels by Maryland pilots and, if so, what action should be taken on them.

Within 15 days of the submission, the Committee shall notify the Association whether it has determined that any of the proposed changes affect safe operations of vessels by Maryland pilots, and if so, whether those changes have been preliminarily approved or have been referred to the full Board for its consideration.

The Association may immediately implement the changes which have been preliminarily approved, subject to the Board's subsequent review.

The Committee shall promptly report to the Board on the changes in the work rules that it has:

The Board shall consider the proposed changes referred to it by the Committee, as well as those changes preliminarily approved by the Committee, at its next scheduled business meeting.

Work rule changes approved by the Board under §G of this regulation shall go into effect immediately upon approval, unless the work rule change specifies a different date.

Work rule changes that had been implemented as a result of preliminary approval by the Committee and that have been subsequently disapproved by the Board shall be discontinued at the earliest possible time after the Board's action.

The Committee and the Board may not take a position on proposed changes that the Committee determines do not affect safe operations of vessels by Maryland pilots.

Successful performance of a minimum of 200 berthings, unberthings, or shifts under the supervision of a pilot who held a docking master license before October 1, 2004, or who is qualified under this chapter;

The recommendation of the Association that the pilot be permitted to receive pilotage assignments that include the berthing and unberthing of vessels with tug assistance and the shifting of vessels within a port with tug assistance; and

Sufficient ability, skill, and experience in the berthing and unberthing of vessels with tug assistance and the shifting of vessels within a port with tug assistance as demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Board by actual observation of performance.