OIL FUEL TANK PROTECTION.

SEC. 612. OIL FUEL TANK PROTECTION. Section 3306 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:“(k)(1) Each vessel of the United States that is constructed under a contract entered into after the date of enactment of the Maritime Safety Act of 2010, or that is delivered after January 1, 2011, with an aggregate capacity of 600 cubic meters or more of oil fuel, shall comply with the requirements of Regulation 12A under Annex I to the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, entitled ‘Oil Fuel Tank Protection’.“(2) The Secretary may prescribe regulations to apply the requirements described in Regulation 12A to vessels described in paragraph (1) that are not otherwise subject to that convention. Any such regulation shall be considered to be an interpretive rule for the purposes of section 553 of title 5.“(3) In this subsection the term ‘oil fuel’ means any oil used as fuel in connection with the propulsion and auxiliary machinery of the vessel in which such oil is carried.”.