Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/2997

 124 STAT. 2971 PUBLIC LAW 111–281—OCT. 15, 2010 ‘‘§ 7106. Duration of licenses ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A license issued under this part is valid for a 5-year period and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods; except that the validity of a license issued to a radio officer is conditioned on the continuous possession by the holder of a first-class or second-class radiotelegraph operator license issued by the Federal Communications Commission. ‘‘(b) ADVANCE RENEWALS.—A renewed license issued under this part may be issued up to 8 months in advance but is not effective until the date that the previously issued license expires or until the completion of any active suspension or revocation of that pre- viously issued merchant mariner’s document, whichever is later.’’. (c) CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY.—Section 7107 of such title is amended to read as follows: ‘‘§ 7107. Duration of certificates of registry ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A certificate of registry issued under this part is valid for a 5-year period and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods; except that the validity of a certificate issued to a medical doctor or professional nurse is conditioned on the contin- uous possession by the holder of a license as a medical doctor or registered nurse, respectively, issued by a State. ‘‘(b) ADVANCE RENEWALS.—A renewed certificate of registry issued under this part may be issued up to 8 months in advance but is not effective until the date that the previously issued certifi- cate of registry expires or until the completion of any active suspen- sion or revocation of that previously issued merchant mariner’s document, whichever is later.’’. SEC. 615. AUTHORIZATION TO EXTEND THE DURATION OF LICENSES, CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY, AND MERCHANT MARINERS’ DOCUMENTS. (a) MERCHANT MARINER LICENSES AND DOCUMENTS.—Chapter 75 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘§ 7507. Authority to extend the duration of licenses, certifi- cates of registry, and merchant mariner documents ‘‘(a) LICENSES AND CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY.—Notwith- standing sections 7106 and 7107, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may— ‘‘(1) extend for not more than one year an expiring license or certificate of registry issued for an individual under chapter 73 if the Secretary determines that the extension is required to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate a backlog in processing applications for those licenses or certificates of registry or in response to a national emergency or natural disaster, as deemed necessary by the Secretary; or ‘‘(2) issue for not more than five years an expiring license or certificate of registry issued for an individual under chapter 73 for the exclusive purpose of aligning the expiration date of such license or certificate of registry with the expiration date of a merchant mariner’s document. ‘‘(b) MERCHANT MARINER DOCUMENTS.—Notwithstanding sec- tion 7302(g), the Secretary may— ‘‘(1) extend for not more than one year an expiring mer- chant mariner’s document issued for an individual under