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a commitment to achieving audit- ed compliance with the Responsible Carrier Program a condition of membership in AWO. From now on, any company that joins AWO will pledge its commit- ment to implementing the RCP and to undergoing a third-party audit within two years. AWO is convinced this trend toward industry standard-setting offers real opportunities both for the maritime industry and also for those who regulate it. We do not expect industry standards to elim- inate the need to ensure that an adequate regulatory floor remains in place. However, we do see real opportunities to use industry stan- dards as a supplement to, or a sub- stitute for, additional governmen- tal regulation in the future. Industry standard-setting initia- tives like the AWO Responsible Carrier Program, and its external counterpart, the USCG-AWO Safety Partnership, offer a mean- ingful way to leverage government and industry resources in support of improved safety and environ- mental protection. USCG Rear Admiral Robert C. North, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environmental Protection, has talked on more than one occasion about the need to focus collective attention on "best investments" - those areas where everyone's energies will yield the greatest marine safety bang for the buck. AWO believes the trend toward industry stan- dard-setting offers an unprece- dented opportunity to target USCG regulatory and enforcement resources where those scarce resources are most needed, while at the same time encouraging responsible operators to go beyond simple compliance with the rules to exceed the regulatory floor. Criminal Liability The second issue about which AWO's members also feel strongly is the use of strict liability statutes to prosecute companies and corpo- rate officers for oil spills. This practice is undermining the objec- tives of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), which AWO believes should be the exclusive vehicle for civil and criminal penalties for oil pollution. Recent occurrences involving criminal enforcement of obscure environ- mental laws, such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Refuse Act, have sparked consider- able concern in the industry regarding a new emphasis on crim- inal prosecution at the expense of cooperative efforts to respond to accidents and, more importantly, to prevent them before they occur. AWO members are certainly not suggesting the USCG does not have the right and the responsibil- ity to vigorously pursue and help prosecute those operators who flout the law or conduct negligent operations. The cause for real con- cern is the prospect of responsible companies being put in a position We'd like to make one thing perfectly clear... you're fresh water supply. MATRIX 3295 S.W. 11th Avenue - Fort Lauderdale - Florida 33315 - U.S.A. D E s A L I N A T i o N, I N c. Ph: (305) 524-5120 - Fax: (305) 524-5216 Wherever and whenever clean pure water is a necessity, Matrix Desalination, Inc. provides it. Over and over again, our reverse osmosis watermakers have proven themselves to not only give you the freshest water available, but in the quantities you demand. So whatever your freshwater requirements may be, consult the authorities at Matrix. Silver Series Group - 350 - 20,000 Gallons per day. Component or Cabinet. R/O Systems... packaged R/O units in light, medium and heavy duty designs from 100 to 20,000 gallons per day. Custom designed R/O plants are available up to 3,000,000 gallons per day. Parts... for all types of water systems and pumps including hard to find items. Service... engineers available 24 hours a day for servicing of all brands of R/O units, pumps, etc. flagShip Ship design software for the professional/"1 Proteus Engineering 345 Pier One Road Stevensville, MD 21666 USA tel +(410) 643-7496 fax +(410) 643-7535 email: flagship@atinc.com www.access.digex.net/-proteus Circle 297 on Reader Service Card DISTRIBUTORS AND MANUFACTURERS OF COMMERCIAL NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT FEATURING A FULL LINE OF GYROCOMPASS AUTOPILOTS AND SPEEDLOGS HULLFORM DESIGN STRUCTURAL DESIGN STABILITY/HYDROSTATICS RESISTANCE/POWERING OSI@OSL.COM HTTP://WWW.OSL.COM Data Courtesy of Rodriguez Engineering, CALL TODAY TO LEARN HOW FLAGSHIP CAN IMPROVE YOUR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION ^^^ PROCESS. p3l PROTEUS off/hore /y/tem; international, ine 5013 PACIFIC HIGHWAY EAST, SUITE #16 FIFE, WA 98424 USA 253 926 8711 FAX: 253 926 8779 October, 1998 79 Circle 362 on Reader Service Card Circle 235 on Reader Service Card