# 20.102 Definitions.
*Administrative Law Judge or ALJ* means any person designated by the Commandant under paragraph 556(b)(3) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 556(b)(3)) to conduct hearings arising under 33 U.S.C. 1321(b); 42 U.S.C. 9609(b); or 46 U.S.C. Chapter 77.
*Chief Administrative Law Judge or Chief ALJ* means the Administrative Law Judge appointed as the Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Coast Guard by the Commandant.
*Class II Civil penalty proceeding* means a trial-type proceeding for the assessment of a civil penalty that affords an opportunity for an oral, fact-finding hearing before an ALJ.
*Coast Guard Representative* means an official of the Coast Guard designated to prosecute an administrative proceeding.
*Commandant* means the Commandant of the Coast Guard. It includes the Vice-Commandant of the Coast Guard acting on behalf of the Commandant in any matter.
*Complaint* means a document issued by a Coast Guard representative alleging a violation for which a penalty may be administratively assessed under 33 U.S.C. 1321(b) or 42 U.S.C. 9609(b), or a merchant mariner credential, mariner's license, certificate of registry, or document suspended or revoked under 46 U.S.C. 7703 or 7704.
*Credential* means any or all of the following:
(1) Merchant mariner's document.
(2) Merchant mariner's license.
(3) STCW endorsement.
(4) Certificate of registry.
(5) Merchant mariner credential.
*Hearing Docket Clerk* means an employee of the Office of the Chief ALJ who is responsible for receiving documents, determining their completeness and legibility, and distributing them to ALJs and others, as required by this part.
*Interested person* means a person who, as allowed in § 20.404, files written comments on a proposed assessment of a class II civil penalty or files written notice of intent to present evidence in any such hearing held on the proposed assessment.
*Mail* means first-class, certified, or registered matter sent by the Postal Service, or matter sent by an express-courier service.
*Merchant mariner credential or MMC* means the credential issued by the Coast Guard under 46 CFR part 10. It combines the individual merchant mariner's document, license, and certificate of registry enumerated in 46 U.S.C. subtitle II part E as well as the STCW endorsement into a single credential that serves as the mariner's qualification document, certificate of identification, and certificate of service.
*Motion* means a request for an order or ruling from an ALJ.
*Party* means a respondent or the Coast Guard.
*Person* means an individual, a partnership, a corporation, an association, a public or private organization, or a governmental agency.
*Personal delivery* means delivery by hand or in person, or through use of a contract service or an express-courier service. It does not include use of governmental interoffice mail.
*Pleading* means a complaint, an answer, and any amendment to such document permitted under this part.
*Respondent* means a person charged with a violation in a complaint issued under this part.
*Suspension and revocation proceeding* or *S&R proceeding* means a trial-type proceeding for the suspension or revocation of a merchant mariner's credential, license, certificate of registry, or document issued by the Coast Guard that affords an opportunity for an oral, fact-finding hearing before an ALJ.
[CGD 98-3472, 64 FR 28062, May 24, 1999, as amended by USCG-2006-24371, 74 FR 11211, Mar. 16, 2009]