The remaining information collected by this Web site is used by the NPFC to issue Certificates of Financial Responsibility (COFRs) and to confirm the COFR status of vessels seeking use of U.S. navigable waters in accordance with 33 CFR 138. Certain information is required in order to apply and pay for COFRs, as defined below. You may submit required information online via the E-COFR application on this site. Alternatively, if you prefer not to submit information online, you may print out and complete a hardcopy version of Form CG-5585, Application for Vessel Certification of Financial Responsibility (Water Pollution), or its equivalent and mail it to the NPFC. Submission of a COFR application, whether done electronically or on paper, conveys your consent for Government use of the submitted data, including posting of select information on its Vessel COFR Search database. Failure to submit required information via one of these means will prevent the issuance of the COFR(s). In accordance with regulatory requirements, the NPFC maintains an internal log of COFR transactions for seven (7) years.

Public Access to COFR Data. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the public can request certain information on COFR vessels. The NPFC provides the Vessel COFR Search function, available on its COFR Web site, to allow anyone read-only access to look up the following information on active COFRs:

• Vessel Name
• Vessel Type
• Gross Tonnage
• Flag
• COFR Number
• COFR Effective Date
• COFR Expiration Date
• COFR Applicant Name/Company
• VIN
• Insurance Cancellation Flag

Additional Dissemination of COFR Information. In addition, the NPFC may share this information and possibly additional data required in the COFR submission:

• With state and Federal port officials to confirm COFR status when you request access to U.S. navigable waters
• With your guarantor when it seeks confirmation of COFR information
• With a congressional office in response to an inquiry from a constituent, task force, or other source
• With appropriate Federal, state, local, or foreign agencies responsible for investigating or prosecuting the violation of or for enforcing or implementing a statute, rule, regulation, order, or license.

NPFC provides COFR applicants the option of applying and paying for COFRs online using the E-COFR and Online Enrollment functions on its COFR Web site. Because these services require the collection and transmittal of sensitive financial and other information, the NPFC has instituted a number of controls to safeguard your data.

E-COFR Data Collected. Use of the online application and payment system requires that you submit the following information electronically:

• E-COFR Applicant Name
• E-COFR Enrollment Signer Name/Title
• E-COFR User Email Address
• E-COFR User Enrollment Number
• Vessel Operator Name
• English Equivalent of Operator Name
• Operator Mailing Address
• Alternate Mailing Address
• Operator Phone Number
• Operator FAX Number
• Operator Country of Residence
• Nationality Where Operator is Incorporated
• Secondary Point of Contact Name
• Form of Organization
• Description of Business Activities
• Owner Name
• Owner Address
• Guaranty Information
• Evidence of Financial Responsibility
• Credit Card Holder Name
• Credit Card Holder Billing Address

Credit Card Information. To pay the COFR fee, you are automatically transferred to the secure Pay.Gov site, operated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, to enter your:

• Credit Card Type
• Credit Card Number
• Credit Card Expiration Date

Pay.Gov retains this information only for the duration of the payment session. Once the payment transaction is posted to the banking system, this data is deleted. Pay.Gov does not maintain a database of credit card numbers or information, and the NPFC server never receives or stores these payment details.

Protection of E-COFR Information. E-COFR users are required to register with the NPFC to use the e-commerce functions of the site (i.e., E-COFR and Online Enrollment). The system authenticates users by requiring a unique combination of a user's log-on ID (i.e., email address) and enrollment number before the system can be accessed. The only user information stored on the E-COFR site is the email address of the user; not even enrollment numbers are stored within the system's database. Only enrolled users with valid log-on IDs and enrollment numbers can access the E-COFR functions. In addition, to prevent access to other users' financial information, authorized users can only access records for a pre-populated list of operators/vessels/certificates assigned specifically to them. All information, including credit card information, you enter while within the E-COFR and Online Enrollment functions is encrypted to ensure that no one can intercept or alter your information.