The Administrator of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) redelegates claim settlement authority under the Federal Tort Claims Act solely to MARAD's Office of the Chief Counsel and removes the settlement authority from MARAD's Associate Administrator for Administration and the Superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Before this redelegation, the Associate Administrator for Administration had authority to settle tort claims and to authorize payments of $50,000 or less, and the Superintendent of the Merchant Marine Academy had authority to settle tort claims and to authorize payments of $20,000 or less. These changes are necessary to consolidate the settlement authority in the Office of the Chief Counsel and will make the Federal Tort Claims process easier for claimants.