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From respondent’s perspective, the engines wear out every 3
or 4 years and must be completely overhauled. From petitioners’
perspective, the towboat and its engines, if properly maintained,
have an expected useful life of 40 years. Petitioners, however,
perform the procedures every 3 to 4 years. So it could be argued
that each time the procedure is performed it extends an engine’s
life 3 to 4 years and permits the engine to achieve its 40-year
life expectancy. It cannot be said, however, that the procedures
performed are the equivalent of rebuilding or overhauling an
engine, either in terms of time consumed, the extent of the
procedures, the amount of parts replaced, or cost of the work
performed. Accordingly, it could also be argued that the
engine’s life is 40 years, and it must be maintained at 3- to 4-
year intervals.
Petitioners make a distinction between a disabled engine
that must be replaced and/or overhauled and petitioners’
procedures which, for the most part, involve replacement or
repair only of items that show wear. Petitioners’ approach is
more in the nature of preventative maintenance, and they
automatically replace only a limited number of items, such as
pistons. The majority of the engine parts are inspected and
cleaned and only replaced or repaired if necessary. Respondent
emphasizes that petitioners inspect more than 90 percent of the
parts, which, in respondent’s view, is tantamount to performing
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