Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Lafourche Bayou, LA, 35897-35898 [2012-14651]

Agencies

• Coast Guard
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 116 (Friday, June 15, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35897-35898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14651]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 117

[Docket No. USCG-2011-0926]
RIN 1625-AA09


Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Lafourche Bayou, LA

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice reopening comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard is reopening the comment period to 
solicit additional comments concerning its Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking to change the regulation governing the six bridges across 
Bayou Lafourche, south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW).

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published April 16, 
2012, at 77 FR 22520, is reopened. Comments and related material must 
be received by July 5, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2011-0926 using any one of the following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
    (2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on 
submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this rule, 
call or email Mr. Jim Wetherington; Bridge Administration Branch, 
Eighth Coast Guard District; telephone 504-671-2128, email 
james.r.wetherington@uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting 
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted, 
without change to https://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided.

1. Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
rulemaking (USCG-2011-0926), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material 
online (https://www.regulations.gov), or by fax, mail or hand delivery, 
but please use only one of these means. If you submit a comment online 
via https://www.regulations.gov, it will be considered received by the 
Coast Guard when you successfully transmit the comment. If you fax, 
hand deliver, or mail your comment, it will be considered as having 
been received by the Coast Guard when it is received at the Docket 
Management Facility. We recommend that you include your name and a 
mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of 
your document so that we can contact you if we have questions regarding 
your submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to https://www.regulations.gov, 
click on the ``submit a comment'' box, which will then become 
highlighted in blue. In the ``Document Type'' drop down menu select 
``Proposed Rules'' and insert ``USCG-2011-0926'' in the ``Keyword'' 
box. Click ``Search'' then click on the balloon shape in the 
``Actions'' column. If you submit your comments by mail or hand 
delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 
inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit them 
by mail and would like to know that they reached the Facility, please 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will 
consider all comments and material received during the comment period 
and may change the rule based on your comments.

2. Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble 
as being available in the docket, go to https://www.regulations.gov, 
click on the ``read comments'' box, which will then become highlighted 
in blue. In the ``Keyword'' box insert ``USCG-2011-0926'' and click 
``Search.'' Click the ``Open Docket Folder'' in the ``Actions'' column. 
You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on 
the ground floor of the Department of Transportation West Building, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. We have an 
agreement with the Department of Transportation to use the Docket 
Management Facility.

3. Privacy Act

    Anyone can search the electronic form of comments received into any 
of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or 
signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.). You may review a Privacy Act notice 
regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the 
Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

4. Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a 
request for one to the docket using one of the four methods specified 
under ADDRESSES. Please explain why one would be beneficial. If we 
determine that one would aid this rulemaking, we will hold one at a 
time and place announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.

B. Background and Purpose

    On April 16, 2012, we published a notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NPRM) entitled, ``Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Lafourche Bayou, 
LA,'' in the Federal Register (77 FR 22520). The original comment 
period closed on May 16, 2012. The NPRM proposed the initial changes to 
the regulation governing six bridges that cross Lafourche Bayou and 
contains useful background and analysis related to the initial proposed 
change to accommodate traffic during the local school year schedule 
change. The public is encouraged to review the NPRM. We received one 
comment in support of the proposed change. We also received a request 
for an additional change specific to the operating schedule for the 
Tarpon Bridge, at Galliano, Lafourche Parish, LA, one of the six 
bridges under the regulation. The one comment received and the request 
for an additional change

[[Page 35898]]

in the Tarpon Bridge operating schedule may be accessed through the 
docket as indicated in the Viewing comments and documents section under 
Public Participation and Request for Comments. No public meeting was 
requested, and none was held.
    The Tarpon Bridge is part of a main route to and from South 
Lafourche High School. The school's students, staff, and faculty face a 
traffic delay and back up with the current schedule allowing marine 
traffic through until just before 7 a.m., which is the starting time 
for the regulation. This traffic delay causes a 15-minute back up 
leading to tardiness of faculty, staff and students. The faculty, staff 
and students requested a change to the existing operating regulation 
asking that the beginning time for the regulation be moved back 15 
minutes, to 6:45 a.m., to accommodate the school traffic in this area 
and the school hours. This modification would allow for the safe and 
timely arrival for all parties concerned and would not significantly 
affect mariners in the area. All other parts of this regulation change 
would remain the same.
    This notice re-opening the comment period ensures notice and 
opportunity to comment on the additional change required to fully 
accommodate the updated school year school year schedule and times 
before making the proposed changes final.
    This notice is issued under authority of 33 U.S.C. 1223 and 5 
U.S.C. 552.

    Dated: June 6, 2012.
Roy A. Nash,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 2012-14651 Filed 6-14-12; 8:45 am]
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