Department of Homeland Security February 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard announces the availability of a document that provides interim guidelines for the development and review of plans for responding to a discharge, or threat of a discharge, of oil from nontank vessels. The document, in the form of a Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular, is available as indicated in this notice. Federal law requires that these response plans be prepared and submitted to the Coast Guard no later than August 8, 2005.

The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking applications for appointment to membership on the Lower Mississippi River Waterways Safety Advisory Committee (LMRWSAC). LMRWSAC provides advice and makes recommendations to the Coast Guard on matters relating to the safe navigation of vessels to and from ports on the Lower Mississippi River.

The Coast Guard proposes to establish a temporary special local regulation for a regatta located on the Harlem River. This proposed action would protect life and property on the navigable waters of the United States during the event. This action would restrict vessel traffic in a portion of the Harlem River, New York, NY, during the event.

The Coast Guard is establishing two temporary safety zones in the Gulf of Alaska, in the proximity of Narrow Cape, Kodiak Island, Alaska. These zones are needed to protect persons and vessels operating in the vicinity of the safety zones during a rocket launch from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation, Narrow Cape, Kodiak Island facility. Entry of vessels or persons into these zones is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port, Western Alaska, or their on-scene representative.

The Coast Guard is changing the regulation governing the Stillwater Highway Drawbridge, across the St. Croix River at Mile 23.4, at Stillwater, Minnesota. Under this rule, the drawbridge need not open for river traffic and may remain in the closed-to-navigation position from midnight, October 14, 2005, until midnight, March 15, 2006. This rule allows time to perform maintenance and repairs to the bridge.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration announce the availability of the draft environmental impact statement for this license application. The application describes a project that would be located in the Outer Continental Shelf and Mississippi Sound areas of the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 11 miles south of Dauphin Island, AL, in lease block Mobile 910. The draft environmental impact statement is a Coast Guard document with several agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission acting as cooperating agencies in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 process, as described by 40 CFR 1501.6. The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency in the preparation of the draft environmental impact statement for the liquefied natural gas terminal, construction of the gravity-based structures, and the associated offshore and onshore pipelines. The joint document will satisfy the requirements of the Deepwater Port Act. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will assist in the preparation of the draft environmental impact statements for permits pursuant to section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) and section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will assist in the preparation of the draft environmental impact statement for the onshore pipeline. Even though an affiliate of Compass Port LLC must separately apply for and receive an authorization for the onshore pipeline, and from the Army Corps of Engineers for the appropriate section 10 and 404 permits, this draft environmental impact statement will assess the environmental impacts of both the onshore and offshore portions of the project. The lead agencies (Coast Guard and Maritime Administration), as well as the cooperating agencies (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), request public comments on the draft environmental impact statement.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Utah (FEMA-1576-DR), dated February 1, 2005, and related determinations.

This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of West Virginia (FEMA-1574-DR), dated February 1, 2005, and related determinations.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, has submitted a request for emergency processing of a new public information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 35). This notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to OMB for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden.

The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) announce the availability of material supplementing the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Gulf Landing LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application. The supplementary material corrects errors that appear in the FEIS.

The Coast Guard is conducting a Port Access Route Study (PARS) to evaluate the continued applicability of and the need for modifications to current vessel routing measures in the approaches to Portland, Maine and Casco Bay. The goal of the study is to help reduce the risk of marine casualties and increase the efficiency of vessel traffic management in the study area. The recommendations of the study may lead to future rulemaking action or appropriate international agreements.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this request for comments announces that the Coast Guard has forwarded one Information Collection Report (ICR)1625-0004, United States Coast Guard Academy Application and Supplemental Formsabstracted below, to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. Our ICR describes the information we seek to collect from the public. Review and comment by OIRA ensures that we impose only paperwork burdens commensurate with our performance of duties.

This Notice informs the public that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has developed and published the National Response Plan, which is now available to the public.

This rule identifies communities, where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation that the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice of this will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date.

The Coast Guard is temporarily changing the regulations that govern the operation of the S.R. 44 bridge over Mantua Creek, at mile 1.7, in Paulsboro, New Jersey. The bridge will be closed to navigation from 8 a.m. on September 12, 2005, through 6 p.m. on December 9, 2005. The extensive structural, mechanical, and electrical repairs and improvements necessitate this closure.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, the Department of Homeland Security is giving notice of computer matching programs that its component agency, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, will conduct with five state agencies.

Base (1% annual chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and modified BFEs are made final for the communities listed below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that each community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Modified Base (1% annual chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) are finalized for the communities listed below. These modified elevations will be used to calculate flood insurance premium rates for new buildings and their contents.

Technical information or comments are requested on the proposed Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and proposed BFE modifications for the communities listed below. The BFEs and modified BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that the community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Technical information or comments are requested on the proposed Base (1% annual chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs) and proposed BFE modifications for the communities listed below. The BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that the community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

This notice amends the notice of an emergency declaration for the State of Ohio (FEMA-3198-EM), dated January 11, 2005, and related determinations.

In keeping with the purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in cooperation with the United States Army Garrison, Fort Detrick, decided on January 26, 2005, after completion of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and a thorough consideration of public comments, to implement the Preferred Alternative in the FEIS. This action involves the construction and operation of the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center Facility by DHS on a site adjacent to existing U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases facilities at Fort Detrick, Maryland. The notice of availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is at 69 FR 56075 and the notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement is at 69 FR 31830.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has renewed the charter for the Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) System Oversight Committee.

TSA invites public comment on an existing information collection requirement, abstracted below, that will be submitted to OMB for renewal in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act.