Department of Homeland Security June 7, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document withdraws a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on July 25, 2002, which proposed to amend the CBP Regulations in accordance with the Trade and Development Act of 2000 to expand the weekly entry procedures for foreign trade zones. Public comment on the proposed rulemaking was solicited. Commenters uniformly expressed concern that the proposed rule limited weekly entry procedures to consumption entries, and that amendments to the regulations were unnecessary because the law was self-effectuating. After careful consideration, CBP has decided to withdraw the proposed rulemaking pending assessment of a more comprehensive regulatory scheme for weekly entry procedures from foreign trade zones.

The Coast Guard is issuing a supplement to our notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on May 20, 2004 (69 FR 29114). The NPRM underwent further Coast Guard review after its comment period that produced revisions significant enough to merit this supplement to our original proposal. This supplement is intended to announce the revisions and reopen the comment period. The Coast Guard proposes to make changes to existing permanent security zones in designated waters adjacent to the islands of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai, Hawaii. These revised security zones are necessary to protect personnel, vessels, and facilities from acts of sabotage or other subversive acts, accidents, or other causes of a similar nature and will extend from the surface of the water to the ocean floor. Some of the revised security zones would be continuously activated and enforced at all times, while others would be activated and enforced only during heightened threat conditions. Entry into these Coast Guard security zones while they are activated and enforced would be prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port.