Department of Homeland Security August 5, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard is reopening the comment period before issuing a final rule regarding the Approval of Classification Societies (USCG- 2007-27668). We previously published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing application procedures and performance standards that classification societies must meet in order to obtain approval by the Coast Guard before conducting work in the United States. We published the proposed regulations to implement the requirements imposed by the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004, but before the publication of the final rule, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 changed the applicability to require that all classification societies be approved by the Coast Guard prior to conducting any work on a vessel in the United States. The published NPRM proposed allowing full members of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) to be exempt from Coast Guard approval prior to working in the United States. Because of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, we are reopening the comment period to allow for any additional or updated comments from the public before publishing the final rule.

The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Route 1 & 9 Bridge across the Passaic River, mile 1.8, at Jersey City, New Jersey. The deviation is necessary to facilitate bridge painting operations at the bridge. This deviation allows the bridge to remain in the closed position for 58 days.