Department of Homeland Security January 10, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard is reopening the comment period on the draft Alternative Planning Criteria (APC) National Guidelines. The available draft is the same as that which was made available for comment in May 2016. The APC Guidelines would provide the maritime industry with updated information on the development and submission of an APC request made pursuant to existing regulations. In addition to providing guidance to vessel owners and operators on developing APC requests, the APC Guidelines would also facilitate consistency in the review of APC requests by Coast Guard personnel. Comments previously submitted do not need to be submitted again.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection notice was previously published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2016, at 81 FR 73128, allowing for a 60-day public comment period. USCIS did not receive any comment in connection with the 60-day notice.

The Coast Guard proposes to revise a special local regulation in the navigable waters of Half Moon Bay, CA, near Pillar Point in support of the Mavericks Surf Competition, an annual invitational surf competition held at the Mavericks Break. We are proposing this revision to improve the regulation by making it clearer and to have it better reflect the natural conditions that must be met for this surf competition to take place. This regulation is necessary to provide for the safety of life on the navigable waters immediately prior to, during, and immediately after the surfing competition, which is held only one day between November 1 of each year and March 31 of the following year. This proposed revision would temporarily restrict vessel traffic in the vicinity of Pillar Point and prohibit vessels and persons not participating in the surfing event from entering the dedicated surfing area and a designated no-entry area. We invite your comments on this proposed rulemaking.