Department of Homeland Security March 9, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard is proposing to revise portions of our general regulation on the notification procedures for the establishment and disestablishment of limited access areas and regulated navigation areas, as well as to remove certain marine event and limited access area regulations for the Ninth, Thirteenth, and Seventeenth Coast Guard Districts. The proposed changes reflect current organizational procedures and post-promulgation changes in circumstances. We invite your comments on this proposed rulemaking.

The Coast Guard will enforce a temporary safety zone between mile marker (MM) 95.7 and MM 96.7 above Head of Passes, Lower Mississippi River, LA. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on these navigable waters near New Orleans, LA, during a fireworks display on March 18, 2020. During the enforcement periods, the operator of any vessel in the regulated area must comply with directions from the Patrol Commander or any Official Patrol displaying a Coast Guard ensign.

The Coast Guard is delaying the effective date for three categories of facilities affected by the final rule entitled, ``Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)Reader Requirements,'' published in the Federal Register on August 23, 2016. These three categories are: Facilities that handle certain dangerous cargoes in bulk, but do not transfer these cargoes to or from a vessel; facilities that handle certain dangerous cargoes in bulk, and do transfer these cargoes to or from a vessel; and facilities that receive vessels carrying certain dangerous cargoes in bulk, but do not, during that vessel-to-facility interface, transfer these bulk cargoes to or from those vessels. The Coast Guard is delaying the effective date for these categories of facilities by 3 years. Specifically, this rule will delay the implementation of the TWIC Reader rule for 370 of the 525 affected Risk Group A facilities by 3 years, while the remaining 155 facilities (which are all facilities that receive large passenger vessels), as well as 1 vessel, will have to implement the final rule requirements within 30 days after the effective date of this rule.