Coast Guard January 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone near Augustine Island, located in Kamishak Bay in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The zone is needed to protect marine traffic from hazards associated with recent eruptions of the Augustine Volcano. Entry of vessels or persons into this zone 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 intended effect of the proposed safety zone is to mitigate damage to vessels from hazards associated with the Augustine Volcano.

On August 16, 2005, the Coast Guard proposed to change the regulations governing the operation of 10 drawbridges, and establish operating regulations for 2 drawbridges, all of which cross the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Broward County, FL. The proposed rule would require all of these drawbridges to open twice an hour. The proposed schedule is based on a request from Broward County officials, a test the Coast Guard conducted from December, 2004, until February, 2005, and comments received from the public based on the test. The proposed schedule meets the reasonable needs of navigation while accommodating increased vehicular traffic throughout the county. Due to the active hurricane season and lack of public comments to the previous Notice of Proposed Rulemaking we are reissuing the previous Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

The Coast Guard is changing the drawbridge operation regulations of three North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) bridges: The S.R. 74 Bridge, across the AICW mile 283.1 at Wrightsville Beach; the Cape Fear River Memorial Bridge, mile 26.8, at Wilmington; and the Isabel S. Holmes (US 117) Bridge, at mile 1.0, across Northeast Cape Fear River at Wilmington, North Carolina. This rule will allow the bridges to remain in the closed position at particular dates and times to accommodate road races, marathons and triathlons. Vessels that can pass under the bridges without a bridge opening may do so at all times.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary security zone on the Detroit River, Detroit, Michigan. This zone is intended to restrict vessels from a portion of the Detroit River in order to ensure the safety of up to 450,000 people expected to attend Super Bowl XL at Ford Field as well as related events at Cobo Hall, Hart Plaza and the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

The Coast Guard announces the availability of the Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) that evaluated the potential environmental impacts resulting from the implementation of the policy on ballast water management for vessels entering the Great Lakes declaring no ballast onboard (NOBOB). The purpose of this policy is to prevent the introductions of aquatic nonindigenous species (NIS) into the Great Lakes.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on the Illinois Waterway near Romeoville, Illinois. This safety zone is necessary to close the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal during safety testing of the permanent electrical dispersal barrier. This safety zone intended to restrict vessels from a portion of the Canal in Romeoville, IL, at various times over a 45 day period.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this request for comments announces that the Coast Guard has forwarded five Information Collection Requests (ICRs), abstracted below, to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICRs are as follows: (1) 1625-0022, Application for Tonnage Measurement of Vessels; (2) 1625-0079, Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1995 and 1997 Amendments to the International Convention; (3) 1625-0088, Voyage Planning for Tank Barge Transits in the Northeast United States; (4) 1625-0093, Facilities Transferring Oil or Hazardous Materials in BulkLetter of Intent and Operations Manual; and (5) 1625-0094, Ships Carrying Bulk Hazardous Liquids. 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.

The Coast Guard announces that effective anti-terrorism measures are not in place in certain ports of Equatorial Guinea and that it will impose conditions of entry on vessels arriving from that country. The Coast Guard also announces that conditions of entry are being removed from vessels arriving from ports in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, has approved a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the Berkley Bridge, at mile 0.4, across the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia. To facilitate electrical repairs, this deviation allows the drawbridge to remain closed-to-navigation from 7 a.m. on February 7, 2006, to 7 a.m. on February 8, 2006 and from 7 a.m. on February 14, 2006, to 7 a.m. on February 15, 2006.

The Coast Guard proposes to amend the Regulated Navigation Areas for Savannah River, Georgia. Two new berths have been created at the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility on the Savannah River and the current regulation only addresses facility and vessel requirements when an LNG vessel is underway, or is moored parallel to the navigational channel outside of the slip. The current regulation is no longer adequate and the proposed changes address the addition of the new berths and requirements for three different mooring situations.

The Coast Guard proposes to establish a Special Anchorage Area in Haverstraw Bay on the Hudson River adjacent to Haverstraw, NY. This proposed action is necessary to facilitate safe navigation in that area and provide safe and secure anchorages for vessels not more than 20 meters in length. This action is intended to increase the safety of life and property on the Hudson River, improve the safety of anchored vessels, and provide for the overall safe and efficient flow of recreational vessel traffic and commerce.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the navigable waters of the Town Creek Channel for the demolition and recovery operations of the Grace Memorial and Silas Pearman Bridges. This rule prohibits entry, anchoring, mooring, or transiting within the temporary safety zone without the permission of the Captain of the Port Charleston or his designated representative. This regulation is necessary to protect life and property on the navigable waters of the Town Creek channel from the danger associated with the demolition/ recovery operations of the Grace Memorial and Silas Pearman Bridges.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone on the waters of Tampa Bay, Florida in the vicinity of the Treasure Island Causeway bascule bridge. This safety zone is being established to protect mariners from the hazards associated with the blasting demolition of the concrete portions of the Treasure Island bascule bridge. This rule is necessary to provide for the safety of life on the navigable waters of the United States.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the coastlines of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The Regional Examination Center at New Orleans, which provided credentialing services to approximately 29,000 mariners in those three states and 14 percent of mariners nationwide, was completely flooded, destroying vital records and equipment and rendering the facility temporarily inoperable. Mariners in the area may have lost their credentials in the storm and subsequent flooding, or may be in possession of credentials that either have expired or will soon be expiring. The Coast Guard has previously implemented temporary measures to relieve the hardship on mariners in the Gulf Coast area who need replacement documents. With new temporary authority granted by Congress, the Coast Guard is implementing the additional measure of extending the expiration dates for the credentials of eligible mariners until February 28, 2006.

The Coast Guard is amending the maritime personnel licensing rules to include new security requirements when mariners apply for original, renewal, and raise of grade licenses and certificates of registry. This interim rule corrects omissions and ambiguities in the Coast Guard's preexisting maritime personnel licensing regulations. This interim rule will require all applicants for licenses and certificates of registry to have their identity checked and their fingerprints taken for a criminal record review by the Coast Guard. The new requirements are similar to those that apply to applicants for merchant mariner's documents.

The Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, has approved a temporary deviation from the regulations governing the operation of the W-43 (Ocean Avenue) Bridge, at mile 0.1, over Shark River Inlet at Monmouth County, New Jersey. To facilitate removal and replacement of the mechanical systems of the lift spans, the temporary deviation would allow partial openings of the drawbridge.

The Coast Guard has temporarily changed the drawbridge operation regulations that govern the U.S. 1 Bridge, mile 3.5, across the Housatonic River, at Stratford, Connecticut. This temporary final rule allows the bridge owner to open only one of the two moveable spans for bridge openings at various times from January 9, 2006 through September 1, 2006, to facilitate bridge rehabilitation construction. Full bridge openings will be available at various times during the above time period after a seven-day notice is given by calling the number posted at the bridge.

The Coast Guard announces that the Eighth Coast Guard District is realigning the boundaries of sectors to facilitate unity of operational effort.

The Coast Guard has established a temporary safety zone in the navigable waters of the Mission Creek Waterway in China Basin surrounding the construction site of the Fourth Street Bridge, San Francisco, California. This temporary safety zone is necessary to protect persons and vessels from hazards associated with ongoing bridge construction activities scheduled to continue through September 1, 2006. The safety zone temporarily prohibits use of the Mission Creek Waterway surrounding the Fourth Street Bridge, unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, or his designated representative.

The Coast Guard announces the availability of a draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) on its proposal to clarify, and set new response time requirements for salvage and marine firefighting requirements in the vessel response plans for oil. We request your comments on the draft PEA.