Coast Guard 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard proposes to amend the anchorage regulations for the Sabine Pass Channel, Sabine Pass, TX anchorage in order to improve navigation safety for vessels entering and exiting Cheniere Energy's Liquefied Natural Gas terminal. This proposed rule would reduce the overall size of the existing anchorage.

The Coast Guard will enforce the special local regulations (SLR's) in the navigable waters of San Francisco Bay for the annual U.S. Navy and City of San Francisco sponsored Fleet Week Parade of Navy Ships and Air Show Demonstration to be held October 5 thru October 8, 2006. This SLR will be used to keep spectator vessels out of the path of parading Navy ships and away from the area directly below participating aircraft during the air show in order to ensure the safety of event participants and spectators.

The Coast Guard is temporarily changing the regulation governing the operation of the Hollywood Boulevard Drawbridge across the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway mile 1072.2, Hollywood, Broward County, Florida, due to repair work on the bridge. This rule will provide for worker and mariner safety during the repairs to this drawbridge. The drawbridge will be on single-leaf operations during most of the repair period and several waterway closures will be needed.

The National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) and its subcommittees on boats and associated equipment, prevention through people, and recreational boating safety strategic planning will meet to discuss various issues relating to recreational boating safety. All meetings will be open to the public.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this request for comments announces that the Coast Guard is forwarding three Information Collection Requests (ICRs), abstracted below, to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to request an extension of their approval of the following collections of information. The ICRs are: (1) 1625- 0016, Welding and Hot Works Permits; Posting of Warning Signs; (2) 1625-0023, Barge Fleeting Facility Records; and (3) 1625-0033, Display of Fire Control Plans for Vessels. Our ICRs describe 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.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this request for comments announces that the Coast Guard is forwarding three Information Collection Requests (ICRs), abstracted below, to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to request an extension of their approval of the following collections of information. The ICRs are: (1) 1625- 0052, Nondestructive Testing of Certain Cargo Tanks on Unmanned Barges; (2) 1625-0057, Small Passenger VesselsTitle 46 CFR Subchapters K and T; and (3) 1625-0065, Offshore Supply VesselsTitle 46 CFR Subchapter L. Our ICRs describe 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.

In response to public requests, the Coast Guard will hold two public meetings to receive comments on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to modify the existing Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) in the Providence River, Narragansett Bay, and Mount Hope Bay. Additionally, the Coast Guard is re-opening the period to receive comments on that NPRM. Holding two public meetings and re-opening the comment period will provide the public additional opportunities and more time to submit comments and recommendations.

By this notice, the Coast Guard is exercising authority currently set forth in Coast Guard regulations to require all first class pilots on vessels greater than 1600 GRT, and other individuals who ``serve as'' pilots on certain types of vessels greater than 1600 gross registered tons (GRT), to provide a copy of their annual physical examination to the Coast Guard.

This document provides the times and locations of the public meetings which will be held by the Coast Guard to discuss issues relating to the proposed permanent safety zones located in the Great Lakes to conduct live gunnery training exercises. The meetings will be open to the public.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone in the Gulf of Alaska, encompassing the navigable waters in the vicinity of Narrow Cape and Ugak Island. The zone is needed to protect persons and vessels operating in the vicinity of the safety zone during a rocket launch from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation, Narrow Cape, Kodiak Island facility. 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 this safety zone is to ensure the safety of human life and property during the rocket launch.

This rule makes non-substantive changes throughout Titles 46 and 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The purpose of this rule is to make conforming amendments and technical corrections to Coast Guard navigation and navigable water regulations. This rule will have no substantive effect on the regulated public.

The Coast Guard is establishing temporary special local regulations for the ``Clarksville Hydroplane Challenge'', a power boat race to be held on the waters of the John H. Kerr Reservoir adjacent to Clarksville, Virginia. These special local regulations are necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the event. This action is intended to restrict vessel traffic in portions of the John H. Kerr Reservoir adjacent to Clarksville, Virginia during the power boat race.

The Coast Guard proposes to change the regulations governing six bridges across Bayou Lafourche, south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. The Lafourche Parish Council has requested that the bridges remain closed to navigation at various times on weekdays during the school year. These closures will facilitate the safe, efficient movement of staff, students and other residents within the parish.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the U.S. Coast Guard intends to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to request a revision for the following collection of information: 1625-0012, Certificate of Discharge to Merchant Mariners. Before submitting the ICR to OMB, the Coast Guard is inviting comments on it as described below.

The Coast Guard will meet to discuss issues relating to the proposed permanent safety zones located in the Great Lakes to conduct live gunnery training exercises. The meetings will be open to the public.

The Coast Guard is revising its informational, geographic- application regulation for naval vessel protection zones (NVPZs) to reflect a recent expansion of the jurisdiction for NVPZs. Section 201 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006 amended 14 U.S.C. 91 defines ``navigable waters'' to include the waters 12 nautical-miles wide, adjacent to the coast of the United States and seaward of the territorial sea baseline. As a result of this legislation, Naval Vessel Protection Zone (NVPZ) regulations are now enforceable in navigable waters out to the full extent of the U.S. territorial sea, 12 nautical miles seaward from the baseline. This conforming amendment to our regulation reflects this recently-enacted authority.

In response to public requests, the Coast Guard is re-opening the comment period on its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to establish permanent safety zones throughout the Great Lakes to conduct live fire gun exercises. These safety zones are necessary to protect the public from the hazards associated with the firing of weapons and to ensure the operational readiness of Coast Guard personnel, cutters and small boats. Re-opening the comment period will provide the public more time to submit comments and recommendations.

The Coast Guard is changing the drawbridge operation regulations of four Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) bridges: the Poplar Street Bridge, at mile 8.2, and the U.S. 13A Bridge, at mile 8.2, both across Broad Creek in Laurel, DE; the SR 36 Bridge, at mile 0.5, over Cedar Creek in Cedar Beach; and SR 13 Bridge, at mile 39.6, across Nanticoke River in Seaford, DE. This final rule allows the bridges to open on signal if advance notice is given at different times from 4 to 48 hours. This change will eliminate the continual attendance of draw tender services during the non-peak boating periods while still providing for the reasonable needs of navigation.

The Coast Guard announces the electronic publication of lists of all U.S. ports and terminals holding valid Certificates of Adequacy (COAs). COAs are issued as evidence that a U.S. terminal or port meets the requirements of Annexes I, II, and V of the 1978 Protocol to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78). The Coast Guard expects that greater knowledge of these facilities will reduce discharge of oil, noxious liquid substances, and garbage into the marine environment.

The National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC) will hold a teleconference meeting on September 13, 2006, to discuss the Draft Report to Congress regarding NMSAC's recommendation on termination of the committee on the statutory termination date. This notice announces the date, time, and location for the teleconference meeting of the NMSAC.

The Coast Guard is establishing permanent special local regulations during the ``Chesapeakeman Ultra Triathlon'', a marine event to be held annually on the last Saturday in September on the waters of the Choptank River at Cambridge, MD. These special local regulations are necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the event. This action is intended to temporarily restrict vessel traffic in a portion of the Choptank River during the Chesapeakeman Ultra Triathlon swim.

The Great Lakes Regional Waterways Management Forum will sponsor a conference on ballast water issues on September 27, 2006, and will hold a meeting the following day to address waterways management issues in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The conference and meeting are open to the public, but registration is required for the conference due to limited seating.

This rule makes non-substantive changes in the regulations that govern the operation of the new Woodrow Wilson Memorial (I-95) Bridge, mile 103.8, across the Potomac River between Alexandria, Virginia and Oxon Hill, Maryland. This rule advises that the telephone number for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Operator's Tower has changed from (202) 727-5522 to (703) 836-2396. The rule will have no substantive effect on the regulated public.

The Coast Guard will enforce the special local regulations for the ``Ragin' on the River'' powerboat race to be held Labor Day weekend, September 2 and 3, 2006, on the waters of the Susquehanna River, adjacent to Port Deposit, Maryland. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the event. The effect will be to restrict general navigation in the regulated area for the safety of participants and vessels transiting the event area.

The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone upon certain waters of the Patapsco River, Northwest Harbor, and Inner Harbor during the movement of the historic sloop-of-war USS CONSTELLATION. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during the tow of the vessel from its berth at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, to a point on the Patapsco River near the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Maryland, and return. This action will restrict vessel traffic in portions of the Patapsco River, Northwest Harbor, and Inner Harbor during the event.