Maritime Administration September 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As authorized by 46 U.S.C. 12121, the Secretary of Transportation, as represented by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), is authorized to grant waivers of the U.S.-build requirement of the coastwise laws under certain circumstances. A request for such a waiver has been received by MARAD. The vessel, and a brief description of the proposed service, is listed below. The complete application is given in DOT docket MARAD-2009-0086 at https://www.regulations.gov. Interested parties may comment on the effect this action may have on U.S. vessel builders or businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.-flag vessels. If MARAD determines, in accordance with 46 U.S.C. 12121 and MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR Part 388 (68 FR 23084; April 30, 2003), that the issuance of the waiver will have an unduly adverse effect on a U.S.-vessel builder or a business that uses U.S.-flag vessels in that business, a waiver will not be granted. Comments should refer to the docket number of this notice and the vessel name in order for MARAD to properly consider the comments. Comments should also state the commenter's interest in the

Pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding Among the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Transportation, and the United States Agency for International Development Regarding Procedures for Determining Vessel Service Categories for Purposes of the Cargo Preference Act, dated September 4, 2009 (the MOU, a copy of which is attached hereto and posted at the Web site of the Maritime Administration (MARAD), https://www.marad.dot.gov), notice is hereby given by MARAD that procedures as set forth herein are established for vessel owners or operators to designate the service category of individual vessels for purposes of compliance with the Cargo Preference Act (CPA). Where the owner or operator designates the category of its vessel, such self-designations will be docketed in the public record, published, and an opportunity will be provided for comment by interested parties. Each self-designation and the record supporting it is subject to review by MARAD. If MARAD disagrees with a self-designation, the process for determination, appeal and further administrative review is set forth below. These procedures are intended to be interim procedures implementing the MOU entered into by MARAD, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a 2002 Department of Justice interpretation of the CPA, pending the formal promulgation of regulations by MARAD.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The nature of the information collection is described as well as its expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on June 1, 2009. No comments were received.

Notice is hereby given that the Maritime Administration, of the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has made available to interested parties the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) and the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Removal of Non- Retention Vessels from National Defense Reserve Fleet Sites for Disposal. The PEA and FONSI have been prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500- 1508).