Maritime Administration November 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the Maritime Administration, of the Department of Transportation (DOT), has made available to interested parties the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the California Green Trade Corridor Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant. An environmental assessment (EA) and FONSI have been prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 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). The purpose of the EA is to evaluate the potential environmental impacts from two separate marine highway projects running from the Ports of West Sacramento and Stockton to the Port of Oakland. The marine highway services consist of a tug and barge configuration and are scheduled to operate once a week.

The Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard announce they have received an application for the licensing of a natural gas deepwater port and the application contains the required information. This notice summarizes the applicant's plans and procedures that will be followed in considering the application.

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-2010-0101 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 waiver application, and address the waiver criteria given in Sec. 388.4 of MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388.

This notice provides information regarding the Maritime Administration's (MarAd) finding that a Buy American waiver, stated in 23 U.S.C. 313, is appropriate for the purchase of foreign Mobile Harbor Cranes in the Federal-aid/American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) for the Port of Searsport, Port of Stockton, Port of West Sacramento and the Port of Davisville via the Quonset Development Corporation. The waivers for each of these projects involve specific items that are not produced in the United States and deemed necessary for the construction of the project. MarAd has reached out to the steel industry and solicited public comments on the domestic availability of these items. No domestic manufacturers have been located.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) is withdrawing and terminating its notice published in the Federal Register on November 14, 2007, at 72 FR 64109, which requested comments on what standards MARAD should apply concerning determinations of foreign reconstruction of U.S.-built vessels that participate in the Capital Construction Fund (CCF) program and foreign rebuilding of U.S.-built vessels that participate in the cargo preference program. Initially, when the notice was published, it was considered useful to obtain public comment on whether MARAD should issue regulations on standards applicable to determination of rebuilding or reconstruction. At the time the notice was published, the Coast Guard's approach to rebuilding was an unsettled area of law and a particular issue had arisen with regard to MARAD's method of determination in a foreign rebuild context. That matter was resolved and in December 2009, the Coast Guard's method of carrying out rebuilding determinations was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Likewise, MARAD's approach to such determinations had been affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Even though the standards are different as applied regarding the cargo preference program, the two approaches would only rarely produce a different result. Furthermore, because they are generally applied in different circumstances, they even more rarely produce inconsistent results regarding the same vessel. MARAD has been requested to make a determination only twice in the last fifteen years. Therefore, a new rule is not required.