[Federal Register: September 26, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 187)]
[Notices]
[Page 55643-55645]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26se03-78]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[USCG-2003-14878]
Automatic Identification System; Expansion of Carriage
Requirements for U.S. Waters
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments; extension of comment period, and
notice of public meetings.
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SUMMARY: On July 1, 2003, the Coast Guard published a notice requesting
comments on how best to address implementation of Automatic
Identification System (AIS) carriage requirements on certain navigable
waters of the U.S. for vessels not on international voyages. The
comment period for that notice was scheduled to end September 29, 2003,
but we are extending the comment period through January 5, 2004. This
extension will permit the Coast Guard to receive comments in response
to our previously published notice after the public has seen the final
rule that will be published this fall. We are also announcing the dates
and locations of three public meetings.
DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management
Facility on or before January 5, 2004. Public meetings will be held on
the following dates in the following cities:
November 5, 2003, 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. (noon), in New Orleans, LA;
November 13, 2003, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in New Bedford, MA; and
December 5, 2003, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Seattle, WA.
ADDRESSES: Comments. You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard
docket number USCG-2003-14878 to the Docket Management Facility at the
U.S. Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use
only one of the following methods:
(1) Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov.
(2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
(4) Delivery: Room PL-401 on Plaza level of the Nassif Building,
400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is
202-366-9329.
(5) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Meetings. The meetings will be held at the following locations:
New Orleans, LA--8th Coast Guard District, Hale Boggs Federal Building,
501 Magazine Street, Room B100 New Orleans, LA 70130.
New Bedford, MA--Location to be announced via separate notice.
Seattle, WA-13th Coast Guard District, Federal Building, 915 Second
Avenue, 4th Floor, Northern Auditorium, Seattle, WA 98174.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
contact Mr. Jorge Arroyo, Office of Vessel Traffic Management (G-MWV-
1), Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-6277, fax 202-267-4826 or e-mail: jarroyo@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or submitting
material to the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, Program Manager, Docket
Operations, telephone 202-366-0271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to respond to our request for comments, by
submitting comments and related materials. All comments received will
be posted, without change, to http://dms.dot.gov and will include any
personal information you have provided. We have an agreement with the
Department of Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket Management
Facility. Please see DOT's ``Privacy Act'' three paragraphs below.
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your
name and address, identify the docket number
[[Page 55644]]
(USCG-2003-14878), indicate the specific question you are responding
to, and give the reason for each comment. You may submit your comments
and material by electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket
Management Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit
your comments and material by only one means. If you submit them by
mail or delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/
2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you
submit them by mail and would like to know that they reached the
Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or
envelope. We will consider all comments and material received during
the comment period.
Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as
documents mentioned in this notice as being available in the docket, go
to http://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using the
docket number. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in
room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh
Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit
http://dms.dot.gov.
Public Meetings
We are intending to hold at least three public meetings regarding
this notice on the expansion of AIS carriage requirements for U.S.
waters. The three scheduled meetings will be held--
[sbull] November 5, 2003, 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. (noon), at 8th Coast
Guard District, Hale Boggs Federal Building, 501 Magazine Street, Room
B100, New Orleans, LA 70130.
[sbull] November 13, 2003, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in New Bedford,
MA at a location to be announced via a separate notice.
[sbull] December 5, 2003, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at 13th Coast Guard
District, Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue, 4th Floor, Northern
Auditorium, Seattle, WA 98174.
Reason for Extension of Comment Period
In a temporary interim rule published in the Federal Register on
July 1, 2003 (68 FR 39353), the Coast Guard required Automatic
Identification System (AIS) carriage as agreed to by the international
community in amendments to the International Convention for the Safety
of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS), and as directed by the Maritime
Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA), Public Law 107-295. That
rulemaking, however, covers only vessels on international voyages and
certain vessels on specified waterways (Vessel Traffic Service Areas)
of the United States.
As we stated in a request for comments published July 1, 2003 (68
FR 39369), entitled ``Automatic Identification System; Expansion of
Carriage Requirements for U.S. Waters,'' the MTSA required that
specific categories of vessels be equipped with and operate an AIS in
all navigable waters of the U.S., unless the Secretary finds that AIS
is not needed for safe navigation on specified navigable waters.
Our July 1, 2003, notice, which is available in the docket under
ADDRESSES, requested comments on how best to address implementation on
the remaining navigable waters of the U.S. for vessels not on
international voyages. We are extending the comment period for that
notice to January 5, 2004. We are also republishing and adding to the
questions posed previously in our notice. This extension will allow us
to receive comments in response to this notice after the public has
seen the final rule that will complete the ongoing rulemaking involving
AIS. As previously stated, the Coast Guard plans to issue that final
rule before November 25, 2003 (68 FR 39354, July 1, 2003).
Questions
We need the public's assistance in answering the following
questions, and any additional information provided on this topic is
welcome. Note, we have republished the questions as posed in our July
1, 2003 notice (68 FR 39353), and inserted additional terms, denoted in
brackets [], to either further clarify or to solicit additional
comments regarding a specific question.
In responding to each question, please explain your reasons for
each answer as specifically as possible so that we can carefully weigh
the consequences and impacts of any future actions we may take.
(1) Recognizing that AIS may ultimately be required on all [U.S.]
navigable waters, what particular waterways or ports should be
implemented before others?
(2) Are there particular [U.S. navigable] waterways where the AIS
requirements should be waived? Why?
(3) AIS is not specifically mandated (by the MTSA) on all vessels.
The MTSA, however, does allow the Secretary to require AIS on any
vessel if deemed necessary for safe navigation. Should other vessels
(e.g., commercial vessels under 65 feet in length, towing vessels under
26 feet and 600 horsepower, dredges and floating plants, recreational
vessels, offshore facilities, [non-self propelled vessels or barges,
particularly those carrying hazardous cargo], or Mobile Offshore
Drilling Units) be required to have AIS?
(4) SOLAS expects nations to implement their AIS carriage on their
domestic fleet (vessels over 500 gross tonnage and passenger vessels
not on international voyage) not later than July 1, 2008. However, the
MTSA requires AIS by December 31, 2004. Knowing this, should certain
vessels be granted temporary exemptions regarding the compliance dates
in MTSA?
(5) Under what circumstances, if any, should a vessel be exempted
from the AIS requirements per the MTSA exemption?
(6) SOLAS defines a passenger vessel as carrying 12 or more
passengers. VTS regulations define VTS users as passenger vessels over
100 gross tons carrying 1 or more passengers or those certificated to
carry 50 or more passengers. The MTSA allows the Secretary to determine
the threshold (number of passengers) [for hire or not for hire] when
determining which passenger vessels are required to have AIS. Should we
expand AIS carriage beyond what is already defined in SOLAS and our
rule?
(7) Should the Coast Guard encourage or require the use of systems
such as electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) and
electronic chart system (ECS) to display AIS information to enhance
navigation safety? Are there other systems that could be used for this
purpose?
(8) Would you be more likely to install an ECDIS or ECS on your
vessel, to display AIS information, if the system could be used to
comply with an existing requirement to carry nautical charts?
[[Page 55645]]
Dated: September 22, 2003.
T.H. Gilmour,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety,
Security and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 03-24364 Filed 9-25-03; 8:45 am]
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