[Federal Register: December 31, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 250)]
[Notices]
[Page 75603-75605]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31de03-112]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[USCG-2003-16696]
Pollution Prevention Equipment; Standards for Approval
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
[[Page 75604]]
ACTION: Notice of policy.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard will consider alternative testing standards,
including but not limited to standards in International Maritime
Organization (IMO) resolutions MEPC.107(49) and MEPC.108(49), for
approval of oil-water separators, bilge monitors, cargo monitors and
bilge alarms, and for the designation of laboratories as approved
facilities to conduct tests on this pollution prevention equipment
(PPE). The standards in these resolutions will come into force
internationally in 2005 and will replace existing international
standards reflected in current PPE Coast Guard regulations.
DATES: This policy is effective December 31, 2003. Comments and related
material must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before March
30, 2004.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket
number USCG-2003-16696 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 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. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329. This notice and resolutions MEPC.107(49) and
MEPC.108(49) are in docket USCG-2003-16696 and are available for
inspection or copying at the Docket Management Facility, U.S.
Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. You may also find this docket on the Internet
at http://dms.dot.gov ISO 9377-2 may be obtained for a fee through ISO's website http://www.iso.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
call Lieutenant George Grills, Systems Engineering Division, Office of
Design and Engineering Standards, (202) 267-6640. If you have questions
on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Andrea M.
Jenkins, Program Manager, Docket Operations, (202) 366-0271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Reason for Policy Notice
As a participant in the International Maritime Organization Marine
Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) that revised international
pollution prevention equipment (PPE) performance, design and
maintenance standards, the U.S. Coast Guard is aware of advances in PPE
technology more capable of effectively processing emulsified oils,
surfactants, and contaminants.
It is also aware that current Coast Guard PPE regulations,
reflected in 46 CFR 162.050-39, require use of solvents, specifically
carbon tetrachloride and Freon 113 (CFC 113), that are Class I ozone-
depleting substances under the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 7671a). Under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer, the production of these solvents is being phased out
internationally.
The United States phased out the import and production of class I
ozone-depleting substances effective January 1, 1996 (see 40 CFR 82.4,
and 60 FR 24986, May 10, 1995). A provision known as a de minimis
exception covering the use of these solvents in laboratories does not
include the oil-in-water tests called for by 46 CFR 162.050-39 (see
both Decision XI/15 of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, and
appendix G to 40 CFR part 82, subpart A). This situation leaves
domestic and foreign manufacturers and testing laboratories looking for
other options to measure oil content in water samples taken from PPE.
The MEPC tasked the subcommittee on Ship Design and Equipment with
updating MEPC.60(33) adopted on October 30, 1992, and A.586(14) adopted
on November 20, 1985, to specifically address the concerns with PPE
performance and testing. Representatives of the U.S. government
participated in the subcommittee's 46th session that resulted in draft
guidelines for PPE that were presented to MEPC at its 49th session.
At that session, on July 18, 2003, MEPC approved resolutions
MEPC.107(49) entitled ``Revised Guidelines and Specifications for
Pollution Prevention Equipment for Machinery Space Bilges of Ships''
and MEPC.108(49) entitled ``Revised Guidelines and Specifications for
Oil Discharge Monitoring and Control Systems for Oil Tankers'' to
replace MEPC.60(33) and A.586(14) respectively. The new resolutions
carry the same titles as those they will replace but these recently
approved resolutions now reference ISO 9377-2, a new oil-in-water test
standard developed by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO), that does not require the use of ozone-depleting
solvents.
The United States is a party to the International Convention for
the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the
Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78, Annex I/II).
Resolutions MEPC.60(33) and A.586(14) were created under MARPOL 73/78,
Annex I/II. These two older resolutions will be superseded on January
1, 2005, but while they remain in force, the following sections in
subpart 162.050 will continue to reflect their implementation:
Sec. 162.050-17 Separator test rig.
Sec. 162.050-19 Monitor and bilge alarm test rig.
Sec. 162.050-23 Separator: Approval tests.
Sec. 162.050-27 Cargo Monitor: Approval tests.
Sec. 162.050-31 Bilge Monitor: Approval tests.
Sec. 162.050-35 Bilge alarm: Approval tests.
Sec. 162.050-37(b) Vibration test.
Sec. 162.050-39 Measurement of oil content.
All other subpart 162.050 sections are either substantially the
same as new resolutions MEPC.107(49) and MEPC.108(49) or contain a
unique application.
The Coast Guard expects to publish in the Federal Register a
proposal to revise 46 CFR subpart 162.050 to reflect the new standards
called for in those resolutions. In the interim, PPE manufacturers
seeking Coast Guard approval and laboratories applying for designation
as an authorized facility, may consider using alternative testing
standards to those in the subpart 162.050 sections listed above--
including alternative standards in resolutions MEPC.107(49) and
MEPC.108(49), that the Coast Guard may, in its discretion, determine
ensure equivalent performance characteristics.
Commenting on Notice and Viewing Documents Referenced in It
If you wish to submit comments regarding this policy notice, please
send them to the Docket Management Facility at the address under
ADDRESSES. 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'' paragraph below.
[[Page 75605]]
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your
name and address, and identify the docket number for this rulemaking
(USCG-2003-16696). 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.
Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as
documents mentioned in this preamble 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.
Authority: 46 U.S.C. 3306, 3703, E.O. 11735, 38 FR 21243; 3 CFR,
1971-1975 Comp., p. 793; 46 CFR 159.001-7 and 159.005-7; Department
of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1.
Dated: December 12, 2003.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security & Environmental
Protection.
[FR Doc. 03-32078 Filed 12-30-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P