[Federal Register: January 3, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 1)]
[Notices]
[Page 125-126]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03ja06-90]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[USCG-1998-3417]
RIN 1625-AA19 (Formerly RIN 2115-AF60)
Salvage and Marine Firefighting Requirements; Vessel Response
Plans for Oil
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a draft
Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) on its proposal to clarify,
and set new response time requirements for salvage and marine
firefighting requirements in the vessel response plans for oil. We
request your comments on the draft PEA.
DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management
Facility on or before February 17, 2006.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket
number USCG-1998-3417 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
the proposed project, or the associated draft Programmatic
Environmental Assessment, call Mr. Frank Esposito, Office of
Environmental Law (G-LEL),
[[Page 126]]
Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-0053, or e-mail
fesposito@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or
submitting material to the docket, call Ms. Renee V. Wright, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-493-0402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the
draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment. 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.
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your
name and address, identify the docket number for this notice (USCG-
1998-3417), 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 the comments and draft Programmatic Environmental
Assessment: To view the comments and draft Programmatic Environmental
Assessment, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time, click on ``Simple
Search,'' enter the last four digits of the docket number for this
notice, and click on ``Search.'' 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 as published in
the Federal Register on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit
http://dms.dot.gov.
Proposed Action
The Coast Guard published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for
``Salvage and Marine Firefighting Requirements; Vessel Response Plans
for Oil'' in the Federal Register on May 10, 2002 (67 FR 31868). Please
refer to this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a summary of the
regulatory history behind that Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is available in the DOT docket.
During the comment period on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, we
received comments both in the docket and at public meetings challenging
our reliance upon an environmental analysis done in 1992 to support the
publication of the original vessel response plan requirements. These
comments argued that it was old and out of date, and missing pieces
that would be required of an Environmental Assessment done today. We
reviewed those comments, as well as the old Environmental assessment/
Finding of No Significant Impact, and determined that while the
original study remains valid for the non-salvage portion of the vessel
response plan we should conduct a new Environmental Analysis before
finalizing the salvage and marine firefighting rulemaking.
Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment
We have prepared a draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment. See
``Viewing the comments and draft Programmatic Environmental
Assessment'' above. The draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment
identifies and examines the reasonable alternatives and assesses their
potential environmental impact.
We are requesting your comments on environmental concerns that you
may have related to the Programmatic Environmental Assessment. This
includes suggesting analyses and methodologies for use in the
Programmatic Environmental Assessment or possible sources of data or
information not included in the draft Programmatic Environmental
Assessment. Your comments will be considered in preparing the final
Programmatic Environmental Assessment.
Dated: December 27, 2005.
Craig E. Bone,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting Assistant Commandant for Marine
Safety, Security and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. E5-8200 Filed 12-30-05; 8:45 am]
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