[Federal Register: December 8, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 236)]
[Notices]
[Page 71184-71185]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08de06-112]
[[Page 71184]]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[USCG-2006-26416]
Voyage Data Recorder Study
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice; request for information.
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SUMMARY: This notice solicits public input as part of a study on the
feasibility, cost and associated concerns or benefits with the
installation of voyage data recorders on passenger vessels. In the
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, the Congress
directed the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct a study of the carriage of
voyage data recorders (VDR) by certain passenger vessels. As part of
this study, the Coast Guard is to look at the standards, the methods
for approval of models, and the procedures for the annual testing of
the VDR.
DATES: Information and related material must reach the Docket
Management Facility on or before February 6, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit information identified by Coast Guard docket
number USCG-2006-26416 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.
(5) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions on the Web site.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
call or e-mail Ms. Dolores Mercier, U.S. Coast Guard Office of Design
and Engineering Standards, telephone 202-372-1381, e-mail
dolores.mercier@uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or
submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-493-0402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Information
All comments and information 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 and information: If you submit information,
please include your name and address, identify the docket number for
this notice (USCG-2006-26416) and give the reason for each comment or
for bringing information to our attention. You may submit your
information by electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket
Management Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit
your information 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 information received during the comment
period.
Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, 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
and information 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.
Background and Purpose
In the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, section
420, Congress directed the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct a study of the
carriage of voyage data recorders (VDR) by passenger vessels described
in section 2101(22)(D) of title 46, United States Code, carrying more
than 399 passengers. The study is to include the standards, the methods
for approval of models, and the procedures for the annual testing of
the VDR's.
The vessels that this study involves are ferries of at least 100
gross tons as measured under title 46 U.S.C. section 14502 or an
alternative tonnage measured under title 46 U.S.C. 14302, providing
transportation only between places that are not more than 300 miles
apart carrying more than 399 passengers.
This study will review the history of VDR's, their current
regulation and carriage requirements, the cost of the equipment, and
the potential benefits. Consultation from both VDR manufacturer's and
the operators of the affected ferries will be included.
Through this notice, the Coast Guard asks for comments and
information related to the carriage of VDR's. The most helpful comments
will be those that include details about:
Installation;
Equipment costs;
Operational requirements;
VDR equipment standards and approval methods; and
Training requirements.
In submitting comments on these issues, the Coast Guard recognizes
and encourages input from all parties that will be affected if the
carriage requirement becomes mandatory. The following questions should
assist you in submitting your comments.
What are the potential benefits from the installation of a
VDR?
For passenger vessels subject to the Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS) 2000 amendments, the Coast Guard has implemented standards for
VDR's as well as methods of approval and procedures for the annual
performance testing. Should the Coast Guard use these established
standards and procedures for the purposes of this study?
What would be the potential cost of equipment and
installation?
What types of equipment inputs would be required vs. the
equipment inputs that are actually available?
Would the crew need to change operational practices?
What additional training, if any would be required?
In what type of marine incidents (e.g., grounding,
collisions, etc) would VDR's prove the most useful?
Should the Coast Guard consider the use of a Simplified
Voyage Data Recorder (S-VDR) in lieu of a VDR?
What is the operational feasibility of recovering the VDR
data box?
What would be the guidelines for the ownership and or
rights to access the data?
If carriage of the VDR becomes mandatory, what would be a
reasonable timeline for implementation?
Would the carriage of VDR's on other domestic vessels be
beneficial? If so, which vessels and why?
[[Page 71185]]
Is the current threshold of 399 passengers or more
appropriate? Should other thresholds be considered?
The voyage data recorder study report will be available to the
public, and comments submitted in response to this notice will be
addressed in the report.
Dated: December 4, 2006.
Howard L. Hime,
Acting Director of National and International Standards, Assistant
Commandant for Prevention, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. E6-20801 Filed 12-7-06; 8:45 am]
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