[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 102 (Thursday, May 27, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29693-29695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12737]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 117
[Docket No. USCG-2009-0803]
RIN 1625-AA09
Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Oakland Inner Harbor Tidal
Canal, Oakland/Alameda, CA, Schedule Change
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to modify the drawbridge operation
regulation for the Alameda County and the Army Corps of Engineers owned
drawbridges across Oakland Inner Harbor Tidal Canal, between Oakland
and Alameda, California so that four hours advance notice for openings
would be required from the waterway user to the bridge owner, between
the hours 4:30 p.m. and 9 a.m. daily. With the exception of Federal
Holidays, openings at all other times would be on signal except during
interstate rush hours, 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, when the drawbridges need not be opened for
vessels. However, the draws would open during the above closed periods
for vessels which must, for reasons of safety, move on a tide or slack
water, if at least four hours advance notice is given. The proposed
rule is requested by Alameda County to reduce the bridge staffing
requirements during periods of reduced openings.
DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Coast Guard on or
before August 25, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Coast Guard docket
number USCG-2009-0803 using any one of the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
(3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
To avoid duplication, please use only one of these methods. See the
``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on submitting
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this proposed
rule, call or e-mail David H. Sulouff, Chief, Bridge Section, Waterways
Management Branch, 11th Coast Guard District, telephone 510-437-3516,
e-mail address [email protected]. If you have questions on
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright,
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted,
without change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any
personal information you have provided.
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
rulemaking (USCG-2009-0803), indicate the specific section of this
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material
online (http://www.regulations.gov), or by fax, mail or hand delivery,
but please use only one of these means. If you submit a comment online
via http://www.regulations.gov, it will be considered received by the
Coast Guard when you successfully transmit the comment. If you fax,
hand deliver, or mail your comment, it will be considered received by
the Coast Guard when it is received at the Docket Management Facility.
We recommend that you include your name and a mailing address, an e-
mail address, or a phone number in the body of your document so that we
can contact you if we have questions regarding your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
click on the ``submit a comment'' box, which will then become
highlighted in blue. In the ``Document Type'' drop down menu select
``Proposed Rules'' and insert ``USCG-2009-0803'' in the ``Keyword''
box. Click ``Search'' then click on the balloon shape in the
``Actions'' column. If you submit your comments by mail or hand
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
and may change the rule based on your comments.
A request for comments has been published in the Coast Guard Local
Notice to Mariners. All comments received will be included for the
record in the electronic docket ``USCG-2009-0803''.
Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
click on the ``read comments'' box, which will then become highlighted
in blue. In the ``Keyword'' box insert `` USCG-2009-0803'' and click
``Search.'' Click the ``Open Docket Folder'' in the ``Actions'' column.
You may also visit either the Docket Management Facility in Room W12-
140 on the ground floor of the Department of Transportation West
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. We
have an agreement with the Department of Transportation to use the
Docket Management Facility.
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 a Privacy Act notice
regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the
Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
Public Meeting
We do not now plan to hold a public meeting, but you may submit a
request using one of the four methods under ADDRESSES. Please explain
why one would be beneficial. If we determine that one would aid this
rulemaking, we
[[Page 29694]]
will hold one at a time and place announced by a later notice in the
Federal Register.
Background and Purpose
The proposed rule would change the existing regulation. The
existing regulation is found at 33 CFR 117.181 and delineates the
following operating scheme: The draws of the Alameda County highway
drawbridges at Park Street, mile 5.2; Fruitvale Avenue, mile 5.6; and
High Street, mile 6.0; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers railroad
drawbridge, mile 5.6 at Fruitvale Avenue, shall open on signal; except
that, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through
Friday except Federal holidays, the draws need not be opened for the
passage of vessels. However, the draws shall open during the above
closed periods for vessels which must, for reasons of safety, move on a
tide or slack water, if at least two hours notice is given.
The proposed rule is requested by Alameda County to reduce the
bridge staffing requirements during periods of reduced openings. The
proposed rule is as follows: The draws of the Alameda County highway
drawbridges at Park Street, mile 5.2; Fruitvale Avenue, mile 5.6; and
High Street, mile 6.0; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers railroad
drawbridge, mile 5.6 at Fruitvale Avenue, shall open on signal between
the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and upon 4 hours advance notice
between the hours 4:30 p.m. and 9 a.m. During Interstate rush hours, 8
a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays, the draws need not be opened for the passage
of vessels. However, the draws shall open during the above rush hour
periods for vessels which must, for reasons of safety, move on a tide
or slack water, if at least four hours notice is given to the bridge
owner. For the four hour advance notice requirement, waterway users may
contact the Fruitvale Avenue drawbridge operator via telephone at (510)
533-7858 or VHF-FM marine radio, or by contacting the bridge operator
during daytime bridge operating hours.
In support of their request for the regulation change, Alameda
County provided the operating logs from the drawbridges to demonstrate
a decrease in drawbridge openings for vessels over at least a 2 year
period of time. The material submitted by the bridge owner will be
entered in the electronic docket for the record.
The waterway traffic at this location is comprised of commercial,
recreational, search and rescue, law enforcement and disaster response
vessels, and if necessary dredging, construction and salvage equipment,
presently capable of circumnavigating the island of Alameda, CA,
contingent upon tidal influences and vessel drafts. The Oakland Inner
Harbor Tidal Canal is a lateral extension of San Francisco Bay.
Discussion of Proposed Rule
The Coast Guard proposes to amend 33 CFR part 117 by amending Sec.
117.181 for the Oakland Inner Harbor Tidal Canal. In addition to the
existing rush hour periods when the drawbridges need not open for
vessels, the revised language of the section would require the bridges
to open on signal between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 9 a.m daily,
provided four hours advance notice is given from vessel operators to
Alameda County for drawbridge operation. For the four hour advance
notice requirement, waterway users may contact the Fruitvale Avenue
drawbridge operator via telephone at (510) 533-7858 or VHF-FM marine
radio, or by contacting the bridge operator during daytime bridge
operating hours. This would include vessels which must, for reasons of
safety, move on a tide or slack water. At all other times the
drawbridges will be required to open on signal for the safe passage of
vessels.
The Coast Guard policy regarding the promulgation of drawbridge
operation regulations requires that no regulation shall be implemented
for the sole purpose of saving the bridge owner the cost to operate a
bridge, nor to save wear and tear mechanically on a bridge. It is the
bridge owner's statutory and regulatory responsibility to provide the
necessary drawbridge tenders for the safe and prompt opening of a
bridge and to maintain drawbridges in good operating condition.
Regulatory Analyses
We developed this proposed rule after considering numerous statutes
and executive orders related to rulemaking. Below we summarize our
analyses based on 13 of these statutes or executive orders.
Regulatory Planning and Review
This proposed rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review,
and does not require an assessment of potential costs and benefits
under section 6(a)(3) of that Order. The Office of Management and
Budget has not reviewed it under that Order. This conclusion is based
upon the fact that the proposed drawbridge regulation change would only
implement the advance notice times for bridge openings between the
hours of 4:30 p.m. and 9 a.m. and for vessels which must, for reasons
of safety, move on a tide or slack water, and the navigational impacts
would be negligible. The Coast Guard determination to approve or deny
the bridge owners request will be based upon the ability of the
proposed regulation to meet the reasonable needs of navigation and not
the cost to the bridge owner. A test of the proposed drawbridge
operating regulation may be used by the Coast Guard to evaluate the
actual impacts, during the appropriate navigational season timeframe,
prior to making a final determination on the proposal.
Small Entities
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), the Coast
Guard must consider whether this proposed rule would have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The term
``small entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit
organizations that are independently owned and operated and are not
dominant in their fields, and governmental jurisdictions with
populations of less than 50,000.
The Coast Guard requests comments to determine if this proposed
rule would have a significant economic impact on a substantial number
of small entities.
If you think that your business, organization, or governmental
jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity and that this rule would have
a significant economic impact on it, please submit a comment (see
ADDRESSES) explaining why you think it qualifies and how, and to what
degree this rule would economically affect it.
Assistance for Small Entities
Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we want to assist small
entities in understanding this proposed rule so that they can better
evaluate its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking. If the
rule would affect your small business, organization, or governmental
jurisdiction and you have questions concerning its provisions or
options for compliance, please contact David Sulouff, Chief, Bridge
Section, Waterways Management Branch, 11th Coast Guard District, at
(510) 437-3516. The Coast Guard will not retaliate against small
entities that question or complain about this rule or any policy or
action of the Coast Guard.
[[Page 29695]]
Collection of Information
This proposed rule would call for no new collection of information
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.).
Federalism
A rule has implications for federalism under Executive Order 13132,
Federalism, if it has a substantial direct effect on State or local
governments and would either preempt State law or impose a substantial
direct cost of compliance on them. We have analyzed this proposed rule
under that Order and have determined that it does not have implications
for federalism.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538)
requires Federal agencies to assess the effects of their discretionary
regulatory actions. In particular, the Act addresses actions that may
result in the expenditure by a State, local, or tribal government, in
the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100,000,000 or more in any
one year. Though this proposed rule will not result in such an
expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this rule elsewhere in this
preamble.
Taking of Private Property
This proposed rule would not effect a taking of private property or
otherwise have taking implications under Executive Order 12630,
Governmental Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected
Property Rights.
Civil Justice Reform
This proposed rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and
3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize
litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.
Protection of Children
We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13045,
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks. This rule is not an economically significant rule and would not
create an environmental risk to health or risk to safety that might
disproportionately affect children.
Indian Tribal Governments
This proposed rule does not have tribal implications under
Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal
Governments, because it would not have a substantial direct effect on
one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.
Energy Effects
We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13211,
Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use. We have determined that it is not a ``significant
energy action'' under that order because it is not a ``significant
regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 and is not likely to
have a significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use
of energy. The Administrator of Information and Regulatory Affairs has
not designated this as a significant energy action. Therefore, it does
not require a Statement of Energy Effects under Executive Order 13211.
Technical Standards
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) (15
U.S.C. 272 note) directs agencies to use voluntary consensus standards
in their regulatory activities unless the agency provides Congress,
through the Office of Management and Budget, with an explanation of why
using these standards would be inconsistent with applicable law or
otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards are technical
standards (e.g., specifications of materials, performance, design, or
operation; test methods; sampling procedures; and related management
systems practices) that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus
standards bodies.
This proposed rule does not use technical standards. Therefore, we
did not consider the use of voluntary consensus standards.
Environment
We have analyzed this proposed rule under Department of Homeland
Security Management Directive 023-01, and Commandant Instruction
M16475.lD which guides the Coast Guard in complying with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f), and
have made a preliminary determination that this action is one of a
category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a
significant effect on the human environment because it simply
promulgates the operating regulations or procedures for drawbridges. We
seek any comments or information that may lead to the discovery of a
significant environmental impact from this proposed rule.
List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 117
Bridges.
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes
to amend 33 CFR part 117 as follows:
PART 117--DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS
1. The authority citation for part 117 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 499; 33 CFR 1.05-1; Department of Homeland
Security Delegation No. 0170.1.
2. Revise Sec. 117.181 to read as follows:
Sec. 117.181 Oakland Inner Harbor Tidal Canal.
The draws of the Alameda County highway drawbridges at Park Street,
mile 5.2; Fruitvale Avenue, mile 5.6; and High Street, mile 6.0; and
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers railroad drawbridge, mile 5.6 at
Fruitvale Avenue, shall open on signal between the hours of 9 a.m. and
4:30 p.m. and upon 4 hours advance notice between the hours 4:30 p.m.
and 9 a.m. During Interstate rush hours, 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, the draws
need not be opened for the passage of vessels. However, the draws shall
open during the above rush hour periods for vessels which must, for
reasons of safety, move on a tide or slack water, if at least four
hours notice is given to the bridge owner. For the four hour advance
notice requirement; waterway users may contact the Fruitvale Ave
drawbridge operator via telephone at (510) 533-7858 or VHF-FM marine
radio, or by contacting the bridge operator during daytime bridge
operating hours.
Dated: May 12, 2010.
J.R. Castillo,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard
District.
[FR Doc. 2010-12737 Filed 5-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P