Vessel Requirements for Notices of Arrival and Departure, and Automatic Identification System

AGENCY:

Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION:

Notice of public meeting; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Coast Guard announces a public meeting to receive comments on a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend Coast Guard regulations governing Notice of Arrival and Departure (NOAD) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) requirements.

DATES:

A public meeting will be held on March 5, 2009, from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. to provide an opportunity for oral comments. Written comments and related material may also be submitted to Coast Guard personnel specified at that meeting. The comment period for the proposed rule closes April 15, 2009. All comments and related material submitted after the meeting must either be submitted to our online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before April 15, 2009, or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.

ADDRESSES:

The public meeting will be held at the United States Coast Guard Headquarters Building, Room 2415, 2100 2nd Street, SW., Washington, DC 20593; a government-issued photo identification (for example, a driver's license) will be required for entrance to the building.

You may submit written comments identified by docket number USCG-2005-21869 before or after the meeting 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 four methods. Our online docket for this rulemaking is available on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov under docket number USCG-2005-21869.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

If you have questions concerning the NOAD portion of this proposed rulemaking or concerning the public meeting, please contact Lieutenant Sharmine Jones, Office of Vessel Activities (CG-543), Coast Guard, Sharmine.N.Jones@uscg.mil, telephone 202-372-1234. If you have questions on the AIS portion of this proposed rulemaking, contact Mr. Jorge Arroyo, Office of Navigation Systems (CG-5413), Coast Guard, Jorge.Arroyo@uscg.mil, telephone 202-372-1563. If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Ms. Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

We published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register on December 16, 2008 (73 FR 76295), entitled “Vessel Requirements for Notices of Arrival and Departure, and Automatic Identification System.” In it we stated our intention to hold a public meeting, and to publish a notice to announce the location and date of the public meeting. 73 FR 76296. In this notice, we announce that public meeting to receive comments on this proposed rule.

In the NPRM, we proposed to expand the applicability of Notice of Arrival and Departure (NOAD) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) requirements to more commercial vessels, modify NOAD reporting requirements, establish a mandatory method for electronic data submission and establish a separate requirement for certain vessels to submit notices of departure. The proposed rulemaking would also clarify existing AIS requirements and extend the applicability of AIS requirements beyond Vessel Traffic Service areas to all U.S. navigable waters.

You may view the NPRM in our online docket, in addition to supporting documents prepared by the Coast Guard (Regulatory Analysis & Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions in Homeland Security Regulatory Analyses—Final Report June 2008, and an Environmental Checklist), and comments submitted thus far by going to http://www.regulations.gov. Once there, select the Advanced Docket Search option on the right side of the screen, insert USCG-2005-21869 in the Docket ID box, press Enter, and then click on the item in the Docket ID column. If you do not have access to the Internet, you may view the docket online by visiting 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.

We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting comments either orally at the meeting or in writing. If you bring written comments to the meeting, you may submit them to Coast Guard personnel specified at the meeting to receive written comments. These comments will be submitted to our online public docket. All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you have provided.

Anyone can search the electronic form of 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).

Information on Service for Individuals With Disabilities

For information on facilities or services for individuals with disabilities or to request special assistance at the public meeting, contact Lieutenant Sharmine Jones at the telephone number indicated under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.

Public Meeting

The Coast Guard will hold a public meeting regarding this proposed rulemaking on March 5, 2009, from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the United States Coast Guard Headquarters Building, Room 2415, 2100 2nd Street, SW., Washington, DC 20593. A government-issued photo identification (for example, a driver's license) will be required for entrance to the building.

Parking near the building is limited. Public transportation to the building (Bus Route 71) is limited to rush hours, approximately 6 to 9:30 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. Contact the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for additional information at 202-637-7000 or http://www.wmata.com/.

We plan to record this meeting using an audio-digital recorder and to make that audio recording available through a link in our online docket. We will also provide a written summary of the meeting and comments and will place that summary in the docket.