This copy of Federal Register Vol. 72, No. 80 pages 20863-20865 
(http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/p101/466958.pdf)
is provided as a service to mariners by the National Weather Service, 
NOAA to bring  attention to the U.S. Coast Guard's notice soliciting 
public comment on the need to  continue providing high frequency (HF) 
radio broadcasts of weather forecasts and warnings via:

(1) Radiofacsimile;
(2) voice; and,
(3) Simplex Teletype Over Radio (SITOR)

If providing comments in response to this Notice, please be sure
to answer the 8 questions.

This copy of the Notice may also be obtained via the National Weather 
Service's, FTPMAIL e-mail server as follows. The request must be sent 
in plain text format and with the correct capitalization and no leading spaces

Send an e-mail to:      ftpmail@weather.noaa.gov
Subject line:           Put anything you like
Body:                   open
                        cd fax
                        get 466958.txt
                        quit

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2007-27656]

High Frequency (HF) Radio Broadcasts
of Marine Weather Forecasts and
Warnings

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice; request for public
comments.

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is soliciting        
public comment on the need to continue
providing high frequency (HF) radio
broadcasts of weather forecasts and
warnings. Public comment is necessary
in order to assess the demand for the HF
radio broadcasts of weather forecasts in
each of three forms: (1) Radiofacsimile;
(2) voice; and, (3) Simplex Teletype
Over Radio (SITOR), also known as
Narrow Band Direct Printing (NBDP).
The infrastructure necessary to provide
these services has exceeded its life
expectancy; the equipment is no longer
manufactured, repairs are difficult to
accomplish, and spare parts generally
are not available. Because of the very
significant costs involved to continue
these specific HF radio services, the
Coast Guard requires information on the
extent to which these services are used
by the public and what alternative
services are being used or are available
to obtain weather forecasts and
warnings.

DATES: Comments and related material
must reach the Docket Management
Facility on or before August 24, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
identified by Coast Guard docket
number USCG-2007-27656 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,
please contact Mr. Russell S. Levin,
Spectrum Management Division (CG-
622), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters,
telephone: 202-475-3555, fax: 202-
475-3927, or e-mail:
Russell.S.Levin@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 Comments
We encourage you to participate by
submitting comments. 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-2007-27656) and
give the reason for each comment. You
may submit your comments by
electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery
to the Docket Management Facility at
the address under ADDRESSES; but
please submit your comments by only
one means. If you submit them by mail
or delivery, submit them in an unbound
format, no larger than 81?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 received
during the comment period.
Viewing comments and documents:
To view comments, go to http://
dms.dot.gov at any time, click on
``Simple Search,'' enter the last five
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
in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you
may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

Background and Purpose

The Coast Guard broadcasts the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA) National
Weather Service (NWS) weather
forecasts and warnings using 24 high
frequency (HF) radio transmitters
(transmitting on frequencies between 3
and 30 MHz) located at seven Coast
Guard communications stations in the
United States and Guam. The range of
these HF radio transmissions is
dependent upon operating frequency,
time of day and atmospheric conditions,
and can vary from only short distances
to several thousand miles. There are
three types of HF radio broadcasts
currently provided: (1) Voice broadcasts
that transmit a synthesized voice to
announce the forecasts); (2)
radiofacsimile, also known as
``radiofax'' or ``HF Fax'' broadcasts, that
transmit graphic weather maps and
other graphic images over HF radio
(maps are received using a dedicated
radiofax receiver or a single sideband
shortwave receiver connected to an
external facsimile recorder or a personal
computer equipped with a radiofax
interface and application software); and,
(3) Simplex Teletype Over Radio
(SITOR) broadcasts also known as
Narrow Band Direct Printing (NBDP).
The 24 HF transmitters employed to
transmit weather forecasts and warnings
are not, because of their age, providing
the reliability the Coast Guard expects
from its radio transmitters. These
particular transmitters are no longer
manufactured and replacement parts
generally are not available, making it
difficult, if not impossible, to repair
them. If the HF weather broadcasts are
to continue, the infrastructure necessary
for the broadcasts must be replaced.
Significant costs will be incurred to
replace the requisite transmitters and
associated infrastructure. Before seeking
funds for this undertaking, the Coast
Guard must gather evidence relating to
how frequently, and under what
circumstances, the maritime community
uses the various types of HF radio
weather broadcasts. In addition, it
would be helpful to learn about current
and future needs of the maritime
community with regard to receiving
weather forecasts and warnings over HF
radio, and what alternatives are being
used or might become available.
Questions: The following are
questions related to Coast Guard HF
radio broadcasts on which we seek your
comments. It would be helpful if
commenters would answer the question
as specifically as possible, and then
provide explanations, if any, for the
responses.
(1) What is your position in the
maritime community? (Please be as
specific as possible, e.g., captain of 600?
oil tanker, 1st mate on 500 unit
containership, owner/operator of 45?
cruising sailboat, fleet manager of a 27
vessel shipping company, yacht
delivery captain, etc.)
(2) What are your primary sources for
obtaining marine weather forecasts? (For
example, Inmarsat-C/SafetyNet, USCG
HF radio broadcasts, USCG medium
frequency (MF) Radio Broadcasts, USCG
very high frequency (VHF) radio
broadcasts, NOAA Weather Radio,
NAVTEX, shoreside Internet, radio/
television, commercial service/system,
etc.)
(3) Do you use Coast Guard HF radio
voice broadcasts to receive marine
weather forecasts? (Yes or No) If yes,
how often do you use Coast Guard HF
voice broadcasts and how critical are
they to your safety and operation as
compared to the other sources you listed
in your response to Question 2?
(4) Do you use Coast Guard HF
radiofax broadcasts to receive marine
weather forecasts? (Yes or No) If yes,
how often do you use Coast Guard HF
radiofax broadcasts and how critical are
they to your safety and operation as
compared to the other sources you listed
in your response to Question 2?
(5) Do you use Coast Guard HF radio
Simplex Teletype over Radio (SITOR)
(also known as Narrow Band Direct
printing (NBDP)) to receive marine
weather forecasts? (Yes or No) If yes,
how often do you use Coast Guard
SITOR radio broadcasts and how critical
are they to your safety and operation as
compared to the other sources you listed
in your response to Question 2?
(6) What alternative source(s) for
obtaining marine weather forecasts
would you pursue if Coast Guard HF
broadcasts were no longer available?
How would you rate the alternative
source(s) in terms of (a) user cost and (b)
usefulness of the information as
compared to the Coast Guard HF
broadcast it replaces?
(7) Would the loss of Coast Guard HF
marine weather broadcasts affect you?
Please explain.
(8) How far seaward does your vessel
primarily operate? (For example, coastal
(0-25 nautical miles (nm) seaward);
offshore (25-200 nm seaward); or, high
seas (more than 200 nm seaward.) In
what geographic area(s) do you
generally operate your vessel? (For
example, mid-Atlantic, New England,
North Central Pacific, Hawaii, Gulf of
Mexico, etc.)
As noted previously, comments
regarding these questions, and any other
pertinent matters brought to our
attention during the comment period,
will be taken into account in our future
actions regarding the issues raised by
these questions.

Dated: April 18, 2007.

C.S. Johnson, JR.,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting Assistant
Commandant for Command, Control,
Communications, Computers and
Information Technology.
[FR Doc. E7-7945 Filed 4-25-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P

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Author: Timothy Rulon, Marine and Coastal Weather Services Branch W/OS21  
        National Weather Service
	  Last Modified Jun 20, 2007