Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of Defense

###### Department of the Navy

# AGENCY:

Department of the Navy, Department of Defense.

# ACTION:

Notice of issuance of Certificate of Alternate Compliance.

# SUMMARY:

The U.S. Navy hereby announces that a Certificate of Alternate Compliance has been issued for USS Richard M. McCool (LPD-29). Due to the special construction and purpose of this vessel, the Admiralty Counsel of the Navy has determined it is a vessel of the Navy which, due to its special construction and purpose, cannot comply fully with the navigation lights provisions of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (72 COLREGS) without interfering with its special function as a naval ship. The intended effect of this notice is to warn mariners in waters where 72 COLREGS apply.

# DATES:

This Certificate of Alternate Compliance is effective September 25, 2023 and is applicable beginning September 12, 2023.

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

                        Lieutenant Commander Shaun Pehl, JAGC, U.S. Navy, Admiralty Attorney, Office of the Judge Advocate General, Admiralty and Claims Division (Code 15), 1322 Patterson Ave. SE, Suite 3000, Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5066, 202-685-5040, or                         *admiralty@navy.mil.*

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                    Background and Purpose. Executive Order (E.O.) 11964 of January 19, 1977 and 33 U.S.C. 1605 provide that the requirements of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 72 COLREGS, as to the number, position, range, or arc of visibility of lights or shapes, as well as to the disposition and characteristics of sound-signaling appliances, shall not apply to a vessel or class of vessels of the Navy where the Secretary of the Navy shall find and certify that, by reason of special construction or purpose, it is not possible for such vessel(s) to comply fully with the provisions without interfering with the special function of the vessel(s). Notice of issuance of a Certificate of Alternate Compliance must be made in the                     **Federal Register**                    .                

In accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1605, the Admiralty Counsel of the Navy, under authority delegated by the Secretary of the Navy, hereby finds and certifies that USS Richard M. McCool (LPD-29) is a vessel of special construction or purpose, and that, with respect to the position of the following navigational lights, it is not possible to comply fully with the requirements of the provisions enumerated in the 72 COLREGS without interfering with the special function of the vessel:

Annex I, paragraph 2(i)(i) pertaining to the vertical position of the task lights in relation to one another; annex I, paragraph 3(a), pertaining to the horizontal separation of the masthead lights; annex I, paragraph 2 (k), pertaining to the vertical separation of the anchor lights.

The Admiralty Counsel of the Navy further finds and certifies that these navigational lights are in closest possible compliance with the applicable provision of the 72 COLREGS.

*Authority:*33 U.S.C. 1605(c), E.O. 11964.                

Dated: September 20, 2023.

J.E. Koningisor,

Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 2023-20676 Filed 9-22-23; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P