Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 160 / Friday, August 17, 2018 / Notices 41095 

1ANSI/CAN/UL 12402–5, Standard for Personal 

Flotation Devices—Part 5: Buoyancy Aids (Level 

50)—Safety Requirements (UL 12402–5), and ANSI/ 

CAN/UL 12402–9, Standard for Personal Flotation 

Devices—Part 9: Test Methods (UL12402–9). 

(available at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ 

go/roc14). 

Background Information on NTP PeerReview Panels: NTP panels are 

technical, scientific advisory bodies 

established on an ‘‘as needed’’ basis to 

provide independent scientific peer 

review and advise NTP on agents of 

public health concern, new/revised 

toxicological test methods, or other 

issues. These panels help ensure 

transparent, unbiased, and scientifically 

rigorous input to the program for its use 

in making credible decisions about 

human hazard, setting research and 

testing priorities, and providing 

information to regulatory agencies about 

alternative methods for toxicity 

screening. NTP welcomes nominations 

of scientific experts for upcoming 

panels. Scientists interested in serving 

on an NTP panel should provide their 

current curriculum vitae to Kate 

Helmick by email: NTP-Meetings@

icf.com. The authority for NTP panels is 

provided by 42 U.S.C. 217a; section 222 

of the Public Health Service Act, as 

amended. The panel is governed by the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), which 

sets forth standards for the formation 

and use of advisory committees. 

Dated: August 8, 2018. 

Brian R. Berridge, 

Associate Director, National Toxicology 

Program. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17782 Filed 8–16–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

[Docket No. USCG–2018–0565] 

Lifejacket Approval Harmonization 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces 

that it is harmonizing personal flotation 

device (PFD) standards between the 

United States and Canada by accepting 

a new standard for approval of PFDs. 

Specific elements of the new standard 

are contained in a policy letter and 

deregulatory savings analysis, on which 

we are requesting public comment, and 

are intended to promote the Coast 

Guard’s maritime safety and 

stewardship missions. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted to 

the online docket via http:// 

www.regulations.gov, or reach the 

Docket Management Facility, on or 

before October 16, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by docket number USCG– 

2018–0565 using the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov. See the ‘‘Public 

Participation and Comments’’ portion of 

the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

for further instructions on submitting 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information about this document call or 

email Jacqueline Yurkovich, Coast 

Guard; telephone 202–372–1389, email 

Jacqueline.M.Yurkovich@uscg.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Comments 

We encourage you to submit 

comments on the lifejacket approval 

harmonization policy letter entitled, 

ADOPTION OF ANSI/CAN/UL 12402–5 

AND –9, and the deregulatory savings 

analysis entitled, ‘‘Approval for 

Personal Floatation Devices/Adoption of 

ANSI/CAN/UL 12402–5 and 9,’’ which 

are available in the docket. The policy 

letter is also available on the USCG 

website, https://www.dco.uscg.mil/CGENG, listed as CG–ENG Policy 02–18. 

We will consider all submissions and 

may adjust our final action based on 

your comments. If you submit a 

comment, please include the docket 

number for this notice, indicate the 

specific section of the document to 

which each comment applies, and 

provide a reason for each suggestion or 

recommendation. 

We encourage you to submit 

comments through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov. If your material 

cannot be submitted using http://

www.regulations.gov, contact the person 

in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document for 

alternate instructions. Documents 

mentioned in this notice, and all public 

comments, are in our online docket at 

http://www.regulations.gov and can be 

viewed by following that website’s 

instructions. Additionally, if you go to 

the online docket and sign up for email 

alerts, you will be notified when 

comments or other documents are 

posted. 

We accept anonymous comments. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http://

www.regulations.gov and will include 

any personal information you have 

provided. For more about privacy and 

the docket, you may review a Privacy 

Act notice regarding the Federal Docket 

Management System in the March 24, 

2005, issue of the Federal Register (70 

FR 15086). 

Discussion 

The United States Coast Guard 

(USCG) has statutory authority under 

Title 46, U.S. Code, Sections 3306(a) 

and (b), 4102(a) and (b), 4302(a), and 

4502(a) and (c)(2)(B) to prescribe 

regulations for the design, construction, 

performance, testing, carriage, use, and 

inspection of lifesaving equipment on 

commercial and recreational vessels. 

Since 2008, the USCG has been working 

closely with Transport Canada (TC) and 

a diverse group of U.S. and Canadian 

stakeholders to harmonize PFD 

standards with the current international 

standard (ISO 12402) to create a single 

North American standard for PFD 

approval. A single North American 

standard will allow manufacturers the 

opportunity to produce more innovative 

equipment that meets the approval 

requirements of both the United States 

and Canada. 

In 2015, Underwriters Laboratories 

Inc. published bi-national standards 1 to 

set forth performance requirements and 

manufacturing standards for PFDs that 

are being used when vessels are close to 

shore, or where a rescue may be 

imminent. UL 12402–5 sets forth the 

performance requirements for PFDs and, 

within UL 12402–5, there are two levels 

of performance: Level 50 and Level 70. 

A Level 70 PFD provides an equivalent 

level of safety to a Type III PFD 

currently approved under 46 CFR 

160.064, 160.076, or 160.077–15, and 

certified to UL 1123 (Marine Buoyant 

Devices). A Level 50 PFD provides a 

reduced level of performance, and is not 

included in this policy. UL 12402–9 sets 

forth the test methods for determining 

compliance with UL 12402–5. 

In April 2017, the USCG and TC 

signed a Memorandum of 

Understanding (MOU) outlining 

intended cooperation for approval of 

personal lifesaving appliances that 

comply with mutually acceptable 

standards, are tested by mutually 

accepted conformity assessment bodies 

or independent test laboratories, and are 

covered by a mutually acceptable 

follow-up program. In January 2018, TC 

published a policy stating it will accept 

UL 12402–5 as a substitute for its PFD 

standards in support of the MOU. The 

policy letter on which we are requesting 

comment builds on the efforts described 

above by establishing that the USCG 

will accept Level 70 PFDs complying 


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41096 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 160 / Friday, August 17, 2018 / Notices 

2The Resolution requested the U.S. Coast Guard 

work cooperatively with stakeholders to devise and 

implement within 3 years an improved regulatory 

approach to the testing and approval of personal 

flotation devices, including life jackets. 

3 82 FR 26632 (June 8, 2017). 

with UL 12402–5 as equivalent to PFDs 

meeting the requirements in 46 CFR 

160.064 and 160.076, with certain 

exceptions. 

The adoption of this policy marks the 

culmination of over a decade of 

dedicated work across the lifejacket and 

recreational boating safety community 

and supports National Boating Safety 

Advisory Council Resolution 2009–83– 

01, which is available in the docket.2

This policy also responds to a comment 

submitted by the Lifejacket Association 

in response to the Coast Guard’s request 

for public input on ‘‘Evaluation of 

Existing Coast Guard Regulations, 

Guidance Documents, Interpretive 

Documents, and Collections of 

Information,’’ 3 recommending the Coast 

Guard consider full adoption of UL 

12402–5 and UL 12402–9. In order to 

provide the maximum benefit to the 

public with minimum delay, the Coast 

Guard evaluated which elements of the 

new standards could be implemented 

without a change to the regulations. 

Those elements are being adopted by 

this policy. The remaining elements of 

the standards that cannot be adopted 

without a change to the regulations are 

being considered for possible future 

regulatory action. 

This policy letter allows 

manufacturers to have their products 

certified to the new bi-national 

standard, in lieu of the legacy standards 

codified in title 46 CFR. This allowance 

is intended to reduce the burden of 

maintaining approvals in U.S. and 

Canadian markets and to make 

additional types of PFDs available to 

U.S. and Canadian boaters. 

This policy does not impact existing 

PFD approvals, and does not require any 

action on the part of boaters or mariners 

who have approved PFDs onboard. An 

existing approved PFD will continue to 

meet the same carriage requirements, as 

long as it remains in good and 

serviceable condition. 

The Coast Guard has prepared a 

Deregulatory Savings Analysis for the 

policy letter that identifies and 

examines the potential costs and savings 

associated with implementing the new 

standards plan and is available in the 

docket. We request your comments on 

any concerns that you may have related 

to the policy changes. 

This notice is issued under authority 

of 5 U.S.C. 552(a). 

Dated: August 9, 2018. 

J.G. Lantz, 

Director of Commercial Regulations and 

Standards, U.S. Coast Guard. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17799 Filed 8–16–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

[Docket ID FEMA–2014–0022] 

Technical Mapping Advisory Council 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, DHS. 

ACTION: Committee Management; Notice 

of Federal Advisory Committee Meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) Technical 

Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC) will 

meet in person on Tuesday, September 

25, 2018, and Wednesday, September 

26, 2018, in Reston, Virginia. The 

meeting will be open to the public. 

DATES: The TMAC will meet on 

Tuesday, September 25, 2018, from 8:00 

a.m.–5:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time 

(EDT), and Wednesday, September 26, 

2018, from 8:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m. EDT. 

Please note that the meeting will close 

early if the TMAC has completed its 

business. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the United States Geological Survey 

(USGS) Headquarters at 12201 Sunrise 

Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20192. 

Members of the public who wish to 

attend the meeting must register in 

advance by sending an email to FEMATMAC@fema.dhs.gov (Attention: 

Michael Nakagaki) by 11:00 p.m. EDT 

on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. 

Members of the public must follow 

signs for the Visitor’s Entrance on the 

U.S. Geological Survey Drive entrance 

of the USGS; once you pull into the 

Visitor’s Entrance, facility security will 

direct you to parking and where to 

check in at the front desk of the visitor’s 

entrance at the USGS. Photo 

identification is required. 

For information on facilities or 

services for individuals with disabilities 

or to request special assistance at the 

meeting, contact the person listed below 

in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT as soon as possible. 

To facilitate public participation, 

members of the public are invited to 

provide written comments on the issues 

to be considered by the TMAC, as listed 

in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section below. Associated meeting 

materials will be available at 

www.fema.gov/TMAC for review by 

Wednesday, September 19, 2018. 

Written comments to be considered by 

the committee at the time of the meeting 

must be submitted and received by 

Friday, September 21, 2018, identified 

by Docket ID FEMA–2014–0022, and 

submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: Address the email TO: 

FEMA-RULES@fema.dhs.gov and CC: 

FEMA-TMAC@fema.dhs.gov. Include 

Docket ID FEMA–2014–0022 in the 

subject line of the message. Include 

name and contact information in the 

body of the email. 

• Mail: Regulatory Affairs Division, 

Office of Chief Counsel, FEMA, 500 C 

Street SW, Room 8NE, Washington, DC 

20472–3100. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the words ‘‘Federal 

Emergency Management Agency’’ and 

the docket number for this action. 

Comments received will be posted 

without alteration at http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

Docket: For docket access to read 

background documents or comments 

received by the TMAC, go to http://

www.regulations.gov and search for the 

Docket ID FEMA–2014–0022. 

A public comment period will be held 

on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, from 

4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT and again on 

Wednesday, September 26, 2018, from 

11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT. Speakers 

are requested to limit their comments to 

no more than three minutes. The public 

comment period will not exceed 30 

minutes. Please note that the public 

comment period may end before the 

time indicated, following the last call 

for comments. Contact the individual 

listed below to register as a speaker by 

close of business on Friday, September 

21, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Nakagaki, Designated Federal 

Officer for the TMAC, FEMA, 400 C 

Street SW, Washington, DC 20024, 

telephone (202) 212–2148, and email 

michael.nakagaki@fema.dhs.gov. The 

TMAC website is: http://www.fema.gov/ 

TMAC. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of 

this meeting is given under the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. 

Appendix. 

In accordance with the Biggert-Waters 

Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, the 

TMAC makes recommendations to the 

FEMA Administrator on: (1) How to 

improve, in a cost-effective manner, the 

(a) accuracy, general quality, ease of use, 

and distribution and dissemination of 


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