72416 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 232 / Monday, December 5, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

(C) Vacated the warrant for your arrest 

for the criminal offense, or 

(D) Issued any similar exonerating 

order or took a similar exonerating 

action, or 

(ii) You were erroneously implicated 

in connection with the criminal offense 

by reason of identity fraud or mistaken 

identity. 

(2) If none of the actions in paragraph 

(b)(1) of this section are met, we may 

find you eligible and pay you benefits 

if you contact us within 1 year of the 

date you receive our notice of planned 

action and supply proof within 90 days 

after the date you contact us that all of 

the following apply: 

(i) The crime, attempt to commit a 

crime, or violating a condition of 

probation or parole which the warrant is 

based on was both nonviolent and not 

drug-related and, if violating probation 

or parole, the original crime(s) for which 

you were paroled or put on probation 

was both nonviolent and not drugrelated. Violent crimes are those that 

threaten, attempt to use, or actually use 

physical force against a person; e.g., 

assault, homicide, kidnapping/ 

abduction, robbery, and forcible sex 

offenses. Drug-related crimes are those 

involving the unlawful cultivation, 

manufacture, distribution, sale, 

purchase, use, possession, 

transportation, or importation of any 

controlled drug or narcotic substance, 

and 

(ii) You have neither been convicted 

of nor pled guilty to another felony 

crime (or, in jurisdictions in the United 

States and abroad that do not define 

crimes as felonies, is punishable by 

death or imprisonment for more than 1 

year regardless of the actual sentence 

imposed) since the date of the warrant, 

and 

(iii) The law enforcement agency that 

issued the warrant reports that it will 

not extradite you for the charges on the 

warrant, or that it will not take action 

on the warrant for your arrest. 

(3) If paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this 

section do not apply, we will find you 

eligible and pay you benefits if you 

contact us within 1 year of the date you 

receive our notice of planned action and 

supply proof within 90 days after the 

date that you contact us that all of the 

following apply: 

(i) The crime, attempt to commit a 

crime, or violating a condition of 

probation or parole which the warrant is 

based on was both nonviolent and not 

drug-related and, if violating probation 

or parole, the original crime(s) for which 

you were paroled or put on probation 

was both nonviolent and not drugrelated, as defined in paragraph (b)(2)(i) 

of this section, and 

(ii) You have neither been convicted 

of nor pled guilty to another felony 

crime (or, in jurisdictions in the United 

States and abroad that do not define 

crimes as felonies, is punishable by 

death or imprisonment for more than 1 

year, regardless of the actual sentence 

imposed) since the date of the warrant, 

and 

(iii) The warrant was issued 10 or 

more years ago, and 

(iv) Your medical condition impairs 

your mental capability to resolve the 

warrant; or you are incapable of 

managing your benefits; or you are 

legally incompetent; or we have 

appointed a representative payee to 

handle your benefits; or you are residing 

in a long-term care facility, such as a 

nursing home or mental treatment/care 

facility. 

(c) Resumption of payments. If 

benefits are otherwise payable, they will 

be resumed effective with the first 

month throughout which you no longer 

have an outstanding warrant, or are no 

longer violating a condition of probation 

or parole. If we determine that you meet 

the requirements in paragraph (b) of this 

section, we will pay you benefits and 

repay any benefits previously withheld 

under paragraph (a) of this section, 

beginning with either the month the 

arrest warrant was issued, the month of 

initial title XVI eligibility, or January 

2005, whichever is later. 

[FR Doc. 05–23618 Filed 12–2–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

20 CFR Parts 404 and 416 

[Regulation Nos. 4 and 16] 

RIN 0960–AG19 

Continuing Disability Review Failure 

To Cooperate Process 

AGENCY: Social Security Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: We propose to amend our 

regulations to provide that we will 

suspend your disability benefits before 

we make a determination during a 

continuing disability review (CDR) 

under title II and title XVI of the Social 

Security Act (the Act) when you fail to 

comply with our request for necessary 

information. Should you remain noncompliant for a period of one year 

following your suspension, we will then 

terminate your disability benefits. 

Although our current title XVI 

regulations generally provide for the 

termination of payments after 12 

months of suspension, we are proposing 

to amend our regulations by adding this 

policy to our title II regulations and by 

restating it in the title XVI CDR 

regulatory provisions. 

DATES: To be sure that your comments 

are considered, we must receive them 

no later than February 3, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: You may give us your 

comments by: using our Internet site 

facility (i.e., Social Security Online) at 

http://policy.ssa.gov/erm/rules.nsf/ 

Rules+Open+To+Comment or the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov; e-mail to 

regulations@ssa.gov; by telefax to (410) 

966–2830; or by letter to the 

Commissioner of Social Security, P.O. 

Box 17703, Baltimore, MD 21235–7703. 

You may also deliver them to the Office 

of Regulations, Social Security 

Administration, 100 Altmeyer Building, 

6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 

21235–6401, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 

p.m. on regular business days. 

Comments are posted on our Internet 

site, at http://policy.ssa.gov/erm/ 

rules.nsf/Rules+Open+To+Comment, or 

you may inspect them on regular 

business days by making arrangements 

with the contact person shown in this 

preamble. 

Electronic Version: The electronic file 

of this document is available on the date 

of publication in the Federal Register at 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ 

index.html. It is also available on the 

Internet site for SSA (i.e., Social 

Security Online) at http:// 

www.policy.ssa.gov/erm/rules.nsf/ 

Rules+Open+To+Comment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don 

Harvey, Social Insurance Specialist, 

Office of Program Development and 

Research, Social Security 

Administration, 6401 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235–6401, 

(410) 597–1026 or TTY (410) 966–5609. 

For information on eligibility or filing 

for benefits, call our national toll-free 

number, 1–800–772–1213 or TTY 1–

800–325–0778 or visit our Internet Web 

site, Social Security Online, at http:// 

www.socialsecurity.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Statutory Background 

Sections 221(i) and 1614(a)(3)(H)(ii)(I) 

of the Act and §§ 404.1589, 416.987 and 

416.989 of our regulations require that 

after we find that you are disabled, we 

evaluate your impairment(s) from time 

to time to determine if you remain 

disabled. We call this evaluation a 

continuing disability review (CDR). If 

the medical and other evidence shows 

that you are not disabled under the 

standards set out in sections 223(f) and 

1614(a)(4) of the Act, we will end the 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 232 / Monday, December 5, 2005 / Proposed Rules 72417 

payment of cash benefits and terminate 

your period of disability. 

Section 1614(a)(3)(H)(iii) of the Act 

and § 416.987 of our regulations require 

that if you are eligible for payments as 

a child under title XVI by reason of 

disability, we redetermine that 

eligibility during the one-year period 

beginning on your 18th birthday, or, in 

lieu of a CDR, whenever we determine 

that your case is subject to such a 

review. We call this evaluation an age–

18 redetermination. If the medical and 

other evidence shows that you are not 

disabled under the standards set out in 

section 1614(a)(3)(A)–(B) of the Act, we 

will end the payment of cash payments 

and terminate your period of disability. 

Sections 223(f) and 1614(a)(4) of the 

Act provide that, in general, if you 

receive disability benefits under titles II 

and/or XVI of the Act, we may find that 

you are no longer disabled if substantial 

evidence shows that there has been 

medical improvement in your 

impairment or combination of 

impairments, and you are now able to 

do substantial gainful activity. Under 

title XVI, if you are a child (an 

individual under age 18), substantial 

evidence must show that there has been 

medical improvement in your 

impairment or combination of 

impairments, and the impairment(s) 

must no longer cause marked and severe 

functional limitations. We call this the 

medical improvement review standard 

(MIRS), and we apply it whenever we 

do a CDR for an adult or child. The 

statute also provides, however, for 

several exceptions to the ‘‘medical 

improvement’’ requirement where we 

will not apply the MIRS. One of those 

exceptions to applying the MIRS is the 

situation where you fail, without good 

cause, to cooperate with us when we do 

a CDR. 

Continuing Disability Review and Age–

18 Redetermination Processes Under 

Our Current Regulations 

When we begin a CDR or an age–18 

redetermination, we notify you that we 

are reviewing your eligibility for 

disability benefits and explain why we 

are reviewing your eligibility; what 

standard will apply, either the MIRS in 

a CDR or the initial claims criteria in an 

age–18 redetermination; that our review 

could result in the termination of your 

benefits; and that you have the right to 

submit medical and other evidence for 

us to consider during the CDR or the 

age–18 redetermination. Before we 

determine whether you are still 

disabled, we develop a complete 

medical history covering at least the 12 

months preceding the date that you 

complete a report about your continuing 

disability status. If our review shows 

that we should stop your benefits, we 

notify you in writing and give you the 

opportunity to appeal. (See §§ 404.1589 

and 416.989 of our regulations.) We 

explain when and how often we will do 

a CDR in §§ 404.1590 and 404.1591 of 

our title II regulations and in §§ 416.990 

and 416.991 of our title XVI regulations. 

We explain when we will do an age–18 

redetermination in § 416.987 of our title 

XVI regulations. 

When we do a CDR, §§ 404.1594(e)(2), 

416.987(e)(3), 416.994(b)(4)(ii) and 

416.994a(f)(2) of our regulations set out 

the general principle that is reflected in 

sections 223(f) and 1614(a)(4) of the Act; 

i.e., that you have the responsibility to 

cooperate with us, or take any required 

action that we decide is necessary to 

allow us to complete the CDR or age–

18 redetermination. If you do not 

cooperate with us, and you do not have 

good cause as defined in §§ 404.911 and 

416.1411 of our regulations for not 

cooperating, we will find that your 

disability has ended. 

We currently have no provision in our 

regulations that allows us to suspend 

your benefits under title II of the Act if 

you fail to cooperate with us when we 

request necessary information during a 

CDR. However, § 416.1322 of our title 

XVI regulations provides general 

authority that allows us to suspend your 

payments under title XVI of the Act, 

whenever you fail to cooperate with our 

requests for information, including 

during a CDR. 

When we suspend your title XVI 

payments for such failure to cooperate 

under § 416.1322, we follow 

§ 416.714(b) of our regulations, which 

gives you thirty days from the date of 

our written request to comply with the 

request for information. We also follow 

§ 416.1336 of our regulations, which 

provides that before we suspend, 

reduce, or terminate your title XVI 

payments, we will give you advance 

notice of our intent and provide you 

with appeal rights and payment 

continuation rights pending resolution 

of the appeal. When we terminate your 

title XVI payments due to continuous 

suspension of payments, we follow 

§ 416.1335 of our regulations, which 

provides that we will terminate your 

eligibility for payments following 12 

consecutive months of payment 

suspension. 

Why Are We Proposing To Revise Our 

Regulations? 

We are continually exploring ways to 

improve the disability process. These 

proposed rule changes would allow us 

to make our rules consistent for all 

beneficiaries under both titles II and 

XVI, implement a more efficient CDR 

process, encourage beneficiaries to 

cooperate during the CDR process, and 

make the process less burdensome. 

As a result of the proposed revisions, 

your failure to cooperate in the CDR 

process would result initially in a 

suspension rather than a termination of 

benefits based on a determination that 

you are no longer entitled to benefits. To 

have your benefits resumed, you would 

only have to contact your local Social 

Security office and provide the 

requested information and you would 

have up to 12 months to do so. 

Accordingly, you would not have to file 

an appeal in order to have your benefits 

resumed. In addition, you would not 

have to request, prepare for, and attend 

a hearing for your benefits to be 

resumed. 

How Are We Proposing To Change Our 

Regulations? 

We propose to revise §§ 404.1587 and 

404.1596 of our title II regulations and 

to add new § 416.992 to our title XVI 

regulations. With respect to § 404.1587, 

we propose to revise the title to reflect 

that your benefits may be terminated as 

well as suspended. In addition, we 

propose to designate the current 

paragraph as paragraph (a) and add a 

heading to it. We also propose to add 

new paragraphs (b) and (c). Under 

proposed § 404.1587(b), we would 

suspend your benefits during a CDR 

when you do not cooperate with us by 

failing to comply with our written 

request for any necessary information. If 

you subsequently give us the 

information that we requested, we 

would reinstate your benefits and 

continue with the CDR process. We 

would reinstate your benefits for any 

previous month for which they are 

otherwise payable. Under proposed 

§ 404.1587(c), we would terminate your 

benefits following 12 consecutive 

months of benefit suspension when you 

fail to comply with our written request 

for any necessary information made 

during a CDR. This termination would 

be effective with the start of the 13th 

month after your benefits were stopped 

because you failed to cooperate. You 

would have the right to appeal the 

termination, but you would not have 

benefit continuation rights. 

Under the proposed revisions to 

§ 404.1596, we would revise the title to 

reflect that your benefits may be 

terminated as well as suspended. We 

also would remove current paragraphs 

(c)(1) and (c)(2) and add new paragraphs 

(d) and (e) to explain that we would not 

make a medical determination when 

you do not cooperate with us by failing 

to comply with our written request for 

72418 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 232 / Monday, December 5, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

any necessary information. We would 

suspend your benefits only after we give 

you advance notice. (See § 404.1595.) 

The advance notice would tell you what 

you need to do so that your benefits are 

not suspended as outlined in 

§ 404.1595(b)(3) of our regulations. 

Under the proposed revisions to 

§ 404.1596(d), we are adding language to 

explain that if we suspend your benefits 

because you fail to cooperate and you 

subsequently give us the information 

that we requested, we would reinstate 

your benefits and continue with the 

CDR process. We would reinstate your 

benefits for any previous months for 

which they are otherwise payable. 

With respect to § 404.1596(e), we 

propose to explain that if we suspend 

your benefits because you do not give us 

the information that we need and you 

fail to respond during the subsequent 

12-month period, we would terminate 

your benefits. The termination would be 

effective with the start of the 13th 

month after your benefits were stopped 

because you failed to cooperate. You 

would have the right to appeal the 

termination, but you would not have 

benefit continuation rights. 

We are proposing to add a new 

§ 416.992 to explain what would 

happen if you fail to comply with our 

request for information during a CDR or 

age–18 redetermination. We would 

suspend your payments before we make 

a determination regarding your 

continuing eligibility for disability 

payments if you fail to comply with our 

request for information for your CDR or 

age–18 redetermination. We would 

suspend your payments only after we 

give you advance notice as described in 

§ 416.995. The advance notice would 

tell you what you need to do so that 

your payments are not suspended as 

outlined in § 416.1336 of our 

regulations. If we suspend your 

payments because you fail to cooperate 

and you subsequently give us the 

information that we requested, we 

would reinstate your payments and 

continue with the CDR or age–18 

redetermination process. We would 

reinstate your payments for any 

previous month for which they are 

otherwise payable. If we suspend your 

payments because you do not give us 

the information that we need and you 

fail to respond during the subsequent 

12-month period, we would terminate 

your payments. The termination would 

be effective with the start of the 13th 

month after your payments were 

stopped because you failed to cooperate. 

You would have the right to appeal the 

termination, but you would not have 

payment continuation rights. 

Clarity of These Proposed Rules 

Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, as 

amended by E.O.13258, requires each 

agency to write all rules in plain 

language. In addition to your 

substantive comments on these 

proposed rules, we invite your 

comments on how to make these 

proposed rules easier to understand. For 

example: 

• Have we organized the material to suit 

your needs? 

• Are the requirements in the rules 

clearly stated? 

• Do the rules contain technical 

language or jargon that is not clear? 

• Would a different format (grouping 

and order of sections, use of headings, 

paragraphing) make the rules easier to 

understand? 

• Would more (but shorter) sections be 

better? 

• Could we improve clarity by adding 

tables, lists, or diagrams? 

• What else could we do to make the 

rules easier to understand? 

Regulatory Procedures 

Executive Order 12866 

We have consulted with the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

determined that these proposed rules 

would meet the criteria for a significant 

regulatory action under E.O. 12866, as 

amended by E.O. 13258. Thus they were 

subject to OMB review. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

We certify that these proposed rules 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities because they affect only 

individuals. Thus, a regulatory 

flexibility analysis as provided in the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, as amended, 

is not required. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

These proposed regulations impose 

no reporting requirements subject to 

OMB clearance. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 96.001, Social Security—

Disability Insurance; 96.002, Social 

Security—Retirement Insurance; 96.004; 

Social Security—Survivors Insurance; 

96.006; Supplemental Security Income.) 

List of Subjects 

20 CFR Part 404 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Blind, Disability benefits, 

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability 

Insurance, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Social Security. 

20 CFR Part 416 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Aged, Blind, Disability 

benefits, Public assistance programs, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Supplemental Security 

Income (SSI). 

Dated: November 28, 2005. 

Jo Anne B. Barnhart, 

Commissioner of Social Security. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, we propose to amend subpart 

P of part 404 and subpart I of part 416 

of chapter III of title 20 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations, as set forth below: 

PART 404—FEDERAL OLD-AGE, 

SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY 

INSURANCE (1950–) 

Subpart P—[Amended] 

1. The authority citation for subpart P 

of part 404 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sections 202, 205(a), (b), and 

(d)-(h), 216(i), (221(a) and (i), 222(c), 223, 

225, and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act 

(42 U.S.C. 402, 405(a), (b), and (d)-(h), 416(i), 

421(a) and (i), 422(c), 423, 425, and 

902(a)(5)); section 211(b), Pub. L. 104–193, 

110 Stat. 2105, 2189. 

2. Section 404.1587 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 404.1587 Circumstances under which we 

may suspend and terminate your benefits 

before we make a determination. 

(a) We will suspend your benefits if 

you are not disabled. We will suspend 

your benefits if all of the information we 

have clearly shows that you are not 

disabled and we will be unable to 

complete a determination soon enough 

to prevent us from paying you more 

monthly benefits than you are entitled 

to. This may occur when you are blind 

as defined in the law and age 55 or older 

and you have returned to work similar 

to work you previously performed. 

(b) We will suspend your benefits if 

you fail to comply with our request for 

necessary information. We will suspend 

your benefits effective with the month 

in which it is determined in accordance 

with § 404.1596(b)(2)(i) that your 

disability benefits should stop due to 

your failure, without good cause, to 

comply with our request for necessary 

information. When we have received the 

information, we will continue with the 

CDR process and reinstate your benefits 

for any previous month for which they 

are otherwise payable. 

(c) We will terminate your benefits. 

We will terminate your benefits 

following 12 consecutive months of 

benefit suspension because you did not 

comply with our request for information 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 232 / Monday, December 5, 2005 / Proposed Rules 72419 

in accordance with § 404.1596(b)(2)(i). 

We will count the 12-month suspension 

period from the start of the first month 

that you stopped receiving benefits (see 

paragraph (b) of this section). This 

termination is effective with the start of 

the 13th month after the suspension 

began because you failed to cooperate. 

3. Section 404.1596 is amended by 

revising the section heading, removing 

paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2), 

redesignating paragraphs (c)(3) and 

(c)(4) as paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2), and 

adding new paragraphs (d) and (e) to 

read as follows: 

§ 404.1596 Circumstances under which we 

may suspend and terminate your benefits 

before we make a determination. 

* * * * * 

(d) When the suspension is effective. 

We will suspend your benefits effective 

with the month in which it is 

determined in accordance with 

§ 404.1596(b)(2)(i) that your disability 

benefits should stop due to your failure, 

without good cause, to comply with our 

request for necessary information for 

your continuing disability review. This 

review is to determine whether or not 

you continue to meet the disability 

requirements of the law. When we have 

received the information, we will 

continue with the CDR process and 

reinstate your benefits for any previous 

month for which they are otherwise 

payable. 

(e) When we will terminate your 

benefits. We will terminate your 

benefits following 12 consecutive 

months of benefit suspension because 

you did not comply with our request for 

information in accordance with 

§ 404.1596(b)(2)(i). We will count the 

12-month suspension period from the 

start of the first month that you stopped 

receiving benefits (see paragraph (d) of 

this section). This termination is 

effective with the start of the 13th 

month after the suspension began 

because you failed to cooperate. 

PART 416—SUPPLEMENTAL 

SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, 

BLIND, AND DISABLED 

Subpart I—[Amended] 

4. The authority citation for subpart I 

of part 416 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sections 702(a)(5), 1611, 1614, 

1619, 1631(a), (c), and (d)(1), and 1633 of the 

Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5), 

1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383(a), (c), and (d)(1), 

and 1383(b); secs. 4(c) and (5), 6(c)-(e), 14(a), 

and 15, Pub. L. 98–460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 

1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 1382h 

note). 

5. Section 416.992 is added to read as 

follows: 

§ 416.992 What happens if you fail to 

comply with our request for information. 

We will suspend your payments 

before we make a determination 

regarding your continued eligibility for 

disability payments if you fail to comply 

with our request for information for 

your continuing disability review or 

age-18 redetermination. The suspension 

is effective with the month in which it 

is determined in accordance with 

§ 416.1322 that your eligibility for 

disability payments has ended due to 

your failure to comply with our request 

for necessary information. When we 

have received the information, we will 

continue with the CDR or age-18 

redetermination process, and reinstate 

your payments for any previous month 

for which they are otherwise payable. 

We will terminate your eligibility for 

payments following 12 consecutive 

months of payment suspension as 

discussed in § 416.1335. 

[FR Doc. 05–23615 Filed 12–2–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 117 

[CGD13–05–040] 

RIN 1625–AA09 

Drawbridge Operation Regulations; 

Wishkah River, WA 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to 

temporarily modify the drawbridge 

operation regulations for the Heron 

Street Bridge across the Wishkah River, 

mile 0.2, at Aberdeen, Washington. The 

proposed temporary change will enable 

the bridge owner to delay and plan for 

openings of the bridge from February 

2006 through March 2007. This will 

facilitate major structural and 

mechanical rehabilitation of the bridge. 

DATES: Comments and related material 

must reach the Coast Guard on or before 

February 3, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: You may mail comments 

and related material to Commander 

(dpw), 13th Coast Guard District, 915 

Second Avenue, Seattle, WA 98174–

1067 where the public docket for this 

rulemaking is maintained. Comments 

and material received from the public, 

as well as documents indicated in this 

preamble as being available in the 

docket, will become part of this docket 

and will be available for inspection or 

copying at the Waterways Management 

Branch between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Austin Pratt, Chief, Bridge Section, 

(206) 220–7282. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Request for Comments 

We encourage you to participate in 

this rulemaking by submitting 

comments and related material. If you 

do so, please include your name and 

address, identify the docket number for 

this rulemaking [CGD13–05–040], 

indicate the specific section of this 

document to which each comment 

applies, and give the reason for each 

comment. Please submit all comments 

and related material in an unbound 

format, no larger than 81⁄2 by 11 inches, 

suitable for copying. If you would like 

to know they reached us, please enclose 

a stamped, self-addressed postcard or 

envelope. We will consider all 

comments and material received during 

the comment period. We may change 

this proposed rule in view of them. 

Public Meeting 

We do not now plan to hold a public 

meeting. But you may submit a request 

for a meeting by writing to the Aids to 

Navigation and Waterways Management 

Branch at the address under ADDRESSES

explaining why one would be 

beneficial. If we determine that one 

would aid this rulemaking, we will hold 

one at a time and place announced by 

a later notice in the Federal Register. 

Background and Purpose 

The proposed temporary rule would 

enable the Washington State 

Department of Transportation (WSDOT), 

the owner of the bridge, to rehabilitate 

the structure and manage interruptions 

to this refurbishment caused by draw 

openings. The 48-hour notice 

requirement proposed as a temporary 

requirement would enable the work to 

proceed while still providing 

operational capability. The work 

includes mechanical and electrical 

improvements, seismic retrofit, debris 

containment, replacement of all 

navigation lights and hydraulic locks for 

the swing span. This work will be done 

between February, 2006 and April, 

2007. The replacement of the center 

bearing will require the bridge to be 

closed for 14 calendar days and will be 

authorized via a separate rulemaking. 

This portion of the project will require 

jacking the span in place to replace the 

pivot bearing, thereby immobilizing the 

draw.