66776 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 247 / Tuesday, December 26, 1995 / Proposed Rules

What other alternatives regarding the

permitting of regatta and marine parades

to ensure the safety of life and

protection of the environment should

the Coast Guard consider?

What other factors or information

should be considered in revising Coast

Guard procedures for processing permit

applications?

All comments received by the Coast

Guard as a result of this notice will be

summarized and provided to NBSAC

members for their consideration and

consultation. The Coast Guard will

consider all relevant comments in the

development of any regulatory project to

revise its procedures for processing

applications for approval of regattas and

marine parades.

Dated: December 18, 1995.

Rudy K. Peschel,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Chief, Office

of Navigation Safety and Waterway Services.

[FR Doc. 95–31217 Filed 12–22–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–14–M

33 CFR Part 117

[CGD13–95–051]

RIN 2115–AE47

Drawbridge Operation Regulations;

Chehalis River, WA

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: At the request of the

Washington Department of

Transportation, the Coast Guard is

considering an amendment to the

regulations governing the operation of

the Union Pacific railroad drawbridge

and the U.S. Route 101 bridge over the

Chehalis River at Aberdeen,

Washington. The proposed rule would

remove the portion of the existing

regulations pertaining to the Union

Pacific railroad drawbridge because that

bridge is no longer in operation and will

be removed. The proposed rule would

also require one hour notice at all times

for opening the drawspan of the U.S.

Route 101 bridge for the passage of

vessels. Finally, the proposed rule

would change the special sound signal

for requesting openings of the U.S.

Route 101 bridge to the standard signal

of one prolonged blast followed by one

short blast.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before February 26, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

mailed to Commander (oan), Thirteenth

Coast Guard District, 915 Second

Avenue, Seattle, Washington, 98174–

1067. The comments and other

materials referenced in this notice will

be available for inspection and copying

at 915 Second Avenue, Room 3410,

Seattle, Washington. Normal office

hours are between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15

p.m., Monday through Friday, except

federal holidays. Comments may also be

hand-delivered to this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John E. Mikesell, Chief, Plans and

Programs Section, Aids to Navigation

and Waterways Management Branch,

(Telephone: (206) 220–7270).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

The Coast Guard encourages

interested persons to participate in this

rulemaking by submitting written data,

views, or arguments. Persons submitting

comments should include their names

and addresses, identify this rulemaking

(CGD13–95–051) and the specific

section of this proposal to which each

comment applies, and give the reason

for each comment. Please submit two

copies of all comments and attachments

in unbound format, no larger than 81⁄2

by 11 inches, suitable for copying and

electronic filing. Persons wanting

acknowledgement of receipt of

comments should enclose stamped, selfaddressed postcards or envelopes.

The Coast Guard will consider all

comments received during the comment

period. It may change this proposal in

view of the comments.

The Coast Guard plans no public

hearing. Persons may request a public

hearing by writing to the Commander,

Thirteenth Coast Guard District at the

address under ADDRESSES. The request

should include the reasons why a

hearing would be beneficial. If it

determines that the opportunity for oral

presentations will aid this rulemaking,

the Coast Guard will hold a hearing at

a time and place announced by a later

notice in the Federal Register.

Drafting Information

The drafters of this notice are Austin

Pratt, Project Officer, Thirteenth Coast

Guard District Aids to Navigation and

Waterfront Management Branch and

Lieutenant Commander John C. Odell,

Project Attorney, Thirteenth Coast

Guard District Legal Office.

Background and Purpose

At the request of the Washington

Department of Transportation, the Coast

Guard is considering an amendment to

the regulations governing the operation

of the Union Pacific railroad drawbridge

and the U.S. Route 101 bridge over the

Chehalis River at Aberdeen,

Washington.

The proposed rule would remove the

portion of the existing regulations

pertaining to the Union Pacific railroad

drawbridge because that bridge is no

longer in operation and will be

removed.

The proposed rule would also amend

the current regulations pertaining to the

U.S. Route 101 bridge to require one

hour notice at all times when requesting

an opening drawspan for the passage of

a vessel.

Current regulations require the

drawspan of the U.S. Route 101 bridge

to be opened on signal from one hour

before sunrise to one hour after sunset.

The Washington State Department of

Transportation operates four other

drawbridges across the nearby Hoquiam

and Wishkah Rivers. These other

bridges are presently operated on a onehour notice basis. In recent years,

requests for openings at these bridges

have decreased. If the proposed one

hour notice for the U.S. Route 101

bridge over the Chehalis River at

Aberdeen, Washington, were adopted in

conformity with the regulations

governing the other bridges in the area,

the Washington Department of

Transportation would be able to serve

all five drawbridges with a single

operator.

The U.S. Route 101 bridge over the

Chehalis River at Aberdeen,

Washington, opened 359 times for

vessel transits in the year measured

from October 1993 to October 1994.

This average somewhat less than one

opening per day. The number of

openings for the nearby drawbridges on

the Wishkah and Hoquiam Rivers

averaged 0.23 per day for the same year.

These figures indicate that a single

operator, provided with one hour

notice, could operate all five of these

bridges without unreasonable delay.

Under the proposed rule, the weekday

closed periods for accommodating

commuter traffic on the roadway would

remain unchanged, as would the

exception for vessels of 5000 gross tons

or more. Under the proposed rule,

however, vessels of 5000 gross tons or

more would be required to provided the

proposed one hour notice when

requesting an opening during the

weekday closed periods.

Finally, under the proposed rule the

special sound signal prescribed for

requesting an opening at the U.S. Route

101 bridge would also be deleted in

order to conform to the standard signal

of one prolonged blast followed by one

short blast as generally required by 33

CFR 117.15. A unique sound signal is

no longer needed because the adjacent

Union Pacific railroad drawbridge

immediately downstream of the U.S.
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 247 / Tuesday, December 26, 1995 / Proposed Rules 66777

Route 101 bridge is no longer in

operation and will be removed.

Discussion of Proposed Rule

The proposed rule would amend 33

CFR 117.1031 by removing paragraph

(a) which pertains to the Union Pacific

railroad drawbridge. The proposed rule

would also remove the designation ‘‘(b)’’

from paragraph (b) pertaining to the U.S.

Route 101 bridge and amend that

paragraph to state that the draw shall be

opened on signal if at least one hour

notice is provided. No special sound

signal other than the standard signal

prescribed by § 117.15 would be

required for requesting an opening of

the U.S. Route 101 bridge. Retained

would be the provision that the draw of

the U.S. Route 101 bridge need not open

for vessels of less than 5,000 gross tons

from 7:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and from

4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. on weekdays,

except for Federal holidays.

Regulatory Evaluation

This proposed rule is not a significant

regulatory action under 3(f) of Executive

Order 12866 and does not require an

assessment of potential cost and benefits

under section 6(a)(3) of that order. It has

been exempted from review by the

Office of Management and Budget under

that order. It is not significant under the

regulatory policies and procedures of

the Department of Transportation (DOT)

(44 FR 11040; February 26, 1979). The

Coast Guard expects the economic

impact of this proposed rule to be so

minimal that a full regulatory evaluation

under paragraph 10e of the regulatory

policies and procedures of DOT is

unnecessary. This expectation is based

on the fact that vessel operators would

not be unreasonably impeded or incur

additional expense by a requirement to

provide one hour notice for draw

openings.

Small Entities

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

(5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the Coast Guard

must consider whether this proposal

will have a significant effect on a

substantial number of small entities.

‘‘Small entities’’ include independently

owned and operated small businesses

that are not dominant in their field and

that otherwise qualify as ‘‘small

business concerns’’ under seciton 3 of

the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).

The Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C.

605(b) that this proposal, if adopted,

will not have a significant impact on a

significant number of small entities.

Collection of Information

This proposal contains no collection

of information requirements under the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.).

Federalism

The Coast Guard has analyzed this

proposal under the principles and

criteria contained in Executive Order

12612, and it has been determined that

the proposed rulemaking does not have

sufificent federalism implications to

warrant the preparation of a Federalism

Assessment.

Environment

The Coast Guard considered the

environmental impact of this proposal

and concluded that, under section 2.B.2.

of Commandant Instruction M16475.B,

this proposal is categorically excluded

from further environmental

documentation. A ‘‘Categorical

Exclusion Determination’’ is available in

the docket for inspection or copying.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 117

Bridges.

Proposed Regulations

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, the Coast Guard proposes to

amend part 117 of title 33, Code of

Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 117—DRAWBRIDGE

OPERATION REGULATIONS

1. The authority citation for Part 117

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 499; 49 CFR 1.46; 33

CFR 1.05–1(g); section 117.255 also issued

under the authority of Pub. L. 102–587, 106

Stat. 5039.

2. Section 117.1031 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 117.1031 Chehalis River.

The draw of the U.S. Route 101

highway bridge, mile 0.1, at Aberdeen,

Washington, shall open on signal if at

least one hour notice is given to the

Washington Department of

Transportation by marine radio,

telephone, or other suitable means,

except that the draw need not open for

vessels of less than 5,000 gross tons

from 7:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and from

4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Monday through

Friday, except Federal holidays.

Dated: December 15, 1995.

J.W. Lockwood,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard Commander,

13th Coast Guard District.

[FR Doc. 95–31216 Filed 12–22–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–14–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[TN–134–1–6769b; FRL–5317–1]

Approval and Promulgation of

Implementation Plans; Tennessee:

Revisions to Knox County Regulations

for Appeals, Violations, Monitoring,

Recording, and Reporting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The EPA proposes to approve

the State Implementation Plan (SIP)

revision submitted by the State of

Tennessee for the purpose of

incorporating changes to regulations for

appeals, judicial review, violations, and

monitoring, recording and reporting in

the Knox County portion of the

Tennessee SIP. In the final rules section

of this Federal Register, the EPA is

approving the State’s SIP revision as a

direct final rule without prior proposal

because the Agency views this as a

noncontroversial revision amendment

and anticipates no adverse comments. A

detailed rationale for the approval is set

forth in the direct final rule. If no

adverse comments are received in

response to this proposed rule, no

further activity is contemplated in

relation to this proposed rule. If EPA

receives adverse comments, the direct

final rule will be withdrawn and all

public comments received will be

addressed in a subsequent final rule

based on this proposed rule. The EPA

will not institute a second comment

period on this document. Any parties

interested in commenting on this

document should do so at this time.

DATES: To be considered, comments

must be received by January 25, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this

action should be addressed to Karen

Borel, at the EPA Regional Office listed

below. Copies of the documents relative

to this action are available for public

inspection during normal business

hours at the following locations. The

interested persons wanting to examine

these documents should make an

appointment with the appropriate office

at least 24 hours before the visiting day.

Air and Radiation Docket and

Information Center (Air Docket 6102),

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC

20460.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region 4 Air Programs Branch, 345

Courtland Street, NE, Atlanta, Georgia

30365.