Document ID: USCG-2013-1087-0158
Agency: uscg
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Seafarers' Access to Maritime Facilities (Federal Register Publication)
Posted Date: 2015-05-27T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 27, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30189-30190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12657]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Parts 101 and 105

[Docket No. USCG-2013-1087]

Seafarers' Access to Maritime Facilities

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice to reopen public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is reopening the public comment period for the 
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) entitled ``Seafarers' Access to 
Maritime Facilities,'' which published in the Federal Register on 
December 29, 2014. The NPRM proposed to require each owner or operator 
of a facility regulated by the Coast Guard to implement a system that 
provides seafarers and other individuals with access between vessels 
moored at the facility and the facility gate, in a timely manner and at 
no cost to the seafarer or other individual. As originally published, 
the comment period for the NPRM closed on February 27, 2015. Several 
members of the public have requested additional time to comment on the 
NPRM, citing various timing constraints. In order to provide interested 
members of the public an additional opportunity to submit comments on 
the NPRM, the Coast Guard is reopening the public comment period for 60 
days. We are particularly interested in comments on our estimate that 
there is a 10.3 percent non-compliance rate of facilities with respect 
to providing seafarers' access. In addition to comments on this topic, 
we will consider all public comments on the NPRM received during the 
reopened comment period. We request that you not re-submit comments 
already in the docket.

DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our 
online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before July 1, 2015 
or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2013-1087 using any one of the following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov;
    (2) Fax: 202-493-2251;
    (3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001; or
    (4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on 
submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about this 
notice, call or email LCDR Kevin McDonald, Cargo and Facilities 
Division (CG-FAC-2), Coast Guard; telephone 202-372-1168; email 
Kevin.J.McDonald2@uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing material 
in the docket, call Ms. Cheryl Collins, Program Manager, Docket 
Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting 
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted, 
without change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the 
docket number for this rulemaking (USCG-2013-1087) and provide a reason 
for each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and 
material online or by fax, mail or hand delivery, but please use only 
one of these means. We recommend that you include your name and a 
mailing address, an email address, or a telephone number in the body of 
your document so that we can contact you if we have questions regarding 
your submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
use ``USCG-2013-1087'' as your search term. Locate the docket for this 
rulemaking and follow the instructions on that Web site for submitting 
public comments. If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, 
submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, 
suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit comments 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 and material received during the comment period.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as 
documents mentioned in the NPRM as being available in the docket, go to 
http://www.regulations.gov and use ``USCG-2013-1087'' as your search 
term. Locate the docket for this rulemaking and follow the instructions 
on that Web site for viewing comments and documents in the docket. If 
you do not have access to the Internet, you may view the docket online 
by visiting the Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the 
ground floor of the Department of Transportation West Building, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. We have an agreement 
with the Department of Transportation to use the Docket Management 
Facility.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of 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 a 
Privacy Act system of records notice regarding our public dockets in 
the January 17, 2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

Regulatory History and Information

    On December 29, 2014, the Coast Guard published an NPRM entitled 
``Seafarers' Access to Maritime Facilities'' (79 FR 77981). The NPRM 
proposed to require each owner or operator of a facility regulated by 
the Coast Guard to implement a system that provides seafarers and other 
individuals with access between vessels moored at the facility and the 
facility gate in a timely manner and at no cost to the seafarer or 
other individual. As originally published, the comment

[[Page 30190]]

period for the NPRM expired on February 27, 2015. To date, the Coast 
Guard has received approximately 150 public submissions, which are 
available for viewing in the online docket for this rulemaking.
    Additionally, on January 23, 2015, the Coast Guard held a public 
meeting in Washington, DC, to solicit comments on the proposals in the 
NPRM. Approximately 11 parties provided oral comments at the meeting, 
and more than 500 parties viewed the meeting online via live video 
feed. A video recording of the public meeting is available for viewing 
at https://www.youtube.com/embed/1hAjrvUNylY?rel=0.

Background and Purpose

    Since publication of the NPRM, the Coast Guard has received several 
written and oral comments requesting an extension of the public comment 
period. Commenters cited different reasons for the request to extend 
the public comment period, including the timing of the publication, a 
delay in submitted comments posting to the electronic docket, and the 
complexity of the NPRM's proposals and economic analysis. The 
commenters requesting an extended public comment period either 
requested an additional 60 days, or they did not specify a number of 
additional days. In response to these requests, the Coast Guard is 
reopening the public comment period for an additional 60 days. The 
Coast Guard will consider all of the public comments posted to the 
docket, including those already submitted. We request that you not re-
submit comments that are already in the docket. You may, however, 
comment on other documents and comments that are in the docket. If you 
choose to do so, please ensure you identify which document or comment 
you are responding to.

Request for Comments

    We encourage your participation by submitting your comments to the 
Docket Management Facility as specified in the ADDRESSES section above. 
Please refer to the NPRM for a detailed discussion of the proposals, as 
well as the list of topics included in the request for comments on 
specific issues (79 FR 77981, 77987).
    We also encourage you to view the NPRM's accompanying Preliminary 
Regulatory Analysis and Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(Regulatory Analysis), available for viewing in the docket. To view the 
Regulatory Analysis, go to http://www.regulations.gov and use ``USCG-
2013-1087'' as your search term. Once you locate and open the docket 
folder for this rulemaking, click on ``View all documents and comments 
in this Docket.'' From there check the box, ``Supporting & Related 
Material,'' on the left side of the screen. This will display a link to 
the Regulatory Analysis. We are particularly interested in comments 
from the public on our estimate that there is a 10.3 percent non-
compliance rate of facilities with respect to providing seafarers' 
access.\1\ Some commenters have suggested that the 10.3 percent non-
compliance rate estimate is too low. We are interested in learning if 
there is a better estimate or if there are other sources of information 
for obtaining the non-compliance rate. In addition to comments on this 
topic, we will consider all public comments on the NPRM received during 
the reopened comment period.
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    \1\ See NPRM (79 FR 77987), Item 5 from our list of specific 
requests for comments.
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Authority

    We issue this notice under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 553, 46 U.S.C. 
70103 (Note), 46 U.S.C. 70124, 33 U.S.C. 1226, 33 U.S.C. 1231, and 
Department of Homeland Security Delegation 0710.1(II)(70, 71, and 97).

    Dated: May 20, 2015.
J.C. Burton,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Inspections & Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015-12657 Filed 5-26-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9110-04-P