Document ID: USCG-2014-1057-0001
Agency: uscg
Document Type: Rule
Title: Drawbridge Operations: Norwalk River, Norwalk, CT (Federal Register Publication)
Posted Date: 2015-01-09T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1334-1336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00195]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 117

[Docket No. USCG-2014-1057]

Drawbridge Operation Regulations; Norwalk River, Norwalk, CT

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of temporary deviation from regulations; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard has issued a temporary deviation from the 
operating schedule that governs the Metro-North WALK Bridge across the 
Norwalk River, mile 0.1, at Norwalk, Connecticut. This deviation will 
test a change to the drawbridge operation schedule to determine whether 
a permanent change to the schedule is needed. This deviation will allow 
the Metro-North WALK Bridge to operate under an alternate schedule to 
facilitate the high volume of rail service across the Metro-North WALK 
Bridge at peak hours, while balancing both the needs of rail and marine 
traffic.

DATES: This deviation is effective without actual notice from January 
9, 2015 through 11:59 p.m. on June 28, 2015. For the purposes of 
enforcement, actual notice will be used from 12:01

[[Page 1335]]

a.m. on January 1, 2015, until January 9, 2015.
    Comments and related material must be received by the Coast Guard 
on or before May 31, 2015. Requests for public meetings must be 
received by the Coast Guard on or before May 1, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2014-1057 using any one of the following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
    (2) Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    (3) Mail or Delivery: 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. Deliveries 
accepted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
federal holidays. The telephone number is (202) 366-9329.
    See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion 
of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on 
submitting comments. To avoid duplication, please use only one of these 
three methods.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this test 
deviation, call or email Ms. Judy Leung-Yee, Project Officer, First 
Coast Guard District, telephone (212) 514-4330, judy.k.leung-yee@uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing the docket, call Cheryl 
Collins, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. 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.

1. Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
rulemaking (USCG-2014-1057), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material 
online (http://www.regulations.gov), or by fax, mail or hand delivery, 
but please use only one of these means. If you submit a comment online 
via http://www.regulations.gov, it will be considered received by the 
Coast Guard when you successfully transmit the comment. If you fax, 
hand deliver, or mail your comment, it will be considered as having 
been received by the Coast Guard when it is received at the Docket 
Management Facility. We recommend that you include your name and a 
mailing address, an email address, or a phone 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, type the docket number [USCG-2014-
1057] in the ``SEARCH'' box and click ``SEARCH.'' Click on ``Submit a 
Comment'' on the line associated with this rulemaking. 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 them 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 and may change the rule 
based on your comments.

2. Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble 
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
type the docket number (USCG-2014-1057) in the ``SEARCH'' box and click 
``SEARCH.'' Click on Open Docket Folder on the line associated with 
this rulemaking. You may also visit 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.

3. 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 notice 
regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the 
Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

4. Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a 
request for one on or before May 1, 2015, using one of the methods 
specified under ADDRESSES. Please explain 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.

B. Basis and Purpose

    The Metro-North WALK Bridge, mile 0.1, across the Norwalk River at 
Norwalk, Connecticut, has a vertical clearance in the closed position 
of 16 feet at mean high water and 23 feet at mean low water. The 
drawbridge operation regulations are listed at 33 CFR 117.217(b).
    The existing Drawbridge Operation Regulations require the draw of 
the Metro-North Walk Bridge to open on signal as follows: From 5 a.m. 
to 9 p.m., except that, from Monday through Friday excluding holidays, 
the draw need not be opened from 7 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 
p.m., unless an emergency exists; only once in any 60-minute period 
from 5:45 a.m. to 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. From 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., 
if at least four hours notice is given. A delay of up to 20 minutes may 
be expected if a train is approaching so closely that it may not be 
safely stopped.
    The owner of the bridge, Connecticut Department of Transportation, 
requested a change to the Drawbridge Operation Regulations because the 
volume of train traffic across the bridge during the peak commuting 
hours makes bridge openings impractical. As a result, bridge openings 
that occur during peak commuter train hours cause significant delays to 
commuter rail traffic.
    The waterway users are seasonal recreational vessels and commercial 
vessels of various sizes.
    The Coast Guard is publishing this temporary deviation to test the 
proposed regulation change to determine whether a permanent change to 
the schedule is necessary to better balance the needs of marine and 
rail traffic.
    Under this temporary deviation, in effect from January 1, 2015 
through June 28, 2015, the Metro-North WALK Bridge at mile 0.1, across 
the Norwalk River, at Norwalk, Connecticut shall operate as follows:
    The draw shall open on signal between 4 a.m. and 9 p.m. after at 
least a two hour advance notice is given; except that, from 4:30 a.m. 
through 10 a.m. and from 2 p.m. through 9 p.m., Monday through Friday 
excluding holidays, the draw need not open for the passage of vessel 
traffic.
    From 9 p.m. through 4 a.m. the draw shall open on signal after at 
least a four hour advance notice is given.
    Requests for bridge openings may be made by calling the bridge via 
marine

[[Page 1336]]

radio VHF FM Channel 13 or the telephone number posted at the bridge.
    A delay of up to 20 minutes may be expected if a train is 
approaching so closely that it may not be safely stopped.
    Vessels that can pass under the bridge in the closed position may 
do so at any time. There are no alternate routes. The bridge can open 
in the event of an emergency situation.
    The Coast Guard contacted the waterway users regarding this 
proposed temporary deviation to test a proposed change to the 
Drawbridge Operation Regulations and no objections were received.
    In accordance with 33 CFR 117.35(e), the drawbridge must return to 
its regular operating schedule immediately at the end of the effective 
period of this temporary deviation. This deviation from the operating 
regulations is authorized under 33 CFR 117.35.

    Dated: December 24, 2014.
V.B. Gifford, Jr.,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting Commander, First Coast Guard 
District.
[FR Doc. 2015-00195 Filed 1-8-15; 8:45 am]
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