Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/04/26/2013-09853/inland-waterways-navigation-regulations
Timestamp: 2015-06-30 16:49:03
Document Index: 322915747

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 162', '§ 162', '§ 162', '§ 162', '§ 162', '§ 162', '§ 162', '§ 6', '§ 1', 'art 162', 'art 162', 'ART 162', 'art 162', '§ 162', '§ 162', '§ 162']

Federal Register | Inland Waterways Navigation Regulations
Dates: Comments and related materials must reach the Coast Guard on or before June 10, 2013.
Comments Close: 06/10/2013
78 FR 24697
-24700 (4 pages)
Shorter URL: https://federalregister.gov/a/2013-09853 Related Topics
USCG-2013-0027
Inland Waterways Navigation Regulations; Amendment to Exempt Vessels Under 20 Meters in the St. Marys River from 33 CFR 162.117(g)
1625-AC04
Environmental Checklist (4/5/2013)
List of Subjects 33 CFR Part 162
Comments and related materials must reach the Coast Guard on or before June 10, 2013.
You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-2013-0027 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one of the following methods:
If you have questions on this proposed rule, call or email CDR Nicholas Wong, Prevention Chief, Sector Sault Sainte Marie, Coast Guard; telephone (906) 635-3220, email Nicholas.l.wong@uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.
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. We have an agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please see DOT's “Privacy Act” paragraph below.
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this rulemaking (USCG-2013-0027), indicate the specific section of this document to which each comment applies, and give the reason for each comment. 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. You may submit your comments and material by electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket Management Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and material by only one means. If you submit them by mail or delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8½ 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. We may change this proposed rule in view of them.
To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.go v at any time. Enter the docket number for this rulemaking (USCG-2013-0027) in the “Search” box and click “Search.” You may also visit either the Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays; or the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie, 337 E. Water Street, Sault Sainte Marie, MI 49783-2021, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
33 CFR 162.117 prescribes inland navigation rules for the St. Marys River along Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula. These rules include speed limits for stretches of the St. Marys River demarcated by lights. The table below from 162.117(g) depicts these speed rules.
These speed rules apply to all vessels transiting the St. Marys River between the points in table 162.117(g).
U.S. Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) St. Mary's River monitors and directs vessel traffic movement within the VTS St. Marys River area through a Vessel Movement Reporting System (VMRS). This VTS area overlaps the length of the St. Marys River governed by the speed rules in § 162.117(g). The VMRS requires users, generally including commercial vessels of 20 meters or more, to report information, including their position, course, and speed. These users report their information through radio communications and Automatic Identification System (AIS). Because VTS St. Marys River tracks speed for VMRS users, it can and does enforce the speed rules in § 162.117(g) on these users.
Many non-VMRS vessels transit the length of the St. Marys River governed by the speed rules in § 162.117(g). These vessels generally include private vessels under 20 meters. As non-VMRS users, these vessels are not required to report their speed to the VTS St. Marys River. Additionally, unlike commercial vessels of 20 meters or more, these vessels are not required to operate with AIS, the prevalent means of reporting location, course, and speed to VTS St. Marys River. Because the VTS St. Marys River cannot track these non-VMRS vessels, it cannot and does not enforce the speed rules in § 162.117(g) on them.
The speed rules in § 162.117(g) also impact the operational effectiveness of public response vessels in the St. Marys River. These vessels include small boats, generally under 20 meters, operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and federal, Canadian, state, and local partners. These small boats respond to pollution incidents, marine casualties, and perform search and rescue and law enforcement operations throughout the St. Marys River. These operations require public vessels to deploy and be on-scene rapidly. The speed rules impede response times and degrade operational effectiveness to the detriment of the boating public and industry.
Because the speed rules in 162.117(g) are not enforceable on non-VMRS users and impact operational effectiveness of public response boats, this rule proposes to exempt vessels under 20 meters (65 feet) from these speed rules.
This proposed exemption is not anticipated to impact the St. Marys River VTS, VMRS, or its users. Additionally, it is not intended to relieve vessels under 20 meters from the responsibility to boat safely and exercise good seamanship.
Because the Ninth Coast Guard District Commander has determined that the speed rules in 33 CFR 162.117(g), as currently written, are too broad and unnecessarily restrict public vessel operations, this rule proposes to amend these rules. Specifically, this rule proposes to exempt vessels under 20 meters (65 feet) from the speed rules in § 162.117(g).
This proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, as supplemented by Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulations and Regulatory Review, and does not require an assessment of potential costs and benefits under § 6(a)(3) of Executive Order 12866 or § 1 of Executive Order 13563. The Office of Management and Budget has not reviewed it under that Order.
We conclude that this proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action because we anticipate that it will not adversely affect the economy, will not interfere with other agencies, will not adversely alter the budget of any grant or loan recipients, and will not raise any novel legal or policy issues. Rather, permitting vessels under 20 meters to operate free of the speed rules in 33 CFR 162.117(g) will lessen restrictions on the public and enable public vessels to engage unimpeded in response operations.
This proposed rule will affect the following entities, some of which might be small entities: The owners and operators of vessels intending to transit between the length of the St. Marys River governed by the speed rules in 33 CFR 162.117(g).
The proposed exemption for vessels under 20 meters to the speed rules in 33 CFR 162.117(g) will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities for the following reason: This proposed amendment will lessen navigation restrictions on the public and private businesses.
Therefore, the Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this proposed rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. If you think that your business, organization, or governmental jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity and that this proposed rule would have a significant economic impact on it, please submit a comment (see ADDRESSES) explaining why you think it qualifies and how and to what degree this rule would economically affect it.
Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we want to assist small entities in understanding this proposed rule so that they can better evaluate its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking process. If this proposed rule would affect your small business, organization, or governmental jurisdiction and you have questions concerning its provisions or options for compliance, please contact CDR Nicholas Wong, Prevention Chief, Sector Sault Sainte Marie, Coast Guard; telephone (906) 635-3220, email Nicholas.L.Wong@uscg.mil. The Coast Guard will not retaliate against small entities that question or object to this proposed rule or any policy or action of the Coast Guard.
This proposed rule would call for no new collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).
We have analyzed this proposed rule under Commandant Instruction M16475.lD and Department of Homeland Security Management Directive 023-01, which guide the Coast Guard in complying with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f), and have made a preliminary determination that this action is one of a category of actions that do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment. This proposed rule involves amendments to navigation regulations and thus, is categorically excluded under paragraph 34(i) of the Commandant Instruction. A preliminary Categorical Exclusion Determination (CED) and a preliminary environmental analysis checklist are available in the docket where indicated under ADDRESSES.
List of Subjects 33 CFR Part 162 Back to Top
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes to amend 33 CFR part 162 as follows:
PART 162—INLAND WATERWAYS NAVIGATION REGULATIONS Back to Top
1.The authority citation for part 162 continues to read as follows: Authority:
§ 162.117 [Amended]
2.In § 162.117, revise paragraph (g)(1) to read as follows: § 162.117 St. Marys River, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
(g) Speed Rules. (1) The following speed limits indicate speed over the ground. Vessels, other than those under 20 meters (65 feet) in length, must adhere to the following speed limits.
[FR Doc. 2013-09853 Filed 4-25-13; 8:45 am]