[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 26, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13123-13125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7304]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
33 CFR Part 183

[CGD 95-041]


Propeller Injury Prevention Aboard Rental Boats

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(ANPRM) is to gather current, specific, and accurate information about 
the injuries involving propeller strikes and rented boats. In a request 
for comments published May 11, 1995, the Coast Guard solicited comments 
from all segments of the marine community and other interested persons 
on various aspects of propeller accident avoidance aboard houseboats 
and other displacement type recreational vessels. The information 
received was voluminous, but was too general to be helpful. Consistent 
with the President's Regulatory Reinvention Initiative, the Coast Guard 
is interested in obtaining maximum public involvement before it makes 
any decision that would impose a new burden on the regulated community. 
Information gathered in response to this ANPRM will supplement that 
which the Coast Guard received in response to the request for comments 
and will be used to determine the appropriate Federal and State roles 
in reducing propeller-strike incidents, whether governmental 
intervention is appropriate and, if so, whether it should be directed 
at the vessels, their manufacturers, their operators or owners, or the 
companies leasing such vessels. This ANPRM also announces one public 
meeting at Coast Guard Headquarters at which individuals and interested 
parties may make oral presentations about the propeller strike 
avoidance issue. The Coast Guard has also arranged four other 
opportunities, throughout the country, for those interested in this 
subject to express their views.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 1, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Executive Secretary, Marine 
Safety Council (G-LRA/3406)(CGD95-041),

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U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 
20593-0001, or may be delivered to room 3406 at the above address 
between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. The telephone number is (202) 267-1477.
    The Executive Secretary maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments will become a part of this docket and will be 
available for inspection or copying at room 3406, U.S. Coast Guard 
Headquarters.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Randolph Doubt, Project Manager, Recreational Boating Product 
Assurance Division, (202) 267-0984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to submit written 
data, views or arguments. Persons submitting comments should include 
their names and addresses and identify this notice (CGD 95-041). Please 
submit two copies of all comments and attachments in an unbound format, 
no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic 
filing. Persons wanting acknowledgment of receipt of comments should 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope.
    The Coast Guard will consider all comments received during the 
comment period.

Background Information

    The Coast Guard published a request for comments on propeller 
accidents involving houseboats and other displacement type recreational 
vessels on May 11, 1995 [60 FR 25191]. In a second Federal Register 
notice published August 9, 1995, the Coast Guard reopened and extended 
the comment period until November 7, 1995. The Coast Guard received 
1,994 responses. More than 1,800 of these were form letters from 
individuals who support the development of regulations to require the 
use of propeller guard technology or pump jet propulsion on vessels 
used in the rental houseboat industry. An additional 69 comments 
supporting the development of regulations to prevent the incidence of 
propeller-strike accidents were received from accident victims and 
their relatives, attorneys, physicians, State law enforcement agencies, 
manufacturers of devices designed to prevent propeller-strike 
accidents, and other individuals. Comments opposing regulations were 
received from 57 boaters, nine houseboat livery operators and marinas, 
members of 10 associations, committees, or councils, 13 boat and engine 
manufacturers, and six naval architects or marine consultants.

Solicitation of Views

    While available data in the Coast Guard's regulatory docket on this 
subject does not fully support the costs or burdens that would be 
imposed by Federal regulation, the number of responses received to the 
request for comments indicates a great deal of public interest in 
whether and how the Federal Government should act to prevent propeller-
strike accidents.
    Persons submitting comments should do as directed under Request for 
comments above, and reply to the following specific questions. Form 
letters simply citing anecdotal evidence or stating support for, or 
opposition to regulations, without providing substantive data or 
arguments do not supply support for regulations.
    1. The Coast Guard is making an effort to improve its database of 
recreational boating accidents resulting in injuries which require 
medical treatment beyond first aid. Part of that effort consists in 
trying to determine the extent to which accidents involving propeller 
strikes by rented boats are a problem. What information is available 
regarding the incidence of propeller-strike injuries or fatalities 
involving individuals who rent boats, and what trends, if any, do the 
data indicate?
    2. To what extent are data available to indicate whether the type 
of propulsion (e.g., outboard motor, inboard engine or inboard-outboard 
engine) contributes to the incidence of propeller-strike accidents 
involving rental boats?
    3. In two fatal accidents during the last several years, one on 
Lake Shasta and one on Lake Havasu, the victim was in the water and was 
struck by the propeller when a rental houseboat was put in reverse and 
backed into them. Several other houseboat accidents have resulted in 
injuries. The Coast Guard is interested in determining whether 
accidents involving propeller strikes and rented houseboats occur 
nationwide, or are limited to a few States or bodies of water. If the 
latter is the case, do any particular hazardous local conditions 
contribute to the likelihood of such accidents? If so, the Coast Guard 
is interested in determining the nature and location of those 
conditions.
    4. To what extent are data available on the relationship between 
the consumption of alcohol or the use of controlled substances and 
propeller-strike accidents involving rental boats?
    5. Some States have laws requiring boat operators to complete a 
boating safety course.
    a. To what extent do available data indicate whether boater 
behavior patterns, a lack of boating education, or a lack of boating 
law enforcement contribute to the incidence of propeller-strike 
accidents involving rental boats?
    b. Do data indicate whether mandatory boating education for 
individuals renting boats with propellers significantly contribute to a 
reduction in the number of propeller-strike accidents?
    c. If so, do data indicate what type of boating education would be 
the most effective?
    d. What other vessel operator-oriented requirements might reduce 
the incidence of propeller-strike accidents involving rental boats?
    e. What economic or other burdens would be imposed on companies 
leasing recreational boats if either the Federal or State Government 
was to require education of individuals renting propeller-driven boats?
    6. The two fatal accidents mentioned above occurred when 
individuals were in the water astern of the vessels and the vessels 
were put in reverse. While limited operator visibility astern may have 
contributed to the accidents, the transom is also the usual location 
for swim platforms and boarding ladders for swimmers. Do available data 
indicate whether vessel design features contribute to the incidence of 
propeller-strike accidents involving rental boats? If so, what vessel 
design features might reduce the incidence of propeller-strike 
accidents involving rental boats?
    7. Are there any proven technologies that would help reduce the 
risk of propeller-strike accidents involving rented boats? What 
technologies are unacceptable, and for what reasons?
    8. The two fatal accidents mentioned above involved rental 
houseboats. If the Coast Guard developed regulations in this area, how 
should it define the term, ``houseboat?'' Are there any other vessel 
types the Coast Guard should consider regulating? If so, what vessels, 
if any, should be excepted from such regulations?
    9. What, if any, types of information should be displayed on boats 
and/or motors leased, rented or chartered for noncommercial use for the 
purpose of alerting operators or passengers to the dangers of a 
propeller strike?
    10. What are the economic and other impacts on companies renting 
boats or other entities if the Coast Guard were to require companies to 
retrofit such vessels with devices or methods of propulsion designed to 
reduce the

[[Page 13125]]
incidence of propeller-strike accidents? In considering regulations, 
the Coast Guard must assess the potential adverse impacts on small 
business entities. To what extent are small entities engaged in leasing 
recreational boats?
    11. a. How many companies are currently leasing propeller-driven 
boats for bareboat charters by the recreational boating public? How 
many vessels are involved and on which bodies of water?
    b. How many companies are currently offering propeller-driven 
uninspected boats for charter by the recreational boating public? How 
many vessels are involved and on which bodies of water?
    12. What adverse impacts might result from a regulation requiring 
livery companies to verbally brief individuals renting propeller-driven 
boats about the dangers of propeller-strike accidents, and requiring 
individuals chartering such vessels to acknowledge receiving the 
information?
    13. Under current Federal statutes (46 U.S.C. 4306), the States do 
not have the authority to establish carriage requirements for 
associated equipment, such as a mechanical means for preventing 
propeller strikes, on vessels operated on waters where both the Coast 
Guard and the State have jurisdiction. However, a State may impose more 
stringent requirements on vessels such as rental boats on waters 
subject to the State's exclusive jurisdiction, so long as such a 
requirement is not imposed upon vessel manufacturers. What is the 
proper role for the States in reducing propeller-strike accidents 
involving rented boats? If the Coast Guard allowed the States to 
regulate the equipment carried, or the use of rental boats, how would 
interstate commerce be affected?

Open Meetings

    A subcommittee of the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, and 
the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators are 
studying the propeller injury prevention issue. The Coast Guard invites 
interested parties and the public to make brief oral presentations 
about the propeller injury prevention issue during the following 
meetings or events:
    From 5 to 7 p.m., Monday, April 22, 1996 at the National Water 
Safety Congress Professional Development Seminar at the Boardwalk 
Resort in Panama City, FL, (April 23-25, 1996).
    From 3 to 5 p.m., Monday April 29, 1996 at the National Boating 
Safety Advisory Council Meeting at the Parc Fifty-Five Hotel in San 
Francisco, CA (April 27-29, 1996).
    From 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., Wednesday May 1, 1996 at the Northeastern 
States Boating Law Administrators Conference in the Camden Room at the 
Samoset Resort in Rockland, ME (April 29-30, 1996).
    From 1 to 4 p.m., Monday, May 6, 1996 in Room 2415 of Coast Guard 
Headquarters in Washington, DC.
    From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Sunday, May 19, 1996 at the Southern 
States Boating Law Administrator Conference at the Royal Sonesta Hotel 
in New Orleans, LA (May 18-22, 1996).
    Those wishing to give an oral presentation should submit their 
name, address, and organization represented (if any) at least seven 
days prior to the particular meeting or event, to COMMANDANT (G-NAB-6), 
room 1505, U.S. Coat Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20593-0001, Attn: Mr. Jay Doubt. Individuals wishing to 
give an oral presentation who fail to notify the Coast Guard within 
seven days of a particular meeting or event will be allowed to do so if 
time permits.
    Those giving oral presentations are reminded of the necessity to 
also furnish written comments, if those comments are intended for 
inclusion in the regulatory docket.
    The Coast Guard will consider all relevant comments in determining 
what action may be necessary to address propeller accidents involving 
rented propeller-driven vessels.

    Dated: March 15, 1996.
Rudy K. Peschel,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Chief, Office of Navigation Safety and 
Waterway Services.
[FR Doc. 96-7304 Filed 3-25-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-14-M