[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 220 (Monday, November 16, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63768-63769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30594]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
[USCG-1998-4620]
Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) Phase-out Requirements for
Single Hull Tank Vessels
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.
ACTION: Request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Coast Guard requests public comment on whether we should
recognize a single hull tank vessel converted to include double sides
or a double bottom as a different hull design when applying the vessel
phase-out dates under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90). If we
recognize a converted tank vessel as a different hull design, the
vessel would fall under a different category in the OPA 90 phase-out
schedule and would probably have a later phase-out date. Recent
inquiries by the maritime industry indicate an interest in converting
single hull tank vessels to include double sides or double bottoms to
increase the vessels' operational lives past their original OPA 90
phase-out dates.
DATES: Comments must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before
January 15, 1999.
ADDRESSES: You may mail your comments to the Docket Management
Facility, (USCG-1998-4620), U.S.
[[Page 63769]]
Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington DC 20590-0001, or deliver them to room PL-401 on the Plaza
level of the Nassif Building at the same address between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this
notice. Comments, and documents as indicated in this preamble, will
become part of this docket and will be available for inspection or
copying at room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building at the
same address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. You may also access this docket on the Internet at
http://dms.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this notice, please
contact Mr. Bob Gauvin, Project Manager, Office of Operating and
Environmental Standards, Commandant (G-MSO-2), U.S. Coast Guard
Headquarters, telephone 202-267-1053. For questions on viewing material
in the docket, contact Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department of
Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Comments
The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to respond to this
notice by submitting written data, views, or arguments. Persons
submitting comments should include their names and addresses, identify
the docket number (USCG-1998-4620) and the specific section of this
notice to which each comment applies, and give the reason for each
comment. Please submit all comments and attachments in an unbound
format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and
electronic filing to the Docket Management Facility at the address
under ADDRESSES. If you want acknowledgment of receipt of your
comments, enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope.
The Coast Guard is opening a 60-day comment period for your
responses to this notice. Copies of this notice will be mailed to U.S.-
flag tank vessel owners and posted on our Marine Safety Regulations web
site at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/regs/current.html.
The Coast Guard plans no public meeting concerning this notice.
Persons may request a public meeting by writing to the Docket
Management Facility at the address under ADDRESSES. The request should
include the reasons why a meeting would be beneficial. If it determines
that the opportunity for oral presentations will be helpful, the Coast
Guard will hold a public meeting at a time and place announced by a
later notice in the Federal Register.
Background and Purpose:
Section 4115 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) amended
Title 46, United States Code, by adding a new section 3703a. This
section contains the double hull requirements and a phase-out schedule
for single hull tank vessels operating in U.S. waters. It requires an
owner to remove a single hull tank vessel from bulk oil service on
specific dates, depending on a vessel's gross tonnage, build date, and
hull configuration. The phase-out schedule allows more years of service
for single hull tank vessels configured to include double sides or
double bottoms than for single hull tank vessels without these hull
configurations.
The OPA 90 timetable for double hull requirements and the phase-out
schedule for single hull tank vessels are implemented in Title 33 Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 157, Appendix G. Both OPA 90 and the
implementing regulations are silent on if or when a vessel owner can
convert a single hull tank vessel to include double sides or a double
bottom to qualify for a later phase-out date. As a result, some vessel
owners have asked the Coast Guard to clarify the types of vessel
conversions permitted and their associated phase-out dates.
A 1997 inquiry to the Coast Guard asked if a single hull tank
vessel with wing cargo tanks reconfigured as segregated ballast tanks
or void spaces to create double sides would qualify for a different OPA
90 phase-out date. We indicated that this type of conversion and an
associated later phase-out date was acceptable provided that the
modified tanks meet the double side dimension requirements applied to
new tank vessels in 33 CFR 157.10d(c)(1). Converted double side
segregated ballast tanks must also provide protection to the full
extent of a vessel's cargo tank length. In 1998, we received a similar
inquiry from the same source asking if hull conversions completed after
a single hull tank vessel's original phase-out date qualified the
vessel to reenter bulk oil service with a later phase-out date.
Recent inquiries by the maritime industry indicate a continued
interest in converting single hull tank vessels to include double sides
or double bottoms to increase the vessels' operational lives past their
original OPA 90 phase-out dates. The Coast Guard is using this notice
to assist us in determining the full impacts of these requests.
Since OPA 90 and current regulations do not explicitly address
issues such as modifications to hull designs or allowing recently
converted vessels to reenter operations with new phase-out dates, the
Coast Guard is interested in your feedback to help us develop a clear
and detailed policy. Specifically, we are interested in your comments
on the following:
1. If the Coast Guard does not allow single hull tank vessels to
qualify for later OPA 90 phase-out dates by converting the single hulls
to single hulls with double sides or double bottoms, what would be the
effect on U.S. oil transportation and supplies?
2. If single hull tank vessels which have passed their initial
phase-out date could qualify for later phase-out dates, and reenter
service by converting their single hulls with double sides or double
bottoms, what would be the effect on U.S. oil transportation and
supplies?
3. If single hull tank vessels could qualify for later phase-out
dates through these types of hull conversions, what would be the effect
on the conversion of the tank vessel fleet to double hull tank vessels?
Would there be an adverse impact on the marine environment?
4. Are there any other concerns regarding whether we should
recognize a single hull tank vessel converted to include double sides
or a double bottom as a different hull design when applying the vessel
phase-out dates under OPA 90?
The Coast Guard will consider all comments submitted to this
docket. We will publish our final decision regarding the effect of tank
vessel hull conversions on the OPA 90 phase-out schedule in the Federal
Register.
Dated: November 9, 1998.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Acting Assistant Commandant for Maine Safety and
Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 98-30594 Filed 11-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-U