[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]


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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.

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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]
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