[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 70650-70652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32784]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Parts 100 and 165

[CGD07-99-087]
RIN 2115--AA97


OPSAIL 2000, Port of Miami, FL

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard requests public comment on the temporary 
establishment of several exclusion areas for OPSAIL 2000 in the Port of 
Miami, Florida, from June 6 through June 10, 2000. The Coast Guard 
anticipates a rulemaking to establish temporary Limited Access Areas 
and/or Special Local Regulations to control vessel traffic within the 
Port of Miami on the last two days of the event, June 9 and 10, 2000. 
These temporary regulations will be necessary to ensure the safety of 
persons and property in the vicinity of a fireworks display scheduled 
for June 9, 2000, in the vicinity of the west turning basin, and in the 
movement of numerous large sail vessels (Tall Ships) during the parade 
of sail out of the Port of Miami scheduled for June 10, 2000.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 31, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Port Management and Response 
Department, Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Miami, 100 MacArthur 
Causeway, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, or delivered to the same address 
between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
    The Port Management and Response Department of Marine Safety Office 
Miami maintains the public docket for this rulemaking. Documents 
indicated in this preamble as being available in

[[Page 70651]]

the docket, are part of docket [CGD07-99-087] and are available for 
inspection or copying at the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Miami, 
between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lieutenant Joseph Boudrow, Port 
Management and Response Department, Coast Guard Marine Safety Office 
Miami, (305) 535-8705, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to participate in the 
early stages of this rulemaking by submitting written data, views, or 
arguments. Please explain your reasons for each comment so that we can 
carefully weigh the consequences and impacts of any future requirements 
we may propose. Persons submitting comments should include their name 
and address, identify this rulemaking (CGD07-99-087) and the specific 
section of this document to which each comment applies. 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 envelop. The Coast Guard 
will consider all comments received during the comment period.
    The Coast Guard plans no public hearing. Persons may request a 
public hearing by writing to the Port Management and Response 
Department at the address under ADDRESSES. The request should include 
the reasons why a hearing would be beneficial. If the Coast Guard 
determines that the opportunity for oral presentations will aid this 
rulemaking, the Coast Guard will hold a public hearing at a time and 
place announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.

Background and Purpose

    OPSAIL 2000 is sponsoring a fireworks display and parade of Tall 
Ships in the Port of Miami and on the waters of Government Cut, on June 
9 and 10, 2000 respectively. The Coast Guard expects many spectator 
craft for this millennium event. The anticipated rulemaking will 
provide specific guidance on vessel movement controls, and limited 
access areas that will be in effect at various times in those waters 
during the period June 9 through 10, 2000. The Coast Guard may seek to 
establish additional regulated areas, anchorage grounds, and safety or 
security zones once confirmation of the exact number of Tall Ships and 
dignitaries that will be participating in OPSAIL 2000 is available.

Schedule of Events

    Current planned marine related events include:
    1. Starting June 6, 2000: Tall Ships arrive on individual schedules 
and moor at Dodge Island.
    2. June 9, 2000: Fireworks display scheduled to take place in the 
west turning basin, which is bounded by the western end of Dodge 
Island, Watson Island, and Miami's Bicentennial Park.
    3. June 10, 2000: Outbound Parade of Sail and departure of the 
participating Tall Ships through the Port of Miami.

Discussion

    The Coast Guard anticipates large numbers of spectator craft and 
numerous commercial vessels (passenger vessels and charter boats) in 
the area during June 9 through 10, 2000, to view OPSAIL events. The 
safety of parade participants and spectators will require that these 
craft be kept at a safe distance from the parade route. The greatest 
traffic restrictions will be in place during the outbound Parade of 
Sail, which will begin the morning of June 10 and end that afternoon. 
The Parade of Sail restrictions will affect all vessels and will 
include a limited access area for the vessel parade to provide for 
maximum safety of the event. The sponsor will designate and 
appropriately mark the recommended spectator viewing areas. The only 
other anticipated restriction for marine traffic will be during the 
fireworks display on the evening of June 9, 2000.

Regulatory Evaluation

    At this early stage in what is still just a potential rulemaking, 
the Coast Guard has not determined whether any future rulemaking may be 
considered a significant regulatory action under section 3(f) of 
Executive Order 12866 or the regulatory policies and procedures of the 
Department of Transportation (DOT) (44 FR 11040; February 26, 1979).
    The Coast Guard expects the economic impact of any future 
rulemaking to be minimal. Although the Coast Guard anticipates 
prohibiting all non-parade traffic from Government Cut and Outer Bar 
Cut during the Outbound Parade of Sail on Saturday, June 10, 2000, the 
effect of any future rulemaking will be minimized because of the 
limited duration of the event and the extensive advance notifications 
that will be made to the maritime community via the Local Notice to 
Mariners, facsimile, the Internet, marine information broadcasts, 
maritime association meetings, and Miami area newspapers. Mariners and 
commercial vessels can adjust their plans accordingly. The Coast Guard 
anticipates that the majority of the maritime industrial activity in 
the Port of Miami will continue, relatively unaffected by any future 
rulemaking.

Small Entities

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), the Coast 
Guard must consider whether this potential rulemaking will have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The term ``small entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit 
organizations that are independently owned and operated and are not 
dominant in their fields, and governmental jurisdictions with 
populations of less than 50,000.
    The Coast Guard does not anticipate that its potential rulemaking 
will have anything but a minimal impact upon small entities, but 
expects that comments received on this advance notice will help it 
determine the number of potentially affected small entities and in 
weighing the impacts of the various regulatory alternatives for the 
purpose of drafting any rules.

Assistance for Small Entities

    Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we will assist small entities 
in understanding this advance notice and how it affects them. Small 
entities may call the person identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT. The Coast Guard is particularly interested in how any future 
rulemaking will affect small entities. If you are a small entity and 
believe that you may be affected by such a rulemaking, please tell how, 
and what flexibility or compliance alternatives the Coast Guard should 
consider to minimize the burden on small entities while promoting port 
safety.

Collection of Information

    The Coast Guard anticipates that any future rulemaking will not 
require any new collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).

Federalism

    The Coast Guard analyzed this advance notice under Executive Order 
13132. From the information currently available, we cannot determine 
whether this potential rulemaking will have

[[Page 70652]]

significant federalism implications under that Order.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538) 
governs the issuance of Federal regulations that require unfunded 
mandates. An unfunded mandate is a regulation that requires a State, 
local, or tribal government or the private sector to incur direct costs 
without the Federal Government's having first provided the funds to pay 
those unfunded mandate costs. The Coast Guard does not anticipate that 
any future rulemaking will result in an unfunded mandate.

Taking of Private Property

    The Coast Guard anticipates that any potential rulemaking will not 
effect a taking of private property or otherwise have taking 
implications under E.O. 12630, Governmental Actions and Interference 
with Constitutionally Protected Property Rights.

Civil Justice Reform

    The Coast Guard anticipates that any potential rulemaking will meet 
applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of E.O. 12988, Civil 
Justice Reform, to minimize litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce 
burden.

Protection of Children

    The Coast Guard anticipates that any potential rulemaking will not 
be economically significant and will not present an environmental risk 
to health or risk to safety that may disproportionately affect children 
under E.O. 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental Health 
Risks and Safety Risks.

Environment

    The Coast Guard anticipates that any potential rulemaking will 
require an Environmental Assessment due to the advertised size of the 
event and its proximity to sensitive environmental areas. Further, any 
potential rulemaking will be designed to minimize the likelihood of 
maritime accidents and attendant environmental consequences and to 
enhance the safety of event participants, spectators and other maritime 
traffic. The Coast Guard invites comments addressing possible effects 
that any such rulemaking may have on the human environment, or 
addressing possible inconsistencies with any Federal, State, or local 
law or administrative determination relating to the environment. The 
Coast Guard will reach a final determination once it has received a 
detailed parade of sail plan and environmental analysis from the 
sponsor organization.

    Dated: December 8, 1999.
L.J. Bowling,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the Port, Miami Zone.
[FR Doc. 99-32784 Filed 12-16-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-U