[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 30 (Monday, February 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7412-7413]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3304]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-1999-6441]


Proposed Acquisition of 87-Foot Coastal Patrol Boats: Draft 
Programmatic Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a draft 
Programmatic Environmental Assessment on its proposal to replace its 
aging fleet of 82-foot patrol boats with 87-foot coastal patrol boats. 
We request your comments on the Assessment.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before March 25, 2000.

ADDRESSES: To make sure your comments and related material are not 
entered more than once in the docket, please submit them by only one of 
the following means:
    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-1999-6441), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    (3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
    (4) Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket Management 
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments and material received from the public, as well as the 
draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA), 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 find this docket, including the PEA, on the 
Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this notice, the 
proposed project, or the associated PEA, call Ms. Sheri Imel, Coast 
Guard, telephone 757-628-4248. For questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, call Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department 
of Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the 
draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA). If you do so, please 
include your name and address, identify the docket number for this 
notice (USCG-1999-6441) and give the reasons for each comment. You may 
submit your comments and material by mail, hand delivery, fax, or 
electronic means 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 hand delivery, submit them in an 
unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail and would 
like to know 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.

[[Page 7413]]

Proposed Action

    The Coast Guard proposes to buy forty-one 87-foot coastal patrol 
boats to replace its aging fleet of 82-foot patrol boats. The new boats 
would be similar to nine 87-foot prototypes currently in use by the 
Coast Guard. The new boats would be located at existing facilities 
throughout the continental United States. As with the 82-footers, the 
new boats would be used for search and rescue, maritime law 
enforcement, alien migrant interdiction, drug interdiction, marine 
environmental response, recreational and commercial boating safety, 
environmental law enforcement, port safety and security, and military 
operations support. The new boats are needed because the existing fleet 
of 82-footers, constructed between 1960 and 1970, are reaching the end 
of their life expectancy and are becoming increasingly difficult to 
repair. Without a working, dependable boat to carry out our primary 
missions, our ability to serve the public will be severely hampered. 
Also, we expect the demands of our missions to increase over the next 
few years. We expect to see an increase in law enforcement, drug 
interdiction, alien migrant interdiction, and marine environmental 
response. The proposed action would improve our current level of 
service and help us meet our increased needs in the near future.

Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment

    We have prepared a draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment 
(PEA). The draft PEA identifies and examines the reasonable 
alternatives and assesses their potential environmental impact. Our 
preferred alternative is to add forty-one new 87-footers to the nine 
87-foot prototypes currently being used. The remaining 82-footers would 
be classified as excess.
    We are requesting your comments on environmental concerns you may 
have related to the PEA. This includes suggesting analyses and 
methodologies for use in the PEA or possible sources of data or 
information not included in the PEA. Your comments will be considered 
in preparing the final PEA.

    Dated: February 7, 2000.
D.W. Reed,
Capt. U.S.C.G., Deputy Assistant Commandant for Acquisition.
[FR Doc. 00-3304 Filed 2-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P