[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 38 (Friday, February 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10144-10145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4493]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-2000-6942]


Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Listening Sessions

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard will hold several regional listening sessions 
to present, and receive feedback on, the Coast Guard's Commercial 
Fishing Vessel Safety Action Plan (CFVSAP). The Coast Guard created the 
CFVSAP to help fishermen improve the level of safety in the fishing 
industry. The information gathered during these listening sessions will 
be presented to the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Advisory 
Committee and used to further refine the CFVSAP. The first two 
listening sessions are scheduled for Rockport, ME and Kodiak, AK.

DATES: The listening session in Rockport, ME will be on March 3, 2000, 
from 9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. The listening session in Kodiak, AK will 
be on March 23, 2000, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The comment period 
will close on July 30, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The Samoset Resort, 220 Warrenton Street, Rockport, ME 
04856-9974, (207) 442-7700; Fisherman's Hall, 403 Maine Way, Kodiak, 
AK, (907) 486-8080.
    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-2000-6942), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By hand 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 will become part of this docket and will be available 
for inspection on the Plaza Level of the Nassif Building at the above 
address between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
federal holidays. You may also electronically access the public docket 
for this notice on the internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public docket, 
contact Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329; for information concerning the 
notice of meeting contact Lieutenant Joe Paitl or Ensign Chris O'Neal, 
(G-MOC-3), 2100 Second St., SW, Washington, DC 20593-0001, telephone 
202-267-0507 or 202-267-2008, or electronic mail [email protected] 
or Co'[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Other Regional Listening Sessions

    This notice announces the first two, of seven, regional listening 
sessions. Other sessions are being planned for Norfolk, VA; Galveston, 
TX; Mobile, AL; Los Angeles, CA; and Seattle, WA. These sessions are 
subject to change. The final dates and locations of the sessions will 
be published in a separate Federal Register notice once they are 
confirmed.

Request for Comments

    We encourage interested persons to participate in this information-
gathering initiative by submitting written data, views, or other 
relevant documents. Persons submitting comments should include their 
names and addresses, identify this notice (USCG-2000-6942), and 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. Please submit all comments and 
attachments in an unbound format, no larger than 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 
suitable for copying and electronic filing to the DOT Docket Management 
Facility at the address under ADDRESSES. If you want acknowledgement of 
receipt of your comments, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed post 
card or envelope. Comments received, whether submitted in writing to 
the docket or presented during the regional listening sessions, will be 
considered in refining the CFVSAP.

Background

    In response to the alarming number of deaths in the fishing 
industry, the Coast Guard chartered a Task Force to identify ways to 
improve safety. The Task Force examined fishing vessel casualties in 
the context of historical data, reviewed the Coast Guard's existing 
Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Program, reviewed

[[Page 10145]]

past safety recommendations, and provided quick feedback to the fishing 
industry by recommending measures believed to have the greatest 
potential for reducing loss of life and property. The Task Force 
completed a report containing safety recommendations in March 1999 and 
presented the report to the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Advisory 
Committee (CFIVAC) and Coast Guard District Fishing Vessel Safety 
Coordinators. The Task Force report is available at http://www.get.to/thefishingreport or at Commandant (G-MOA), U.S. Coast Guard 
Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001, 202-
267-1430. The Coast Guard consolidated the Task Force recommendations 
commonly supported by both the CFIVAC and the District Fishing Vessel 
Safety Coordinators and subsequently developed the CFVSAP. The CFVSAP 
was presented at the October 4-5, 1999 meeting of the CFIVAC. The 
CFIVAC agreed with the concepts presented in the CFVSAP. Also, the 
CFIVAC agreed with the Coast Guard that holding regional listening 
sessions would result in valuable input from a larger segment of the 
fishing industry. By publication of this notice, the Coast Guard is 
seeking further feedback from fisherman on the CFVSAP. The CFVSAP is 
available at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/advisory/cfivac/fishexpo99.pdf 
or at Commandant (G-MOC), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001, 202-267-2008.

Objective and Issues

    The objective of the regional listening sessions and the request 
for comments is to receive information from the general public and the 
fishing industry pertaining to the CFVSAP and other possible safety 
issues affecting the fishing industry. The Coast Guard wishes to 
identify ways to improve safety in the fishing industry.
    The Coast Guard is specifically interested in information 
pertaining to the following:
     The most critical safety issues in your region.
     Ways the Coast Guard might better communicate with the 
fishing industry.
     Ways the Coast Guard might assist in improving safety in 
the fishing industry.
     Ways the fishing industry might improve its safety record 
without Coast Guard or other government involvement.
     The minimum level of training that should be considered in 
a training based certificate program.
     The most safety beneficial composition of a vessel 
examination program.
     Whether the Territorial Sea Baseline is the best reference 
parameter for setting certain safety equipment carriage requirements.

Format of Regional Listening Sessions

    Each listening session will be preceded with a presentation by the 
Coast Guard on the CFVSAP. After the presentation the audience will 
have an opportunity to comment on the specifics of the CFVSAP. The 
Coast Guard will then present a list of standardized issues similar to 
those contained in Objectives and Issues and then open the listening 
session to general comments from the audience.

Information on Services for Individuals with Disabilities

    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meetings, contact 
the person noted in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT as soon as 
possible.

    Dated: February 16, 2000.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Acting Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 00-4493 Filed 2-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P