[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 26, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45955-45956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18935]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

46 CFR Part 15

[USCG 1999-6097]


Federal Pilotage for Foreign-Trade Vessels in Maryland

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of termination.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard undertook this rulemaking to ensure that 
vessels under way on the navigable waterways within the State of 
Maryland are navigated by competent, qualified persons, knowledgeable 
in the local area and accountable to either the State or the Coast 
Guard. The rulemaking might have required that vessels engaged in 
foreign trade be under the direction and control of federally-licensed 
pilots when not under the direction and control of State-licensed 
pilots. The passage of Senate Bill (SB) 237 entitled ``State Board of 
Docking Masters'' by the General Assembly of Maryland, and the signing 
into law of the Bill, by the Governor of the State, have rendered a 
federal rule unnecessary.

DATES: On July 26, 2000, the Coast Guard terminates further rulemaking 
under docket number USCG 1999-6097.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LT Alan Blume, Project Manager, 
Waterways Management Division (G-MWP), (202) 267-0550.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 46 U.S.C. 8503(a), the Secretary of 
Transportation may require a federally-licensed pilot to be aboard a 
self-propelled vessel engaged in foreign trade and operating on the 
navigable waters of the United States when State law does not require a 
pilot. This requirement terminates under 46 U.S.C. 8503(b) when a State 
having jurisdiction establishes a superseding requirement for a State 
pilot and notifies the Secretary (in practice, the Coast Guard) of that 
fact. According to 46 CFR part 15, federal pilots must be aboard 
vessels engaged in foreign trade while operating on certain navigable 
waters within California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New York and New 
Jersey. The Coast Guard had determined that a similar rule was 
necessary for the waters of Maryland, particularly the Port of 
Baltimore. On October 21, 1999, it published the NPRM ``Federal 
Pilotage for Foreign-Trade Vessels in Maryland'' [64 FR 57620]. It also 
held a public meeting on March 1, 2000 [65 FR 6350] to gather comments. 
It purposely delayed action on this NPRM, allowing the State time to 
consider its own law on the issue of pilotage.
    Commercial vessels transit the navigable waters of Maryland 
carrying various types of freight, oil, and hazardous substances and 
materials, as well as large quantities of bunkers. The previous law of 
Maryland [General Statutes of Maryland, Sec. 11-501] required every 
foreign vessel and every domestic vessel sailing on register to use a 
State-licensed pilot, except when the vessel was under the control of a 
docking master while maneuvering during berthing or unberthing or was 
shifting within a port with tug assistance. The new Maryland law 
entitled ``State Board of Docking Masters'', removes the exemption and 
requires that all movements of foreign vessels and domestic vessels 
sailing on register

[[Page 45956]]

within waters of the State be under the direction of State-licensed 
pilots, accountable to the State.

    Dated: July 19 2000.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Acting Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 00-18935 Filed 7-25-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P