[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 166 (Friday, August 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51892-51893]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-21825]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-2000-7834]


Waiver Application; Tank Vessel; Reduction of Gross Tonnage

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is requesting comments on the Marine Chemical 
Navigation Corporation's waiver application to reduce the gross tonnage 
of the tank ship MARINE CHEMIST, Official Number 529399. Approval of 
this waiver application will change the vessel's double hull compliance 
date. The company has met all the requirements for issuance of a waiver 
and this document provides the required public notice and sixty-day 
comment period concerning the application. The Coast Guard will 
consider all comments received during the comment period before taking 
final action on the Marine Chemical Navigation Corporation's 
application.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before October 24, 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-2000-7834), 
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 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 materials received from the public, as well as 
documents mentioned in this notice as being available in the docket, 
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, 400 
Seventh Street SW., Washington DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also find this docket 
on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this notice, contact 
Mr. Bob Gauvin, Project Manager, Office of Operating and Environmental 
Standards, Commandant (G-MSO), Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-1053. For 
questions on viewing, or submitting material to the docket, call Ms. 
Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 
202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this request for comments by 
submitting written data, views, or arguments concerning the waiver 
application. If you do so, please include your name and address, 
identify the docket number (USCG-2000-7834), indicate the specific 
section of this document to which each comment applies, and give the 
reason for each comment. You may submit your comments and material by 
mail, hand, fax, or electronic means to the Docket Management Facility 
at the address under ADDRESSES; but please

[[Page 51893]]

submit 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.

Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But, you may request 
one by submitting a request to the Docket Management Facility at the 
address under ADDRESSES explaining why one would be beneficial. If we 
determine that one would be helpful, we will announce the time and 
place in a later notice in the Federal Register.

Background and Purpose

    The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) requires most single hull 
tank vessels carrying oil in bulk as cargo or cargo residue to either 
convert to double hull configuration or to stop operating in U.S. 
waters by the dates specified in the statute. These dates, in 46 U.S.C. 
3703a, are based on the vessel's age, gross tonnage, and hull 
configuration. In general, the latest operational date for single hull 
tank vessels is January 1, 2010, and for tank vessels with double sides 
or double bottoms is January 1, 2015.
    Before July 1, 1997, a tank vessel owner could extend a single hull 
tank vessel's operational life by converting cargo tanks into voids or 
segregated ballast tanks and reducing its gross tonnage. If the 
reduction in gross tonnage placed the vessel under a different 
subsection of Sec. 3703a, the vessel then had a later date for double 
hull compliance.
    In 1997, Pub. L. 105-85 added a new subsection (e) to 46 U.S.C. 
3703a mandating that after July 1, 1997, a tank vessel's gross tonnage 
could not be altered for the purpose of determining its double hull 
compliance date without a waiver from the Secretary of Transportation. 
The new provision required that all waiver applications be received by 
January 1, 1998. We received requests from six U.S., and one foreign 
tank vessel owners for conversions of fourteen tankships, two 
integrated tug-barge units (ITBs), and fifteen barges. On January 6, 
1998, the Secretary of Transportation delegated his authority to the 
Commandant to act on these waiver requests.
    In February 1998, we contracted a study entitled An Investigation 
Into the Re-Admeasurement of Single Hull Tankships and Barges By Means 
of Protectively Located Segregated Ballast Tanks. The study determined 
which conversions of cargo tanks into protectively-located segregated 
ballast tanks (PL/SBT) would result in a significant reduction in oil 
outflow when specific parameters are met. The study, looking at three 
sizes of tankships and tank barges, evaluated the risk of oil discharge 
and used the probabilistic oil outflow applications we had previously 
established under the OPA 90 requirements of section 3703a to evaluate 
new tank vessel hull designs. The study found that in order for tank 
vessels to significantly reduce the risk of oil discharge, enough cargo 
tanks must be converted to PL/SBT to meet an equivalent oil spill (EOS) 
number of at least 15% less than the vessel's existing outflow 
signature.
    We provided a copy of the study and the conversion parameters to 
each waiver applicant so they could submit their plans for 
modifications and complete the supporting materials for their waiver 
applications. A copy of the Coast Guard study is available for review 
in the public docket at the address under ADDRESSES.

Requirements for Issuance of a Waiver

    As required by Sec. 3703a, a completed waiver application package 
consists of--
     An application received by January 1, 1998;
     Reliable evidence that the tank vessel had not undergone, 
nor contracted to undergo, alterations that reduce the gross tonnage of 
the vessel before July 1, 1997; and
     Supplementary materials that demonstrate the proposed 
alterations to the tank vessel will result in a significant reduction 
in the risk of a discharge of oil.
    We must then determine if both--
     The owner of the tank vessel has entered into a binding 
agreement to alter the tank vessel in a shipyard in the United States 
to reduce the gross tonnage of the tank vessel by converting a portion 
of the cargo tanks of the vessel into PL/SBT; and
     The conversion will result in a significant reduction in 
the risk of a discharge of oil.
    Section 3703a requires that we must then provide public notice and 
a sixty-day comment period on each application before we can issue a 
waiver.
    Alterations under this waiver must be completed by the later of 
either July 1, 1999, or the date of the vessel's next special hull 
survey after November 18, 1997.

Application for the MARINE CHEMIST

    Our records show that Marine Chemical Navigation Corporation (MCNC) 
tank ship MARINE CHEMIST, Official Number 529399, is a U.S. 
certificated single hull oil tank ship which was built in 1970. This 
tank ship has a gross tonnage of 20,239. According to 46 U.S.C. 
3703a(c)(3), the tank ship's double hull compliance date is January 1, 
2001.
    With an approved waiver, MCNC will reduce its vessel's gross 
tonnage to an estimated 14,959 gross tons (GT). Its new double hull 
compliance date under Sec. 3703a(e) would be January 1, 2004.
    The application from MCNC meets the requirements for a waiver under 
Sec. 3703a(e) by having provided the following:
     Waiver application for the tank ship MARINE CHEMIST was 
received on December 22, 1997;
     ``Statement of Attestation'' that the MARINE CHEMIST's 
gross tonnage was not reduced by a contract or shipyard alteration on 
or before July 1, 1997;
     Copy of its repair contract with Bludworth-Bond Shipyard, 
Inc, of Houston, Texas, to complete the modifications to the MARINE 
CHEMIST to convert the number 1A through 1D, 2, 4, 5 and 7 port and 
starboard cargo tanks into ballast tanks; and
     Appropriate supplementary materials.
    Based on the supplementary materials provided by MCNC for the tank 
ship MARINE CHEMIST, we have determined the following:
     MCNC can complete the tank ship modifications before 
November 30, 2000, the date of the vessel's next classification society 
special survey.
     MCNC's probabilistic oil outflow signature of the proposed 
vessel modifications will reduce the EOS by 26.7%.
    MCNC's complete waiver application has been placed in the docket 
for public review at the address under ADDRESSES. We will consider all 
comments received during the comment period before taking final action 
on the MCNC waiver application for the modification and reduction of 
tonnage to the tank vessel MARINE CHEMIST.

    Dated: August 22, 2000.
R. C. North,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety 
and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 00-21825 Filed 8-23-00; 1:05 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-U