[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1863-1864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-761]



[[Page 1863]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 117

[CGD05-98-090]
RIN 2115-AE47


Drawbridge Operation Regulations; Elizabeth River, Eastern 
Branch, Norfolk, Virginia

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is changing the regulations that govern the 
operation of the Norfolk and Western Railroad drawbridge across the 
Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River, mile 2.7, at Norfolk, Virginia. 
This change will require on-signal openings from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. 
using a half-cycle draw operation and will reduce the advance notice 
required at other times from 3 hours to 2 hours. This change will 
provide for the reasonable needs of navigation.

DATES: This rule is effective February 9, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments and materials received from the public, as well as 
documents indicated in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
are part of docket (CGD05-98-090) and are available for inspection or 
copying at Commander (Aowb), Fifth Coast Guard District, Federal 
Building, 431 Crawford Street, Portsmouth, Virginia 23704-5004 between 
8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann B. Deaton, Bridge Administrator, 
Fifth Coast Guard District, at (757) 398-6222.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulatory Information

    On November 2, 1998, we published a notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NPRM) entitled ``Drawbridge Operation Regulations, Elizabeth River, 
Eastern Branch, Norfolk, VA'' in the Federal Register (63 FR 58676). We 
also distributed local notice of the Federal Register publication. We 
received 652 comments on the proposed rule. Most of the comments were 
on ``form letters'', signatures on a petition, and letters that 
although individually drafted contained the same language. These and 
other comments opposed the proposed changes and favored maintaining the 
current regulations or slightly increasing the hours of on-signal 
openings on weekend and holiday nights. Other suggestions included 
requiring the bridge to remain in the open position unless actually 
being used for train traffic, automating the operation of the bridge, 
and requiring the bridge to open on-signal at all times. On May 15, 
2000, we published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) 
entitled ``Drawbridge Operation Regulations; Elizabeth River, Eastern 
Branch, Norfolk, VA'' in the Federal Register (65 FR 30938). We also 
distributed local notice of the Federal Register publication. We 
received seven (7) comments on the supplemental proposed rule. No 
public hearing was requested, and none was held.

Background and Purpose

    33 CFR 117.1007(a) currently requires the Norfolk Southern Railroad 
Bridge (formerly called the Norfolk and Western Railroad Bridge), mile 
2.7, across the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River, to open on 
signal from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, year round. At all 
other times, the bridge only opens with at least a three-hour advance 
notice.
    Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) initially requested in 1998 a 
change to the regulations that would have reduced the hours during the 
day and times of the year when on-signal openings are required. NSC 
based their request on data from the 1996 and 1997 drawlogs. We 
reviewed the drawlogs and made recommendations to NSC changing their 
request to reflect more closely with the data obtained from the 
drawlogs. On November 2, 1998, a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 
was published in the Federal Register (63 FR 58676) proposing on-signal 
openings from April 15 to November 30, Monday through Thursday, from 10 
a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. At all 
other times the bridge would only have to open for vessel traffic after 
three hours advance notice. As a result of this proposal, 652 comments 
were received all objecting to the proposed changes. We facilitated a 
meeting on April 20, 1999 during which NSC, local government 
representatives, and other interested attendees discussed the proposed 
rule. A written summary of the meeting is available for public review 
in the public docket. Based on all information received, we revised our 
original proposal to keep the original hours as in the current 
regulations using a ``half-cycle operation'', reducing the number of 
openings during the on-signal hours and reducing the current advance 
notice requirement from three hours to two hours during the 10 p.m. to 
6 a.m. period. The Coast Guard's goal is to provide practical and 
feasible scheduled opening times for drawbridges during seasons of the 
year, and during times of the day, when scheduled openings would 
benefit users and owners of the bridge as well as users of the 
waterway.

Discussion of Comment and Changes

    We received seven (7) comments to the supplemental notice of 
proposed rulemaking. Six (6) responded in favor of the proposed change 
to the operating schedule of the Norfolk and Western Railroad Bridge. 
One (1) comment opposed the proposed change referring to it as being a 
more restricted schedule. This supplemental proposal is more lenient 
that the current schedule since it will provide ``half cycle'' 
operation, that is, the bridge goes from the closed position to the 
open position or vice versa, but does not complete the ``cycle'' to its 
original position. This provides boaters freer access of the river. 
Reducing the advance notification from three (3) to two (2) hours will 
allow waterway users greater flexibility in planning their transit of 
the bridge while not burdening the bridge owner with extended hours of 
on-signal operation unnecessarily. Based on this and the comments 
received since the publication of the SNPRM, we are amending 33 CFR 
117.1007(a) which governs the Norfolk and Western Railroad Bridge, 
across the Elizabeth River, Eastern Branch, mile 2.7, at Norfolk, 
Virginia.

Regulatory Evaluation

    This rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under section 
3(f) of Executive Order 12866 and does not require an assessment of 
potential costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of that Order. The 
Office of Management and Budget has not reviewed it under that Order. 
It is not ``significant'' under the regulatory policies and procedures 
of the Department of Transportation (DOT) (44 FR 11040, February 26, 
1979).
    We reached this conclusion based on the fact that the proposed 
changes will not impede maritime traffic but actually serve to increase 
the ease of use by waterway users, while still providing for the needs 
of the bridge owner.

Small Entities

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), we 
considered whether this rule would 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 less than 50,000. The 
Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this rule will not 
have a significant

[[Page 1864]]

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    This final rule would affect the following entities, some of which 
might be small entities: The owners and operators of vessels that 
desire to transit the waterway and homeowners associations representing 
property owners upstream of the drawbridge. This rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
for the following reasons. This rule will increase the amount of time 
the drawbridge is open during peak waterway usage and decreases the 
notification requirement for off-peak opening of the drawbridge.

Assistance for Small Entities

    Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we offered to assist small 
entities in understanding the rule so that they could better evaluate 
its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking process. This was 
accomplished through the solicitation of comments from local waterway 
users during a Coast Guard field study, and through publication of the 
NPRM and SNPRM in the Federal Register in which comments were 
solicited.

Collection of Information

    This rule calls for no collection of information under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3510-3520).

Federalism

    We have analyzed this rule under Executive Order 13132 and have 
determined that this rule does not have implications for federalism 
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. This rule will not impose an unfunded 
mandate.

Taking of Private Property

    This rule will not effect a taking of private property or otherwise 
have taking implications under Executive Order 12630, Governmental 
Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected Property 
Rights.

Civil Justice

    This rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) 
of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize litigation, 
eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.

Protection of Children

    We have analyzed this rule under Executive Order 13045, Protection 
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks. This rule 
is not an economically significant rule and does not concern an 
environmental risk to health or risk to safety that may 
disproportionately affect children.

Environment

    The Coast Guard considered the environmental impact of this rule 
and concluded that under figure 2-1, paragraph (32)(e) of Commandant 
Instruction M16475.1C this rule is categorically excluded from further 
environmental documentation. This rule involves the operating schedule 
of an existing drawbridge and will have no impact on the environment. A 
``Categorical Exclusion Determination'' is available in the docket for 
inspection or copying where indicated under ADDRESSES.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 117

    Bridges.

    For reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard amends 33 
CFR part 117 as follows:

PART 117--DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 117 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 499; 49 CFR 1.46; 33 CFR 1.05-1(g); Section 
117.255 also issued under the authority of Pub. L. 102-587, 106 
Stat. 5039.


    2. Section 117.1007(a) is revised as to read as follows:


Sec. 117.1007  Elizabeth River--Eastern Branch.

    (a) The draw of the Norfolk and Western Railroad bridge, mile 2.7 
at Norfolk, shall open as follows:
    (1) From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., the draw shall open on signal if it is 
in the closed to navigation position and remain open until a train 
crossing requires that it be returned to the closed position.
    (2) From 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., the draw shall open on signal if at 
least two hours notice is given.
* * * * *

    Dated: December 21, 2000.
John E. Shkor,
Vice Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 01-761 Filed 1-9-01; 8:45 am]
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