[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 78 (Monday, April 23, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20513-20514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9993]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-2001-9188]


Proposed Decommissioning and/or Excessing of the Remaining 180-
foot Seagoing Buoy Tender Class, and the Proposed Excessing of the 
Vessel, FIR (WLM 212)

AGENCY: U.S. Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard announces the availability of a draft 
Programmatic Environmental Assessment on its proposal to decommission 
and/or declare excess the remaining vessels in the 180-foot seagoing 
buoy tender fleet and the proposed excessing of the former United 
States Coast Guard Cutter, FIR (WLM-212). Comments on the Assessment 
are encouraged.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before June 7, 2001.

ADDRESSES: To make sure your comments and related material are not 
entered more than once in the docket, please submit by only one of the 
following means:
    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-2001-9188), 
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 in 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, including the 
PEA, on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
the proposed project, or the associated assessment, call David Reese, 
U.S. Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-1942. If you have questions on 
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Dorothy Beard, 
Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    Comments and related material on the draft PEA are encouraged. 
Please provide the name and address of the comment originator, identify 
the docket number for this notice (USCG-2001-9188), and provide 
background support 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. When submitting by mail 
or hand delivery, submit your comments or material 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 if 
the comments or material has reached the Facility, please enclose a 
stamped, self addressed postcard or envelope. The Coast Guard will 
consider all comments and material received during the comment period.

Proposed Action

    The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) proposes to decommission and/or declare 
excess the remaining vessels in its aging fleet of 180-foot seagoing 
buoy tenders and declare the former United States Coast Guard Cutter, 
FIR (WLM-212) excess to its needs. The USCG has determined that the 
entire class of 180-foot vessels is eligible for listing in the 
National Register of Historic Places

[[Page 20514]]

(NRHP). Additionally, FIR (WLM-212) is a National Historic Landmark 
listed on the NRHP. The USCG intends to replace the 180-foot WLBs with 
175-foot Coastal Buoy Tenders (WLMs) and 225-foot Coastal Buoy Tenders 
(WLBs). These new vessels will support the same mission requirements as 
the 180-foot WLBs, with state-of-the-art technology.
    While the 180-foot WLBs have contributed to nearly every USCG 
mission area, their primary contribution has been servicing the Short 
Range Aids to Navigation System. All 180-foot WLBs are over 50 years of 
age and further renovation is impractical. Excessive maintenance 
problems stemming from the age of these vessels are also being 
experienced with resultant reduced reliability and increased operating 
costs. The Federal Property Administrative Services Act (FPASA) (40 
U.S.C. Chapter 10) requires that excess property be identified and 
declared as such. Therefore, the USCG has an operational, economic, and 
legal need to cost-effectively rid itself of obsolete and inefficient 
vessels that can no longer effectively carry out the USCG missions they 
were designed for. Consequently, the USCG is proposing to decommission 
(remove the vessels from active use) and declare the current WLB fleet 
excess to its needs. In order to declare a vessel excess, the USCG must 
complete a report of survey that states that the vessel is excess to 
its needs. The USCG provides the General Services Administration (GSA) 
with a Standard Form 120 for the excess material. Following submittal 
to GSA, the standard mandated GSA process for disposing of Federally 
owned materials ensues. Built in 1939, FIR (WLM 212) is classified as a 
National Historic Landmark and as such is listed on the NRHP. 
Homeported for 50 years in Washington State, FIR served buoys, 
lighthouses, and other navigation aids in the Pacific Northwest. FIR is 
the last surviving unaltered American lighthouse tender, and was the 
last working member of the U.S. Lighthouse Service fleet.
    The FIR has reached the end of its service life. The vessel is over 
50 years of age. Excessive maintenance problems stemming from the age 
of FIR were experienced with resultant reduced reliability and 
increased operating costs. As a result of its age and condition, the 
USCG decommissioned FIR in 1996. At present, the USCG is incurring 
costs to store the vessel in Suisun Bay, California. As previously 
stated, it is a requirement of the FPASA that excess property be 
identified by the USCG and declared as such. Therefore, the USCG has an 
operational, economic, and legal need to cost effectively rid itself of 
the obsolete and inefficient FIR.

Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment

    The Coast Guard has prepared a draft Programmatic Environmental 
Assessment (PEA). The draft PEA identifies and examines the reasonable 
alternatives to our proposed action and assesses potential 
environmental impacts. The alternatives analyzed in this PEA were 
chosen because they fulfilled the need for the USCG to cost effectively 
and legally rid itself of obsolete and inefficient vessels that can no 
longer effectively carry out the USCG missions they were designed for. 
However, the choice of alternatives is limited due to legal mandates 
requiring a specific excessing and disposal process to be used by the 
USCG. Certain legal mandates require a specific prioritized process for 
vessel (personal property) disposal, the majority of which is not 
controlled by the USCG. In analyzing these alternatives for 
environmental impact, the PEA looks at the impacts of decommissioning 
and excessing which we control, and then, generally, at the possible 
environmental impacts resulting from each component of the mandated 
disposal process--the connected actions to the decommissioning and/or 
excessing of our remaining 180-foot vessels and FIR.
    This is a programmatic document and cannot foresee all possible 
site specific and cumulative impacts from the connected actions 
(largely not under USCG control) to our proposed decommissioning and 
excessing.
    Comments on environmental concerns related to the PEA are 
encouraged. All comments will be considered in preparing the final PEA.

    Dated: April 13, 2001.
Terry M. Cross,
Assistant Commandant for Operations.
[FR Doc. 01-9993 Filed 4-20-01; 8:45 am]
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