[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 218 (Friday, November 9, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56627-56629]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28118]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 175

[USCG-2001-10530]


Servicing of Inflatable Liferafts Carried on Recreational Vessels

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) 
recommended that the Coast Guard

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require that any inflatable liferaft carried on a recreational vessel 
must be serviced according to the manufacturer's requirements and at a 
servicing facility approved by the manufacturer. The Coast Guard is 
requesting comments from the boating community about the extent to 
which recreational vessels carry inflatable liferafts, how many vessel 
owners have their liferafts serviced and how often owners use 
manufacturer-approved servicing facilities. Your comments will help us 
evaluate the NBSAC recommendation.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before March 11, 2002.

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, 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 
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: If you have questions on this notice, 
contact Carlton Perry, Project Manager, Office of Boating Safety, 
telephone 202-267-0979, e-mail [email protected]. If you have 
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Dorothy 
Beard, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-
5149.
    You may obtain a copy of this notice by calling the U.S. Coast 
Guard Infoline at 1-800-368-5647 or read it on the Internet at the Web 
Site for the Office of Boating Safety at http://www.uscgboating.org or 
at http://dms.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Currently, no federal regulation requires that recreational vessels 
carry inflatable liferafts; however, inflatable liferafts are becoming 
popular as ``last resort'' safety equipment on board recreational 
vessels. Manufacturers advise purchasers to service these devices and 
typically list servicing facilities approved by the manufacturers.
    At an October 2000 meeting of the National Boating Safety Advisory 
Council (NBSAC), the Coast Guard briefed NBSAC on the Coast Guard's 
approval of inflatable liferafts primarily used on commercial vessels 
that are required to carry liferafts. Commercial vessels are required 
to service their liferafts annually at facilities approved by the Coast 
Guard (46 CFR 160.151-35 to 57). The Coast Guard initially and 
periodically inspects these facilities to ensure that they are clean, 
have the proper equipment, and have properly trained technicians. 
However, recreational vessels are not required to carry inflatable 
liferafts and there are no approval requirements for any inflatable 
liferafts they may use.
    NBSAC passed a resolution requesting that the Coast Guard develop 
regulations to require that any recreational liferaft be serviced 
according to its manufacturer's requirements at a servicing facility 
approved by the Coast Guard or manufacturer.
    By law, the Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety is required to 
consult with the NBSAC in prescribing regulations and regarding other 
major boating safety matters. NBSAC is made up of 21 members: 7 from 
the boating industry, 7 who are State boating officials, and 7 who 
represent national boating organizations or the general public.

Questions

    To assist us in considering NBSAC's resolution, we ask for your 
comments to the following questions:
    1. What data or studies are available indicating the appropriate 
procedures and frequency of servicing of inflatable liferafts carried 
on recreational vessels?
    2. What would the economic and other impacts on owners of 
inflatable liferafts be if the Coast Guard were to require those 
liferafts be serviced according to the manufacturer's schedule at a 
manufacturer-approved facility?
    3. Would a requirement to follow the manufacturer's servicing 
schedule at a manufacturer-approved facility place an inappropriate and 
inconsistent burden on owners of inflatable liferafts carried on 
recreational vessels? Why or why not?
    4. Would the cost of a requirement to periodically service 
inflatable liferafts on recreational boats discourage boaters from 
voluntarily carrying liferafts? What would the effect on the overall 
safety of the recreational boater be?
    5. The Coast Guard is mindful of the potential adverse impacts on 
small business 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 of less than 50,000. How many small 
entities are engaged in the carriage of inflatable liferafts on 
recreational vessels?
    6. Which companies are currently manufacturing inflatable liferafts 
for use on recreational vessels?
    7. Since manufacturers' recommendations vary, at what intervals 
should inflatable liferafts be serviced?
    8. Which facilities are currently approved by manufacturers for 
servicing inflatable liferafts carried on recreational vessels?
    9. Are there issues we should consider specific to foreign 
manufactured inflatable liferafts, schedules of servicing and servicing 
facilities approved for their products?
    10. What other information should we consider?

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this request for comments by 
submitting comments and related material and answering the above 
questions. If you do so, please include your name and address, identify 
the docket number for this notice (USCG-2001-10530), indicate by number 
each question you are answering, and give the reason 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. If you submit them by mail or hand-delivery, submit them in 
an unbound format, no larger than 81/2 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

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comments and material received during the comment period. Your comments 
will help us to determine whether to initiate a rulemaking in response 
to the NBSAC resolution.

Public Meeting

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

    Dated: August 30, 2001.
Kenneth T. Venuto.
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Operations Policy.
[FR Doc. 01-28118 Filed 11-8-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-U