[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14645-14646]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-7236]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 175

[USCG-2000-8589]
RIN 2115-AG04


Wearing of Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) by Certain Children 
Aboard Recreational Vessels

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; notice of withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is withdrawing the Final Rule on the wearing 
of PFDs by certain children aboard recreational vessels. It needs to 
reconsider the extent, if any, to which its rule should supersede 
States' rules that are compatible in most respects, but that are 
divergent in some. It hopes to save children's lives on the water and 
yet accord our system of federalism ``full faith and credit.''

DATES: This final rule amending 33 CFR part 175 published on February 
27, 2002 [67 FR 8881] is withdrawn as of March 27, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments and material received from the public, as well as 
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
are part of docket USCG-2000-8589 and are available for inspection or 
copying at the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, room PL-401, 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 final 
rule, call Carl Perry, Coast Guard, telephone: 202-267-0979. If you 
have questions on viewing the docket, call Dorothy Beard, Chief, 
Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulatory History

    On May 1, 2001, we published in the Federal Register [66 FR 21717] 
a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) entitled, ``Wearing of Personal 
Flotation Devices (PFDs) by Certain Children Aboard Recreational 
Vessels''. We received 46 letters commenting on the proposed rule. No 
public hearing was requested and none was held.
    The NPRM followed two published notices of request for comments, 
both titled ``Recreational Boating Safety-Federal Requirements for 
Wearing Personal Flotation Devices,'' under the docket number CGD 97-
059. The first appeared in the Federal Register on September 25, 1997 
[62 FR 50280]; the second, which extended the comment period, on March 
20, 1998 [63 FR 13586]. The comments received in response to these 
notices were discussed in the NPRM.
    After summarizing the comments received in response to the NPRM, we 
consulted the National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) at its 
meeting in October 2001 regarding the results. NBSAC recommended that 
we proceed to publish a final rule, as proposed.
    We published a final rule in the Federal Register on February 27, 
2002 [67 FR 8881] establishing two Federal requirements. The first was 
for children under 13 aboard recreational vessels to wear PFDs, while 
the children are on deck and their vessels are underway. The second 
adopted any age requirement enacted or adopted by a State age 
requirement as the Federal age requirement, within the States. The rule 
did not formally address the various limits such as those related to 
length of vessel, by which some States qualified the applicability of 
their age requirements. We did not consider these differences between 
Federal and State requirements, according to vessel length, to be a 
problem. The rule would have been effective on March 29, 2002.

Withdrawal

    After the rule was published, a State's Boating Law Administrator 
alerted us to potential enforcement problems resulting from these 
differences. At the same time, as we prepared guidance for our boarding 
officers on the fine points of enforcement, we observed the same 
potential enforcement problems with the differences. We decided that we 
needed to withdraw the Final Rule as it stood and fix it.
    Therefore, we are withdrawing the final rule [67 FR 8881] and are 
revising some of its provisions. We are determining how to resolve the 
differences between Federal and State requirements and will notify the 
public and publish our decision in the Federal Register.
    Again, we need to reconsider the extent, if any, to which our rule 
should supersede States' rules that are compatible in most respects but 
that are divergent in some, such as vessel length. We will do this in 
candor because we are dedicated to maintaining the public trust.
    Meanwhile, we ask parents to ensure that children under 13 wear 
Coast

[[Page 14646]]

Guard approved lifejackets while the children are on deck and their 
vessels are under way. Children's safety is the ultimate objective and 
the delay of the rule should not stand in the way of sound judgment.

    Dated: March 20 2002.
Kenneth T. Venuto,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting Assistant Commandant for 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 02-7236 Filed 3-26-02; 8:45 am]
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