[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 7, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51159-51160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-19910]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 155

[USCG-1998-3417]
RIN 2115-AF60


Salvage and Marine Firefighting Requirements; Vessel Response 
Plans for Oil

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Proposed rulemaking; notice of public meeting; notice of 
extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is announcing a public meeting to discuss its 
previously published notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) titled 
``Salvage and Marine Firefighting Requirements; Vessel Response Plans 
for Oil'' (67 FR 40254). The Coast Guard is also announcing the 
extension of the comment period for the NPRM, and updating the point-
of-contact for this rulemaking project.

DATES: Comments must reach the Coast Guard on or before October 18, 
2002. The public meeting will be held in Louisville, KY, on September 
26, 2002. The meeting may conclude before the allotted time if all 
matters of discussion have been addressed.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the following location:
    Louisville, KY--The Galt House Hotel (West Tower), Court Room (2nd 
Floor), 140 North Fourth Avenue, Louisville, KY, 40202.
    Please submit your comments and related material(s) by any one of 
the following methods (choose only one method of delivery in order to 
avoid multiple listings in the public docket):
     By mail to the Docket Management Facility [USCG-1998-
3417], U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh 
Street SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001;
     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;
     By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251; 
or
     Electronically through the website for the Docket 
Management System at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions concerning this 
proposed rulemaking, please contact Lieutenant Commander Paul 
Albertson, Office of Response, Response Operations Division, Coast 
Guard Headquarters, at 202-267-0423, or via e-mail at 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material(s) to the docket, please call Ms. Dorothy Beard, 
Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, at 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting 
comments and related material(s). If you do so, please include your 
name and address, identify the docket number for this rulemaking [USCG-
1998-3417], indicate the specific section of this document to which 
each comment applies, and give the reason for each comment. Please 
submit all comments and related material(s) in an unbound format, no 
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying. If you would 
like to receive confirmation that your submission reached us, please 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will 
consider all comments and material(s) received during the comment 
period.

Regulatory History

    A notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) was published in the Federal 
Register on May 10, 2002 (67 FR 31868), entitled ``Salvage and Marine 
Firefighting Requirements; Vessel Response Plans for Oil.'' Subsequent 
to that publication, the Coast Guard

[[Page 51160]]

published a notice of public meeting in the Federal Register on June 
12, 2002 (67 FR 40254).
    In response to the NPRM, the Coast Guard received requests to 
extend the comment period, which would provide the public with 
additional time to submit their comments. Independent of these 
requests, the Coast Guard determined that an additional public meeting 
was necessary in order to allow for greater public involvement. We are 
extending the comment period to accommodate the date of this fourth 
meeting, and to provide additional time as requested in response to the 
NPRM.
    Please do not resubmit comments that have already been submitted to 
this docket. The NPRM and comments already received may be viewed at 
http://dms.dot.gov.

Background and Purpose

    In the NPRM, we proposed to revise the vessel response plan salvage 
and marine firefighting requirements for tank vessels transporting oil. 
The revisions would clarify the salvage and marine firefighting 
services that must be identified in vessel response plans. The proposed 
changes would insure that the appropriate salvage and marine 
firefighting resources are identified and available for responding to 
incidents up to, and including, the worst-case scenario. The proposed 
rulemaking would also set new response time requirements for each of 
the required salvage and marine firefighting services.

Public Meeting

    The Coast Guard will hold an additional public meeting regarding 
this proposed rulemaking on the following date and at the following 
location:
    Louisville, KY, September 26, 2002, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 
The Galt House Hotel (West Tower), Court Room (2nd Floor), 140 North 
Fourth Avenue, Louisville, KY, 40202.
    The meeting may conclude before the allotted time if all matters of 
discussion have been addressed.
    A summary of comments made and a list of attendees will be 
available on the docket after the meeting concludes.

    Dated: August 2, 2002.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security & Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 02-19910 Filed 8-2-02; 2:01 pm]
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