[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52770-52771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20480]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG 2002-13027]


Great Lakes Pilotage Office Relocation Study

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of study; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard will conduct a study to determine whether its 
Office of Great Lakes Pilotage should move from Washington, DC, to a 
location closer to the Great Lakes. It will do this to determine the 
best place from which to serve the public. The right choice should 
improve service to all concerned.

DATES: The study will begin August 27, 2002 with telephonic interviews 
of designated representatives of associations representing a broad 
spectrum of Great Lakes stakeholders. Written comments should reach the 
Docket Management Facility on or before September 12, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Please identify your comments and related material by the 
docket number of this rulemaking [USCG 2002-13027]. Then, to make sure 
they enter the docket just once, submit them by just 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.
    In choosing among these means, please give due regard to the recent 
difficulties with delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service to 
Federal facilities.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments and related material received from the public, as well 
as documents mentioned in this Notice, 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: Mr. Paul Wasserman, telephone 202-267-
0093 or e-mail at http://[email protected] for questions on the 
study. For questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, 
call Ms. Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, 
telephone 202-366-9329.
    Background: This study will weigh the benefits of moving the Office 
of Great Lakes Pilotage from its current location in Washington, DC, to 
a location near the Great Lakes. Should this study conclude that such a 
move is justified, the Coast Guard will examine suitable locations for 
the office near the

[[Page 52771]]

Great Lakes and make a final recommendation concerning where to 
relocate.
    From 1960 to 1990, the Office of Great Lakes Pilotage was located 
in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1990, the Coast Guard moved the office to 
Washington, DC, to better serve the community. A review of Coast 
Guard's management and oversight of the Office completed this year, 
however, recommended that the Office be relocated to Massena, New York, 
where it would be closer to the pilotage community it regulates and to 
other government agencies (Saint Lawrence Seaway Development 
Corporation and the Canadian Great Lakes Pilotage Authority) that share 
regulatory responsibilities in the Great Lakes. Acting on this 
recommendation, the Coast Guard is conducting this study to determine 
whether the office should be relocated and, if so, to what location.
    Study Process: The study will be conducted in four phases. Phase 1 
will explore the benefits of relocating the function from Washington, 
DC, to a location closer to the Great Lakes. Phase 1 will include 
telephone interviews with the representatives of the following 
stakeholder associations: (1) St. Lawrence Seaway Pilots' Association; 
(2) Great Lakes District Council, International Longshoremen's 
Association; (3) American Great Lakes Ports' Association; (4) United 
States Great Lakes Shipping Association; (5) Lakes Pilots' Association, 
Inc.; and (6) Western Great Lakes Pilots' Association. In addition, 
phase 1 will include interviews with U.S. and Canadian governmental 
agencies that conduct business in the Great Lakes area, and will take 
into consideration public comments received in connection with this 
study.
    If relocation is recommended, phase 2 will investigate suitable 
locations in the Great Lakes community. And in that case, phase 3 will 
develop a specific implementation plan. Phase 4 will examine whether 
the office should remain a unit of Coast Guard Headquarters or 
transferred to the Ninth Coast Guard District, with its headquarters in 
Cleveland.
    The study will consider the specific effects of a relocation as 
they relate to: (1) Communications with the pilot associations, port 
authorities, shippers, agents, unions other stakeholders and interested 
parties; (2) Communications with other governmental entities, such as 
the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and the Canadian Great 
Lakes Pilotage Authority; and (3) Whether the Great Lakes Pilotage 
Office remains a Headquarters unit or is transferred to the Ninth Coast 
Guard District.

    Dated: August 6, 2002.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Acting Assistant Commandant Marine Safety, Security And Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 02-20480 Filed 8-12-02; 8:45 am]
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