[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 187 (Friday, September 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55643-55645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24364]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2003-14878]


Automatic Identification System; Expansion of Carriage 
Requirements for U.S. Waters

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments; extension of comment period, and 
notice of public meetings.

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SUMMARY: On July 1, 2003, the Coast Guard published a notice requesting 
comments on how best to address implementation of Automatic 
Identification System (AIS) carriage requirements on certain navigable 
waters of the U.S. for vessels not on international voyages. The 
comment period for that notice was scheduled to end September 29, 2003, 
but we are extending the comment period through January 5, 2004. This 
extension will permit the Coast Guard to receive comments in response 
to our previously published notice after the public has seen the final 
rule that will be published this fall. We are also announcing the dates 
and locations of three public meetings.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before January 5, 2004. Public meetings will be held on 
the following dates in the following cities:
    November 5, 2003, 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. (noon), in New Orleans, LA;
    November 13, 2003, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in New Bedford, MA; and
    December 5, 2003, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Seattle, WA.

ADDRESSES: Comments. You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard 
docket number USCG-2003-14878 to the Docket Management Facility at the 
U.S. Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use 
only one of the following methods:
    (1) Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (4) Delivery: Room PL-401 on 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.
    (5) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
    Meetings. The meetings will be held at the following locations:

New Orleans, LA--8th Coast Guard District, Hale Boggs Federal Building, 
501 Magazine Street, Room B100 New Orleans, LA 70130.
New Bedford, MA--Location to be announced via separate notice.
Seattle, WA-13th Coast Guard District, Federal Building, 915 Second 
Avenue, 4th Floor, Northern Auditorium, Seattle, WA 98174.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
contact Mr. Jorge Arroyo, Office of Vessel Traffic Management (G-MWV-
1), Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-6277, fax 202-267-4826 or e-mail: 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, Program Manager, Docket 
Operations, telephone 202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to respond to our request for comments, by 
submitting comments and related materials. All comments received will 
be posted, without change, to http://dms.dot.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided. We have an agreement with the 
Department of Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket Management 
Facility. Please see DOT's ``Privacy Act'' three paragraphs below.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your 
name and address, identify the docket number

[[Page 55644]]

(USCG-2003-14878), indicate the specific question you are responding 
to, and give the reason for each comment. You may submit your comments 
and material by electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery 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 delivery, submit them 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 that they reached the 
Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or 
envelope. We will consider all comments and material received during 
the comment period.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as 
documents mentioned in this notice as being available in the docket, go 
to http://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using the 
docket number. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility 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.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the 
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

Public Meetings

    We are intending to hold at least three public meetings regarding 
this notice on the expansion of AIS carriage requirements for U.S. 
waters. The three scheduled meetings will be held--
    [sbull] November 5, 2003, 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. (noon), at 8th Coast 
Guard District, Hale Boggs Federal Building, 501 Magazine Street, Room 
B100, New Orleans, LA 70130.
    [sbull] November 13, 2003, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in New Bedford, 
MA at a location to be announced via a separate notice.
    [sbull] December 5, 2003, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at 13th Coast Guard 
District, Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue, 4th Floor, Northern 
Auditorium, Seattle, WA 98174.

Reason for Extension of Comment Period

    In a temporary interim rule published in the Federal Register on 
July 1, 2003 (68 FR 39353), the Coast Guard required Automatic 
Identification System (AIS) carriage as agreed to by the international 
community in amendments to the International Convention for the Safety 
of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS), and as directed by the Maritime 
Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA), Public Law 107-295. That 
rulemaking, however, covers only vessels on international voyages and 
certain vessels on specified waterways (Vessel Traffic Service Areas) 
of the United States.
    As we stated in a request for comments published July 1, 2003 (68 
FR 39369), entitled ``Automatic Identification System; Expansion of 
Carriage Requirements for U.S. Waters,'' the MTSA required that 
specific categories of vessels be equipped with and operate an AIS in 
all navigable waters of the U.S., unless the Secretary finds that AIS 
is not needed for safe navigation on specified navigable waters.
    Our July 1, 2003, notice, which is available in the docket under 
ADDRESSES, requested comments on how best to address implementation on 
the remaining navigable waters of the U.S. for vessels not on 
international voyages. We are extending the comment period for that 
notice to January 5, 2004. We are also republishing and adding to the 
questions posed previously in our notice. This extension will allow us 
to receive comments in response to this notice after the public has 
seen the final rule that will complete the ongoing rulemaking involving 
AIS. As previously stated, the Coast Guard plans to issue that final 
rule before November 25, 2003 (68 FR 39354, July 1, 2003).

Questions

    We need the public's assistance in answering the following 
questions, and any additional information provided on this topic is 
welcome. Note, we have republished the questions as posed in our July 
1, 2003 notice (68 FR 39353), and inserted additional terms, denoted in 
brackets [], to either further clarify or to solicit additional 
comments regarding a specific question.
    In responding to each question, please explain your reasons for 
each answer as specifically as possible so that we can carefully weigh 
the consequences and impacts of any future actions we may take.
    (1) Recognizing that AIS may ultimately be required on all [U.S.] 
navigable waters, what particular waterways or ports should be 
implemented before others?
    (2) Are there particular [U.S. navigable] waterways where the AIS 
requirements should be waived? Why?
    (3) AIS is not specifically mandated (by the MTSA) on all vessels. 
The MTSA, however, does allow the Secretary to require AIS on any 
vessel if deemed necessary for safe navigation. Should other vessels 
(e.g., commercial vessels under 65 feet in length, towing vessels under 
26 feet and 600 horsepower, dredges and floating plants, recreational 
vessels, offshore facilities, [non-self propelled vessels or barges, 
particularly those carrying hazardous cargo], or Mobile Offshore 
Drilling Units) be required to have AIS?
    (4) SOLAS expects nations to implement their AIS carriage on their 
domestic fleet (vessels over 500 gross tonnage and passenger vessels 
not on international voyage) not later than July 1, 2008. However, the 
MTSA requires AIS by December 31, 2004. Knowing this, should certain 
vessels be granted temporary exemptions regarding the compliance dates 
in MTSA?
    (5) Under what circumstances, if any, should a vessel be exempted 
from the AIS requirements per the MTSA exemption?
    (6) SOLAS defines a passenger vessel as carrying 12 or more 
passengers. VTS regulations define VTS users as passenger vessels over 
100 gross tons carrying 1 or more passengers or those certificated to 
carry 50 or more passengers. The MTSA allows the Secretary to determine 
the threshold (number of passengers) [for hire or not for hire] when 
determining which passenger vessels are required to have AIS. Should we 
expand AIS carriage beyond what is already defined in SOLAS and our 
rule?
    (7) Should the Coast Guard encourage or require the use of systems 
such as electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) and 
electronic chart system (ECS) to display AIS information to enhance 
navigation safety? Are there other systems that could be used for this 
purpose?
    (8) Would you be more likely to install an ECDIS or ECS on your 
vessel, to display AIS information, if the system could be used to 
comply with an existing requirement to carry nautical charts?


[[Page 55645]]


    Dated: September 22, 2003.
T.H. Gilmour,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, 
Security and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 03-24364 Filed 9-25-03; 8:45 am]
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