[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 212 (Thursday, November 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64546-64547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18334]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2005-22732]


Domestic Vessel Passenger Weights--Voluntary Interim Measures

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces supplemental guidance for owners and 
operators of small passenger vessels to avoid operation in 
environmental conditions that are inappropriate for their vessels. The 
Coast Guard is requesting public comments on this notice.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility not later than January 31, 2007.

[[Page 64547]]


ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket 
number USCG-2005-22732 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 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
call Mr. William Peters, Naval Architecture Division, G-PSE-2, Coast 
Guard, telephone 202-372-1372. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Ms. Renee V. Wright, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-493-0402.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    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'' paragraph below.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your 
name and address, identify the docket number for this notice (USCG-
2005-22732) and give the reason for each comment. You may submit your 
comments by electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket 
Management Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit 
your comments 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 received during the comment period.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time, click on ``Simple Search,'' enter the last 
five digits of the docket number for this rulemaking, and click on 
``Search.'' 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.

Background and Purpose

    On April 26, 2006, the Coast Guard published a notice (71 FR 24732) 
that announced voluntary interim measures for certain domestic vessels 
to account for increased passenger and vessel weight when determining 
the number of passengers permitted. The notice included a discussion on 
the typical restriction to ``reasonable operating conditions'' placed 
on the Certificate of Inspection (COI) of vessels that are designed 
only for operation on protected waters. Under the recommended voluntary 
measures for prudent operation for all small passenger vessels, the 
notice advised that reasonable operating conditions do not include 
conditions associated with a small craft advisory as well as other 
specific wind and wave conditions.
    According to the National Weather Service (NWS), a small craft 
advisory is issued to alert small craft--generally vessels less than 65 
feet in length--to sustained (more than 2 hours) hazardous weather or 
sea conditions that may be either present or forecasted. Upon learning 
of such an advisory, the NWS urges mariners to immediately determine 
the reason and to monitor the latest marine broadcast. See http://www.weather.gov/glossary.
    The April notice also discussed increased passenger weight and 
identified the means by which the Coast Guard typically evaluates a 
small passenger vessel's stability.
    This notice updates the voluntary measures for prudent operation 
published in the Federal Register on April 26, 2006, by clarifying 
guidance in the previous notice on reasonable operating conditions and 
the vessels to which that guidance applies.
    The Coast Guard received numerous comments from the public in 
response to the April 26, 2006, notice.

Advisory Actions

Updated Voluntary Measures for Prudent Operation: All Small Passenger 
Vessels

    The recommendation given in the April 26, 2006, notice to owners 
and operators of all small passenger vessels certificated only for 
operation on protected waters is amended as follows to further clarify 
``reasonable operating conditions'':
    (1) For passenger pontoon vessels, voluntarily operate in 
``reasonable operating conditions,'' which do not include:
     Wind gusts over 30 knots (35 miles per hour);
     Waves over two feet;
     Sustained winds over 18 knots (21 miles per hour); or
     Conditions associated with a small craft advisory.
    (2) For other small passenger, non-sailing vessels certificated to 
operate only on protected waters and that are less than 65 feet, give 
special consideration to the ``reasonable operating conditions'' as set 
forth in item (1) above while complying with the requirements of 46 CFR 
185.304 or 122.304.
    The Coast Guard expects that small passenger vessel owners and 
operators are aware of and follow the guidelines presented in the April 
26, 2006 notice as supplemented by this notice. The Coast Guard is in 
the process of more formally addressing stability issues caused by 
increases in passenger and vessel weight for all domestic vessels.

    Dated: October 25, 2006.
C.E. Bone,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Prevention.
[FR Doc. E6-18334 Filed 11-1-06; 8:45 am]
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