[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 7, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25757-25758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-10244]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket Nos. TSA-2006-24191; USCG-2006-24196]
Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
Implementation in the Maritime Sector; Hazardous Materials Endorsement
for a Commercial Driver's License
AGENCY: United States Coast Guard; DHS.
ACTION: Notice of compliance date, Captain of the Port Zones Boston,
Northern New England, and Southeastern New England.
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SUMMARY: This Notice informs owners and operators of facilities located
within Captain of the Port Zones Boston, Northern New England, and
Southeastern New England that they must implement access control
procedures utilizing TWIC no later than October 15, 2008.
DATES: This Notice is effective May 7, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Comments and material received from the public, as well as
documents mentioned in this notice as being available in the docket,
are part of dockets TSA-2006-24191 and USCG-2006-24196, and are
available for inspection or copying at the Docket Management Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, 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://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this Notice,
call LCDR Jonathan Maiorine, telephone 1-877-687-2243. If you have
questions on viewing the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager,
Docket Operations, telephone 202-493-0402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Regulatory History
On May 22, 2006, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through
the United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard) and the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) published a joint notice of proposed
rulemaking entitled ``Transportation Worker Identification Credential
(TWIC) Implementation in the Maritime Sector; Hazardous Materials
Endorsement for a Commercial Driver's License'' in the Federal Register
(71 FR 29396). This was followed by a 45-day comment period and four
public meetings. The Coast Guard and TSA issued a joint final rule,
under the same title, on January 25, 2007 (72 FR 3492) (hereinafter
referred to as the original TWIC final rule). The preamble to that
final rule contains a discussion of all the comments received on the
NPRM, as well as a discussion of the provisions found in the original
TWIC final rule, which became effective on March 26, 2007.
In a separate section of today's Federal Register, the Coast Guard
and TSA issued a final rule to realign the compliance date for
implementation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential.
The date by which mariners need to obtain a TWIC, and by which owners
and operators of vessels, facilities, and outer continental shelf
facilities, who have not otherwise been required to implement access
control procedures utilizing TWIC, must implement those procedures, is
now April 15, 2009 instead of September 25, 2008. This realignment
provides 18 months from the date the initial enrollment centers became
operational for regulated entities to come into compliances with the
requirements of the TWIC final rule. Owners and operators of facilities
that must comply with 33 CFR part 105 will still be subject to earlier,
rolling compliance dates, as laid out in 33 CFR 105.115(e). As provided
in that regulation, the Coast Guard will announce those dates at least
90 days in advance via notices published in the Federal Register. The
final compliance date will not be later than April 15, 2009.
II. Notice of Facility Compliance Date--COTP Zones Boston, Northern New
England, and Southeastern New England
Title 33 CFR 105.115(e) currently states that ``[f]acility owners
and operators must be operating in accordance with the TWIC provisions
in this part by the date set by the Coast Guard in a Notice to be
published in the Federal Register.'' Through this Notice, the Coast
Guard informs the owners and operators of facilities subject to 33 CFR
105.115(e) located within the following Captain of the Port Zones:
Boston, Northern New England, and Southeastern New England that the
deadline for their compliance with Coast Guard and TSA TWIC
requirements is October 15, 2008.
We have determined that this date provides sufficient time for the
estimated population required to obtain TWICs for these COTPs to enroll
and for TSA to complete the necessary security threat assessments for
those enrollment applications. We strongly encourage persons requiring
unescorted access to facilities regulated by 33 CFR part 105 and
located in one of these COTP Zones to enroll for their TWIC as soon as
possible, if they haven't already. Information on enrollment
procedures, as well as a link to the pre-enrollment web site (which
will also enable an applicant to make an appointment for enrollment),
may be found at https://twicprogram.tsa.dhs.gov.
[[Page 25758]]
Dated: May 2, 2008.
Brian M. Salerno,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety,
Security and Stewardship.
[FR Doc. E8-10244 Filed 5-6-08; 8:45 am]
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