[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 67 (Thursday, April 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19380-19381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8244]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2011-0187]


Notice of Entry Into Effect of MARPOL Annex V Wider Caribbean 
Region Special Area

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the date for the entry into effect 
of discharge requirements from ships in the Wider Caribbean Region 
(WCR) special area (SA) as specified in the International Convention 
for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) Annex V, Regulation 
5 and Coast Guard regulations. MARPOL Annex V and the U.S. regulations 
apply to vessel and reception facility activities in the WCR region.

DATES: IMO Resolution MEPC.191(60) established the date of entry for 
discharge requirements in the WCR SA as May 1, 2011.

ADDRESSES: The docket for this notice is available for inspection or 
copying at the Docket Management Facility (M-30), 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 by going

[[Page 19381]]

to http://www.regulations.gov, inserting USCG-2011-0187 in the 
``Keyword'' box, and then clicking ``Search.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about this 
notice, call or e-mail Mr. David Condino, MARPOL Certificate of 
Adequacy Project Manager, telephone: 202-372-1145, e-mail: 
[email protected]; or LCDR Kevin P. Lynn, Chief, Facility Safety 
Branch, Commandant, CG-5442, telephone: 202-372-1130, e-mail: 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing material in the 
docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, 
telephone: 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    Under Coast Guard regulation 33 CFR 151.53(b), the Coast Guard 
announces the May 1, 2011 date for entry into effect of discharge 
requirements from ships in the WCR SA. The WCR is defined in 33 CFR 
151.06(a)(12). As of May 1, 2011, the discharge restrictions for SAs 
set forth in 33 CFR 151.71 will be applicable to the WCR SA.
    In accordance with the provisions of regulation 5(4)(b) found in 
MARPOL Annex V, the United States, along with a sufficient number of 
WCR States that are parties to MARPOL, submitted notices on the 
availability of adequate reception facilities in the region to the 
International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Marine Environment 
Protection Committee (MEPC) at a meeting of the MEPC in March, 2010. 
During the meeting the WCR States requested that the MEPC establish a 
date for the entry into effect of the WCR SA. The MEPC noted the 
information provided by Member States in the WCR SA, to include the 
United States, and decided that the requirements for sufficient 
notification of adequate reception facilities for the WCR SA had been 
met. The MEPC adopted resolution MEPC.191(60) and the IMO Secretariat 
transmitted the text of the resolution to all interested parties via 
Circular Letter No.3053 dated April 14, 2010. These documents are 
available on the IMO's Web site at http://www.imo.org.
    As a party to MARPOL Annex V, the United States proposed to the 
IMO's MEPC to establish the Gulf of Mexico as an SA under MARPOL Annex 
V in September 1990. The country of Venezuela submitted an amendment to 
the proposal to include the WCR along with the Gulf of Mexico as an SA 
under MARPOL Annex V in November 1990. The MEPC adopted the proposal to 
establish the WCR SA, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean 
Sea, in July 1991. The SA entered into force in April 1993, and MARPOL 
Annex V discharge requirements for the SA will enter into effect May 1, 
2011. When the discharge requirements in regulation 5 of MARPOL Annex V 
enter into effect for the WCR SA, the discharge restrictions in 33 CFR 
151.71 will also enter into effect. These regulations state that no 
person may discharge garbage from a ship except food wastes. The 
disposal of food wastes into the sea shall be made as far as 
practicable from land, but in any case not less than 12 nautical miles 
from the nearest land. Food wastes comminuted or ground and capable of 
passing through a screen with openings no greater than 25 mm may be 
discharged not less than 3 nautical miles from the nearest land.
    The Coast Guard intends to update the list of SAs, in accordance 
with 33 CFR 151.53(b), to include where discharge restrictions are 
effective in a separate rule change.

    Dated: March 18, 2011.
Kevin S. Cook,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Prevention Policy.
[FR Doc. 2011-8244 Filed 4-6-11; 8:45 am]
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