[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 88 (Friday, May 6, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 26182-26183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11059]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 117

[Docket No. USCG-2011-0314]
RIN 1625-AA09


Drawbridge Operation Regulations; Hood Canal, WA

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of temporary deviation from regulations.

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SUMMARY: The Commander, Thirteenth Coast Guard District has issued a 
temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the 
Hood Canal floating drawbridge near Port Gamble, Washington to test an 
operational change and seek public comment regarding that change in 
order to evaluate the need for a permanent change. The deviation 
establishes a restricted period from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the 
week from 3 p.m. May 27, 2011 through 6 p.m. on September 30, 2011.

DATES: This rule is effective from 3 p.m. May 27, 2011 through 6 p.m. 
on September 30, 2011. Comments and related material must be received 
by the Coast Guard on November 30, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2011-0314 using any one of the following methods:
    (1) Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov,
    (2) Fax: 202-493-2251
    (3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001,
    (4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on 
submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this proposed 
rule, call or e-mail Commander Daryl Peloquin, Chief, Waterways 
Management Branch, 13th Coast Guard District; telephone 206-220-7273, 
e-mail [email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting 
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted, 
without change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided.

Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
rulemaking (USCG-2011-0314), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material 
online (http://www.regulations.gov), or by fax, mail or hand delivery, 
but please use only one of these means. If you submit a comment online 
via http://www.regulations.gov, it will be considered as having been 
received by the Coast Guard when you successfully transmit the comment. 
If you fax, hand-deliver, or mail your comment, it will be considered 
as having been received by the Coast Guard when it is received at the 
Docket Management Facility. We recommend that you include your name and 
a mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of 
your document so that we can contact you if we have questions regarding 
your submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
click on ``submit a comment'' box, which will then become highlighted 
in blue. In the ``Keyword'' box insert ``USCG-2011-0314'', click 
``Search'', and then click on the balloon shape in the ``Actions'' 
column. If you submit your comments by mail or hand 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 and may change the rule 
based upon your comments.

Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble 
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
click on the ``read comments'' box, which will then become highlighted 
in blue. In the ``Keyword'' box insert ``USCG-2011-0314'' and click 
``Search.'' Click the ``Open Docket Folder'' in the ``Actions'' column. 
You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on 
the ground floor of the Department of Transportation West Building, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. We have an 
agreement with the Department of Transportation to use the Docket 
Management Facility.

Privacy Act

    Anyone can search the electronic form of 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 a Privacy Act notice 
regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the 
Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

[[Page 26183]]

Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting, but you may submit a 
request for one using four methods specified under ADDRESSES. Please 
explain why one would be beneficial. If we determine that one would aid 
this rulemaking, we will hold one at a time and place announced by a 
later notice in the Federal Register.

Basis and Purpose

    Senator Phil Rockefeller and Representative Christine Rolfes of the 
Washington State Legislature have requested that the operating 
regulations of the Hood Canal Bridge be changed in order to try to 
provide some relief to road traffic on State Routes 3 and 104. Traffic 
queues south of the eastern end of the bridge can be long during and 
after openings of the drawspan. The stopped road traffic on this two-
lane highway blocks access to intersecting streets along the queue.
    The operating regulations currently in effect for the bridge are 
found at 33 CFR 117.1045. These state that the bridge shall open on 
signal if at least one hour notice is provided and that the draw shall 
be opened horizontally for three hundred feet unless the maximum 
opening of 600 feet is requested. The current regulations remain in 
effect except for the establishment of the restricted period.
    Navigation on the waterway consists of commercial tugs with tows, 
recreational vessels of various sizes, commercial fishing vessels, and 
U.S. naval vessels with escort vessels including those of the U.S. 
Coast Guard.
    This change will not affect naval vessels or vessels in service to 
the Navy. Unlike many other restricted or closed periods in effect for 
certain drawbridges, this restriction will not guarantee the complete 
absence of interruptions to vehicular traffic in the designated hours. 
At best it would diminish openings without eliminating them entirely 
during the affected hours. Approximately, one half of all openings of 
the Hood Canal draw are for the passage of Navy ships, submarines, and 
other vessels in service to the Navy. The movement of vessels for 
national security purposes or emergencies cannot be impeded by 
drawbridge operating regulations.
    Recreational vessels too tall to pass under the fixed spans of the 
bridge generally ply Hood Canal seasonally. Most of this taller 
recreational traffic occurs from June through September. These are the 
only months subject to this test deviation.
    The openings for the full width of this floating drawspan are much 
slower than for a typical bascule type of draw. While some openings and 
closings have been completed within 20 minutes or less, others have 
lasted far longer than 30 minutes increasing traffic queues on the 
road. Traffic has generally exceeded 1200 vehicles per hour throughout 
the week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, peak traffic loads are not 
discernable for the morning hours as for the afternoon hours. Draw 
openings can occur at any time and do. A further difficulty is that 
this variability makes it difficult to match waterway traffic to peak 
road travel times.
    For example in June 2010 draw records show that the Hood Canal 
Bridge opened a total of 29 times including one movement that was for 
testing the draw. Of these 16 were for pleasure craft and the rest were 
for military vessels. There were only five days with more than one 
opening per day. July 2010 was busier than June. In July 43 openings 
occurred. Five of these were operational tests. It opened 22 times for 
pleasure craft, twice for commercial vessels and 19 times for the Navy.
    For the hours affected by these test deviation, in July 2010 there 
were 5 openings for the Navy, 2 for sailboats, and one for a tug with 
tow.
    The Coast Guard will evaluate public comments from this Test 
Deviation as well as draw records and road traffic data after the end 
of the test period. We may seek to make this change permanent for the 
following year or modify it via a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or 
maintain the current regulations based on the effectiveness of this 
test for both navigation and road traffic.
    From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day from 3 p.m. on May 27 through 6 
p.m. on September 30, 2011, the draw need not open for vessels other 
than those of the U.S. Navy or vessels attending the missions of the 
U.S. Navy. The established regulations found at 33 CFR 117.1045 remain 
in effect with that exception.
    This test deviation is authorized under 33 CFR 117.35. In 
accordance with 33 CFR 117.35(e), the Hood Canal Bridge will return to 
its regular operations at the end of the designated time period.

    Dated: April 25, 2011.
G.T. Blore,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Thirteenth Coast Guard 
District.
[FR Doc. 2011-11059 Filed 5-5-11; 8:45 am]
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