[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 151 (Friday, August 5, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47531-47533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19862]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

46 CFR Part 2

[Docket No. USCG-2007-27668]
RIN 1625-AB35


Approval of Classification Societies

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is reopening the comment period before issuing 
a final rule regarding the Approval of Classification Societies (USCG-
2007-27668). We previously published a notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NPRM) proposing application procedures and performance standards that 
classification societies must meet in order to obtain approval by the 
Coast Guard before conducting work in the United States. We published 
the proposed regulations to implement the requirements imposed by the 
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004, but before the 
publication of the final rule, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 
2010 changed the applicability to require that all classification 
societies be approved by the Coast Guard prior to conducting any work 
on a vessel in the United States. The published NPRM proposed allowing 
full members of the International Association of Classification 
Societies (IACS) to be exempt from Coast Guard approval prior to 
working in the United States. Because

[[Page 47532]]

of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, we are reopening the 
comment period to allow for any additional or updated comments from the 
public before publishing the final rule.

DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our 
online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before September 6, 
2011 or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2007-27668 using any one of the following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking 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.
    Viewing incorporation by reference material: You may inspect the 
material proposed for incorporation by reference at Room 2100, U.S. 
Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20593-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-267-6716. Copies of the 
material are available as indicated in the ``Incorporation by 
Reference'' section of this preamble.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this proposed 
rule, call or e-mail LT Alfred Giordano, Coast Guard; telephone 202-
372-1362, 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:

I. 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.

A. Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
rulemaking (USCG-2007-27668), 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 or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of 
these means. We recommend that you include your name and a mailing 
address, an e-mail 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 the ``submit a comment'' box, which will then become 
highlighted in blue. In the ``Document Type'' drop down menu select 
``Proposed Rule'' and insert ``USCG-2007-27668'' in the ``Keyword'' 
box. Click ``Search'' 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 
comments 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 this proposed rule based on your 
comments.

B. 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-2007-27668'' and click 
``Search.'' Click the ``Open Docket Folder'' in the ``Actions'' column. 
If you do not have access to the Internet, you may view the docket 
online by visiting 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.

C. 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).

D. Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a 
request for one to the docket using one of the methods specified under 
ADDRESSES. In your request, explain why you believe a public meeting 
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.

II. Background

    We published a notice of policy and a request for comments that 
outlined the procedures by which classification societies could apply 
for approval with the Coast Guard. See 69 FR 63548 (November 2, 2004). 
This notice of policy was based on the August 9, 2004 enactment of 
Section 413 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 
(the ``2004 Act'') (Pub. L. 108-293). The 2004 Act amended 46 U.S.C. 
3316 by adding paragraph (c), which prohibits certain activities of 
classification societies on a vessel in the United States that are not 
approved by the Coast Guard. The 2004 Act mandated that, after December 
31, 2004, a classification society, including an employee or agent of 
that society, may not review, examine, survey, or certify the 
construction, repair, or alteration of a vessel in the United States 
unless the classification society is either approved by the Coast Guard 
or is a full member of the International Association of Classification 
Societies (IACS).
    After publication of the notice of policy, we received questions 
from the public that were addressed in a notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NPRM) published in the Federal Register on April 23, 2010. The NPRM, 
titled ``Approval of Classification Societies'' (75 FR 21212), outlined 
the procedures and criteria we would use to evaluate classification 
societies. The comment period closed on July 22, 2010, and we received 
no comments on the proposed rule. No public meeting was requested and 
none was held.
    Before the publication of the final rule, on October 15, 2010, the 
enactment of section 622 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 
(the ``2010 Act'') (Pub. L. 111-281) amended 46 U.S.C. 3316(c). The 
2010 Act changed the applicability to require that all

[[Page 47533]]

classification societies, including IACS members, be approved by the 
Coast Guard prior to conducting any work on a vessel in the United 
States.

III. Discussion

    In this notice, we are reopening the comment period for the NPRM to 
allow comments from all interested parties. The 2010 Act changed the 
applicability to require that all classification societies be approved 
by the Coast Guard prior to conducting any work on a vessel in the 
United States. Accordingly, in Sec. Sec.  2.45-10(a), 2.45-15(a), and 
2.45-30 of the proposed rule, we plan to delete all references to IACS 
members, in order to comply with our revised statutory authority. The 
2010 Authorization Act requires IACS members to apply to the Coast 
Guard for approval under Title 46, United States Code, Section 3316(c), 
if they wish to continue performing work related to the certification 
of construction, repair, or alteration of vessels within the United 
States.

    Dated: August 1, 2011.
J.G. Lantz,
Director of Commercial Regulations and Standards, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 2011-19862 Filed 8-4-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P