[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 57 (Friday, March 23, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16928-16929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6982]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 117

[Docket No. USCG-2012-0078]


Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Miami River, Miami, FL

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of temporary deviation from regulation; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Commander, Seventh Coast Guard District, has issued a 
temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the 
N.W. 12th Avenue Bridge across the Miami River, mile 2.1, in Miami, 
Florida. This deviation will test a change to the drawbridge operation 
schedule to determine whether a permanent change to the schedule is 
needed. The test deviation is necessary to determine whether possible 
vehicle traffic congestion during Miami Marlins home baseball games 
poses a safety concern. This 90 day test deviation will allow the N.W. 
12th Avenue Bridge to remain closed to navigation for a short period 
prior to the start of Miami Marlins home baseball games. Tugs and tugs 
with tows, public vessels of the United States, and vessels in distress 
shall be passed at any time.

DATES: This deviation is effective from 6:46 p.m. on April 4, 2012 
through 7:30 p.m. on July 3, 2012.
    Comments and related material must be received by the Coast Guard 
on or before August 1, 2012. Requests for public meetings must be 
received by the Coast Guard on or before May 15, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2012-0078 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this rule, 
call or email Michael Lieberum, Seventh District Bridge Branch, Coast 
Guard; telephone (305) 415-6744, email [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-2012-0078), 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 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 the ``submit a comment'' box, which will then become 
highlighted in blue. In the ``Keyword'' box insert ``USCG-2012-0078,'' 
click ``Search,'' and then click on the balloon shape in the 
``Actions'' column. If you submit your comments

[[Page 16929]]

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 on 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-2012-0078'' 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).

Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a 
request for one using one of the 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

    The legal basis for test deviations to drawbridge operating 
schedules is the Coast Guard's authority to regulate drawbridge 
operations: 33 U.S.C. 499; 33 CFR 1.05-1; Department of Homeland 
Security Delegation No. 0170.1.
    The purpose of the test deviation is to determine whether the 
current drawbridge operation schedule meets the needs of navigation and 
land traffic.

Discussion

    The Miami Marlins Organization has requested bridge opening 
limitations to the N.W. 12th Avenue Bridge over the Miami River mile 
2.1, in Miami, Florida, in order to determine whether traffic 
congestion during Miami Marlins home baseball games poses a safety 
concern and whether a brief closure will mitigate such congestion. This 
90 day test deviation will allow this bridge to remain closed to 
navigation from 6:46 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
during Miami Marlins home baseball games on April 4, 13, 17, 18, 19, 
27, 30; May 11, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30; June 5, 6, 7, 
8, 11, 12, 13, 22, 25, 26, 27, and 29.
    The N.W. 12th Avenue Bridge provides a vertical clearance of 22 
feet above mean high water in the closed position, and a horizontal 
clearance of 150 feet. The normal operating schedule for the bridge is 
set forth in 33 CFR 117.305(b), which states that the draws of the S.W. 
First Street Bridge, mile 0.9, up to and including the N.W. 27th Avenue 
Bridge, mile 3.7 at Miami, shall open on signal; except that, from 7:35 
a.m. to 8:59 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. to 5:59 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays, the draws need not open for the passage of 
vessels.
    This 90 day test deviation will be in effect from 6:46 p.m. on 
April 4, 2012 through 7:30 p.m. on July 3, 2012. Tugs and tugs with 
tows, public vessels of the United States, and vessels in distress 
shall be passed at any time.
    In accordance with 33 CFR 117.35(e), the drawbridge must return to 
its regular operating schedule immediately at the end of the designated 
time period. This test deviation from the operating regulations is 
authorized under 33 CFR 117.35.

    Dated: February 29, 2012.
B.L. Dragon,
Bridge Program Director, Seventh Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 2012-6982 Filed 3-22-12; 8:45 am]
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