[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 1, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25655-25658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10449]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 117

[Docket No. USCG-2012-0179]
RIN 1625-AA09


Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Tombigbee River, AL

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to add a special operating regulation 
governing the Meridian and Bigbee Railroad (MNBR) vertical lift span 
bridge across the Tombigbee River at Naheola, Marengo and Choctaw 
Counties, Alabama. The bridge currently remains in the open-to-
navigation position and only lowers for the passage of trains. This 
rule proposes to codify the current schedule as a special operating 
regulation.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Coast Guard on or 
before July 2, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2012-0179 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 proposed 
rule, call or email David Frank, Bridge Administration Branch; 
telephone 504-671-2128, 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: 

A. 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.

1. Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
rulemaking (USCG-2012-0179), 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

[[Page 25656]]

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 ``Document Type'' drop down menu select 
``Proposed Rules'' and insert ``USCG-2012-0179'' 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 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.

2. 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-2012-0179'' 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.

3. 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).

4. 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 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.
    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the public meeting, 
contact David Frank at the telephone number or email address indicated 
under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of the notice.

B. Regulatory History and Information

    The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 33 CFR 117.5 requires 
that drawbridges open on signal for vessel passage. Prior to this 
request to change the operating schedule of the draw, no previous 
requests for changes have been received. The bridge owner has initiated 
this request without consultation of waterway users but did consult 
with the USCG Bridge Administration Office in New Orleans to request 
guidance on how to comply with the requirements of 33 CFR 117.41.

C. Basis and Purpose

    The MNBR vertical lift span bridge crosses the Tombigbee River at 
mile 128.6 (Black Warrior Tombigbee Waterway mile 173.6), Naheola, 
Marengo and Choctaw Counties, Alabama. The bridge is currently untended 
and maintained in the open-to-navigation position, closing only for the 
passage of rail traffic. The bridge has a vertical clearance of 12.2 
feet above ordinary high water (OHW), elevation 64.5 feet is based on 
the North American Vertical Datem of 1988 (NAVD 88), in the closed-to-
navigation position and 55 feet above OHW in the open-to-navigation 
position. Many of the vessels using the waterway transit under a fixed 
span of the bridge at periods of lower water due to the difficulty of 
transiting the navigation span, which only has a horizontal clearance 
of 150 feet between piers.
    Due to the limited number of trains using the rail line in this 
area, maintaining the bridge in the fully open-to-navigation position 
and only lowering the bridge for rail traffic is the preferred 
operating schedule. Because this operating schedule has been in place 
for over ten years, and is understood and accepted by local traffic, 
the bridge owner requested that the Coast Guard publish the current 
operating schedule. This operating schedule allows vessels to transit 
the waterway as normal while permitting railroad personnel to lower the 
bridge for the passage of train traffic after ensuring that no vessels 
are approaching the bridge.
    Maintaining the bridge untended and in the open-to-navigation 
position also eliminates the need for a bridge tender. This rule 
proposes to codify the practice and bring it into compliance with 33 
CFR 117.41(b)(1).

D. Discussion of Proposed Rule

    Under 33 CFR 117.5, the MNBR bridge is required to open on signal 
for the passage of vessels except as otherwise authorized or required. 
The MNBR bridge is currently untended and operates under a schedule, 
known and understood by the local users, maintaining the bridge in the 
open-to-navigation position and only closing for the passage of rail 
traffic. That schedule is not reflected in the CFR. This rule proposes 
to publish the locally known operating schedule, codifying the schedule 
as a Special Operating Requirement under 33 CFR part 117, subpart B. 
The proposed special operating schedule closing the bridge to 
navigation would occur as follows: When a train arrives at the bridge, 
the train will stop and a crewmember from the train will observe the 
waterway for approaching vessels. If vessels are approaching, the 
vessels will be allowed to pass prior to the bridge being lowered. The 
crewmember will then make an announcement via VHF-FM channel 16 that 
the bridge will be lowered. If, after two minutes, no response has been 
received, the bridge will be lowered for the passage of train traffic. 
The bridge will remain down until the train has completely passed over 
the bridge, then the bridge will be raised and the crewmember will 
announce an ``all clear'' via VHF-FM channel 16 that the bridge has 
been raised and left in the open-to-navigation position.
    If a vessel approaches while the bridge is in the closed position, 
they may request an opening by contacting the railroad at a number 
provided in the regulatory text as well as on the sign at the bridge or 
by calling the bridge on VHF-FM channel 16.

E. Regulatory Analyses

    We developed this proposed rule after considering numerous statutes 
and executive orders related to rulemaking. Below we summarize our 
analyses

[[Page 25657]]

based on 14 of these statutes or executive orders.

1. Regulatory Planning and Review

    This proposed rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under 
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 
as supplemented by Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and 
Regulatory Review, and does not require an assessment of potential 
costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of Order 12866 or under 
section 1 of Executive Order 13563. The Office of Management and Budget 
has not reviewed it under those Orders.
    We expect the economic impact of this proposed rule to be minimal. 
This rule proposes to codify the current operating schedule for the 
MNBR bridge which is already understood, known and accepted by the 
local bridge and waterway users. Very few vessels will be impacted as 
the bridge remains open at all times except to allow rail traffic to 
pass trains two times a day, five days a week.

2. Impact on Small Entities

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), we have 
considered the impact of this proposed rule on small entities. The 
Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this proposed rule 
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities.
    This proposed rule would affect the following entities, some of 
which might be small entities: The owners or operators of vessels 
wishing to transit the Tombigbee River above mile 128.6 with vessel air 
drafts that would require the bridge to be open to navigation for them 
to pass safely through the bridge site. This action will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
because the bridge remains open at all times except to allow rail 
traffic to pass two times a day, five days a week.
    If you think that your business, organization, or governmental 
jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity and that this rule would have 
a significant economic impact on it, please submit a comment (see 
ADDRESSES) explaining why you think it qualifies and how and to what 
degree this rule would economically affect it.

3. Assistance for Small Entities

    Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we want to assist small 
entities in understanding this proposed rule so that they can better 
evaluate its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking. If the 
rule would affect your small business, organization, or governmental 
jurisdiction and you have questions concerning its provisions or 
options for compliance, please contact the person listed in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above. The Coast Guard will not retaliate 
against small entities that question or complain about this rule or any 
policy or action of the Coast Guard.

4. Collection of Information

    This proposed rule would call for no new collection of information 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).

5. Federalism

    A rule has implications for federalism under Executive Order 13132, 
Federalism, if it has a substantial direct effect on the States, on the 
relationship between the national government and the States, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 
government. We have analyzed this proposed rule under that Order and 
have determined that it does not have implications for federalism.

6. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538) 
requires Federal agencies to assess the effects of their discretionary 
regulatory actions. In particular, the Act addresses actions that may 
result in the expenditure by a State, local, or tribal government, in 
the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100,000,000 (adjusted for 
inflation) or more in any one year. Though this proposed rule will not 
result in such an expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this rule 
elsewhere in this preamble.

7. Taking of Private Property

    This proposed rule would not affect a taking of private property or 
otherwise have taking implications under Executive Order 12630, 
Governmental Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected 
Property Rights.

8. Civil Justice Reform

    This proposed rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 
3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize 
litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.

9. Protection of Children

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13045, 
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks. This rule is not an economically significant rule and would not 
create an environmental risk to health or risk to safety that might 
disproportionately affect children.

10. Indian Tribal Governments

    This proposed rule does not have tribal implications under 
Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal 
Governments, because it would not have a substantial direct effect on 
one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal 
Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.

11. Energy Effects

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13211, 
Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 
Distribution, or Use. We have determined that it is not a ``significant 
energy action'' under that Order because it is not a ``significant 
regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 and is not likely to 
have a significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use 
of energy. The Administrator of the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs has not designated it as a significant energy 
action. Therefore, it does not require a Statement of Energy Effects 
under Executive Order 13211.

12. Technical Standards

    This proposed rule does not use technical standards. Therefore, we 
did not consider the use of voluntary consensus standards.

13. Environment

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Department of Homeland 
Security Management Directive 023-01, and Commandant Instruction 
M16475.lD which guides the Coast Guard in complying with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f), and 
have made a preliminary determination that this action is not likely to 
have a significant effect on the human environment because it simply 
promulgates the operating regulations or procedures for drawbridges. We 
seek any comments or information that may lead to the discovery of a 
significant environmental impact from this proposed rule.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 117

    Bridges.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes 
to amend 33 CFR part 117 as follows:

[[Page 25658]]

PART 117--DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 117 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  33 U.S.C. 499; 33 CFR 1.05-1; Department of Homeland 
Security Delegation No. 0170.1.

    2. Sec.  117.118 is added to read as follows:


Sec.  117.118  Tombigbee River.

    The draw of the Meridian and Bigbee Railroad (MNBR) vertical lift 
span bridge across the Tombigbee River, mile 128.6 (Black Warrior 
Tombigbee (BWT) Waterway mile 173.6), at Naheola, shall operate as 
follows:
    (a) The draw shall be maintained in the fully open-to-navigation 
position for vessels at all times, except during periods when it is 
closed for the passage of rail traffic.
    (b) When a train approaches the bridge, it will stop and a 
crewmember from the train will observe the waterway for approaching 
vessels. If vessels are observed approaching the bridge, they will be 
allowed to pass prior to lowering the bridge. The crewmember will then 
announce via radiotelephone on VHF-FM channel 16 that the bridge is 
preparing to be lowered. If, after two minutes, no response has been 
received, the crewmember will initiate the lowering sequence.
    (c) After the train has completely passed over the bridge, the 
crewmember will initiate the raising sequence. When the bridge is in 
the fully open-to-navigation position, the crewmember will announce via 
radiotelephone on VHF-FM channel 16 that the bridge is in the fully 
open-to-navigation position.
    (d) To request openings of the bridge when the lift span is in the 
closed-to-navigation position, mariners may contact the MNBR via VHF-FM 
channel 16 or by telephone at 205-654-4364.

    Dated: April 17, 2012.
Roy A. Nash,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 2012-10449 Filed 4-30-12; 8:45 am]
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