[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 56 (Monday, March 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16095-16097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06307]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. MARAD-2014-0044]


Second National Maritime Strategy Symposium: Domestic Shipping 
Opportunities

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of solicitation for agenda topics for a public meeting.

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[[Page 16096]]

SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) invites the public and 
other Marine Transportation System stakeholders to participate in a 
symposium to help develop a robust National Maritime Strategy. This 
second symposium will be conducted as part of a meeting of the 
Secretary of Transportation's maritime Federal advisory committee, the 
Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council (MTSNAC). The 
purpose of this second public meeting is to gather ideas for improving 
the utilization, vitality and competiveness of the Nation's marine 
transportation system by identifying and addressing domestic maritime 
opportunities.

DATES: The public meeting will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Tuesday, May 6, 2014.
    Key Date: The deadline to submit domestic maritime proposals and 
agenda topics for inclusion in the final agenda is 5:00 p.m. Friday 
April 25, 2014.
    See Submitting Proposals and Agenda Topics below for specific 
directions.
    The following are other important anticipated dates and deadlines:

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------------------------------------------------------------------------
Participant Registration opens    March 25, 2014.
 (For attendance in person or
 listening-only by phone).
Deadline to submit proposals and  April 25, 2014.
 agenda topics for inclusion in
 the agenda.
Agenda to be released on MARAD    April 28, 2014.
 Web site.
Deadline to register to attend    May 2, 2014.
 the public meeting in person or
 listening-only by phone.
Call-in and listen-only           May 2, 2014.
 information distributed to
 registrants.
Public Meeting..................  May 6--9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
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ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT) West Atrium, located on the ground floor of 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Overflow seating will be 
available in adjacent conference rooms.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Blower, Advisor to the Executive 
Director, MAR-120, Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366-2765; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Nation's Marine Transportation System (MTS) is a core component 
of the United States' economic and national security. While it has 
proven to be strong and resilient, the MTS faces many challenges to its 
future success. Among these challenges are aging infrastructure, 
declining public sector investment, landside congestion, increased 
environmental sensitivity, a projected 25 percent growth in population 
over the next 35 years, and general lack of awareness by the public and 
key policy makers of the importance of the MTS to the Nation's 
prosperity and security. These factors have a cumulative impact on U.S. 
deep water and inland ports, domestic cargo shipping (between U.S. 
ports in coastwise trade, on the Great Lakes and inland rivers and 
waterways, and between the mainland and non-contiguous U.S. 
territories), on U.S. shipyards, on off-shore energy development, and 
on the MTS' ability to meet environmental sustainability requirements. 
In January, MARAD hosted a multi-day public meeting focused on cargo 
opportunities and sealift capacity, with an overall objective of 
increasing the number of U.S.-flag ships operating in international 
trade. The purpose of the public MARAD/MTSNAC meeting in May is to 
identify domestic maritime opportunities that can be incorporated into 
a National Maritime Strategy to guide public and private Marine 
Transportation activities into the future. The results of this second 
symposium will be considered along with those from the January 2014 
symposium to help shape the National Maritime Strategy being developed 
by MARAD. The principal focus areas will include the following:
    1. All U.S. Ports, which includes the fifty States, District of 
Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 
Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession of the 
United States.
    2. Domestic Shipping: All cargoes moving between U.S. ports and 
off-shore platforms by tugs and barges, ships, and other vessels along 
the coasts, between contiguous and non-contiguous U.S. ports, on inland 
rivers, waterways, and the Great Lakes.
    3. U.S. Shipyards: Includes all aspects of the industrial base used 
in the construction, modification, repair, and disposal of cargo-
carrying ships, tugs, towboats, and barges for domestic, off-shore, and 
international U.S. flag trade.
    In addition, the following two cross-cutting themes will be 
addressed in the context of the above three areas:
    1. Environmental Compliance and Maritime Energy Use: Compliance 
with existing and future environmental requirements, and the related 
topic of vessel energy use for propulsion and in-port electrical power.
    2. Labor: All labor issues as they relate to the above three topic 
areas.
    Suggestions from the public for proposals and agenda topics 
relating to the above domestic maritime topic areas are being solicited 
by the Maritime Administration for inclusion on the public meeting's 
agenda and may be submitted to MARAD docket number MARAD-2014-0044. The 
meeting agenda will be published on the MARAD Web site at a later date, 
after consideration of responses received in the docket.

Submitting Proposals and Agenda Topics

    1. We have opened a docket at http://www.regulations.gov to allow 
for written submission of issues that you would like to see addressed 
during the symposium. Please indicate into which one of the three main 
focus areas (U.S. Ports, Domestic Shipping, U.S. Shipyards) or the two 
cross-cutting themes (environmental/energy or labor) into which your 
suggested topic(s) fall. Please provide a brief narrative explaining 
your proposal or agenda topic so we can fully understand the context 
and background.
    2. You may submit your inputs identified by DOT Docket Number 
MARAD-2014-0044 by any of the following methods: Web site/Federal 
eRulemaking portal, fax, mail, or hand delivery. Please use only one of 
these means for each submission. All submissions must include the 
agency name and docket number for this matter. Specific instructions 
follow.
    3. For the Web site/Federal eRulemaking portal, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on 
the electronic docket site. To submit your input, type the docket 
number (MARAD-2014-0044) in the ``SEARCH'' box and click ``SEARCH.'' 
Click on ``Submit a Comment'' on the line associated with this Docket 
Number. If your submission is made online via www.regulations.gov, 
please note that inputs submitted to www.regulations.gov are not

[[Page 16097]]

immediately posted to the site. It may take several business days 
before your submission will be posted on the electronic docket.
    4. For submission by facsimile (FAX), transmit your agenda topic, 
comment or proposal to (202) 493-2251 and be sure to identify the 
submission by DOT Docket Number MARAD-2014-0044.
    5. Submissions by mail or hand delivery should go to Docket 
Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 
9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal 
holidays. If you submit your inputs 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.
    6. If you FAX, mail, or hand deliver your input we recommend that 
you include your name and a mailing address, an email address, or a 
telephone number in the body of your document so that we can contact 
you if we have questions regarding your submission.
    7. Note: All submissions for this purpose, including any personal 
information provided, will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov.
    8. For access to the docket to read background documents or inputs 
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to Room W12-
140 of the Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal Holidays. To view the docket electronically at 
www.regulations.gov, type the docket number ``MARAD-2014-0044'' in the 
``SEARCH'' box and click ``Search.'' Click and Open Docket Folder on 
the line associated with this rulemaking.

Anticipated Public Meeting Procedures

    1. Additional coordinating instructions and registration details 
will be posted on the MARAD Web site http://www.MARAD.dot.gov by April 
7, 2014.
    2. The meeting is intended to collect public views and gather 
information to consider in developing a National Maritime Strategy. 
Therefore, the meeting will be conducted in an informal and non-
adversarial manner.
    3. The Maritime Administrator will preside over the public meeting. 
It will be conducted in concert with a MTSNAC meeting, which is subject 
to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Senior Department and 
MARAD officials will also attend this meeting to receive comments from 
the public. During the meeting, we may ask questions that will clarify 
statements or gather more information or data to help us understand the 
issues raised by commenters.
    5. The public meeting will be broadcast via live Web streaming by a 
link from http://www.MARAD.dot.gov and a listen-only telephone 
connection for which participants will need to register. Members of the 
public will be invited to make comments in person at the venue during a 
series of breakout sessions, through a call-in number, or by entry in 
the MARAD docket.
    6. A transcript of the public meeting will be made available via 
our Web site at http://www.MARAD.dot.gov and posted to the docket at 
www.regulations.gov. The recorded webcast video will remain available 
following the meeting via a link from our Web site at 
www.MARAD.dot.gov.

Privacy Act Statement

    Anyone is able to search all comments entered 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 DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 
19476, 04/11/2011) or at http://www.dot.gov/privacy.html.

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 610; E.O., 13563, 76 FR 3821, Jan. 21 2011; 
E.O. 12866, 58 FR 51735, Oct. 4, 1993.
    * * *

    Dated: March 18, 2014.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Thomas M. Hudson,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-06307 Filed 3-21-14; 8:45 am]
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