[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 105 (Monday, June 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31404-31405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12602]



[[Page 31404]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration


Marine Highway Projects Open Season

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of Open Season for Marine Highway Projects.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Maritime 
Administration (MARAD) announce that the open season for Marine Highway 
project submissions begins today and ends on September 30, 2016. The 
purpose of this notice is to invite interested parties to submit Marine 
Highway project applications to DOT for review and consideration. 
Marine Highway route recommendations will continue to be accepted and 
reviewed at any time.
    Since the last open season, the program's originating authority, 
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, has been amended to 
include short sea routes that do not have parallel landside routes. 
Accordingly, the Department can now review and consider designating 
Marine Highway routes and projects between all U.S. ports, including 
U.S. ports with no contiguous landside connection, as well as between 
U.S. ports and ports in Canada located in the Great Lakes Saint 
Lawrence Seaway System.

DATES: There will be five project review sessions during the Marine 
Highway Project Open Season, and route designation recommendations will 
continue to be accepted and reviewed at any time. Table 1 contains the 
project application due dates and review periods for each review 
session. Qualified projects will be announced shortly after the 
completion of each project review session.

       Table 1--Open Season Project Submission and Review Timeline
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Project
                                    application due     Project review
         Review session            date  (11:59 p.m.        period
                                       Pacific)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............................  June 30, 2014.....  July 1, 2014-
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2014.
2...............................  December 31, 2014.  January 1, 2015-
                                                       March 31, 2015.
3...............................  June 30, 2015.....  July 1, 2015-
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2015.
4...............................  December 31, 2015.  January 1, 2016-
                                                       March 31, 2016.
5...............................  June 30, 2016.....  July 1, 2016-
                                                       September 30,
                                                       2016.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Key Instructions/Information: The Marine Highway project 
application process is detailed in 46 CFR 393.4 Marine Highway 
Projects, which is accessible online at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/04/09/2010-7899/americas-marine-highway-program. MARAD's Gateway Offices can respond to questions about 
the Marine Highway Program, Route designations, and Project Open 
Season, and their contact information is available on the MARAD Web 
site at the following URL: http://www.marad.dot.gov/about_us_landing_page/gateway_offices/Gateway_Presence.htm.

ADDRESSES: Submit applications to Stephen Shafer, Office of Intermodal 
System Development, W21-315, U.S. Department of Transportation, 
Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 
20590 or via email to [email protected]. Telephone (202) 366-5468; Fax (202) 
366-5904.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Shafer, Office of Intermodal 
System Development, W21-315, U.S. Department of Transportation, 
Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 
20590. Telephone (202) 366-5468; Fax (202) 366-5904 or email Mr. Shafer 
at [email protected]. You may also visit MARAD's Marine Highway Web page at 
http://www.marad.dot.gov/ships_shipping_landing_page/mhi_home/mhi_home.htm and click on ``Final Rule in the Federal Register'' for 
special instructions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since the last call for Marine Highway 
projects on April 15, 2010, the scope of the Marine Highway Program has 
been expanded to include all of the United States domestic marine 
transportation system. Previously, the Program only included waterways 
that paralleled landside transportation routes, and thus, excluded 
routes between the mainland and non-contiguous ports. The expanded 
scope comes from Section 405 of The Coast Guard and Marine 
Transportation Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-213), which reads: ``[t]he 
Secretary shall designate short sea transportation routes as extensions 
of the surface transportation system to focus public and private 
efforts to use the waterways to relieve landside congestion along 
coastal corridors or to promote short sea transportation.''
    The purpose of the open season call for projects is to seek 
eligible Marine Highway projects that may establish new or enhance 
existing Marine Highway services. Eligible projects may be designated 
as Marine Highway Projects by the Secretary of Transportation. Being 
designated a Marine Highway Project allows Department of Transportation 
resources to be used to assist public project sponsors, ports, and 
other local transportation or economic development agencies in the 
development of Marine Highway projects.
    The Department's objective through this program is to reduce 
landside congestion and increase the use of domestic marine 
transportation by supporting the development of transportation options 
for shippers. These services provide economic and environmental 
benefits to the U.S. public at large. Marine Highway Program designated 
projects can improve safety and system resilience, and serve to reduce 
transportation-related air emissions, transportation costs for 
shippers, energy consumption, and costs associated with landside 
transportation infrastructure.
    The Marine Highway Program implementing regulations at 46 CFR Part 
393 will be amended to reflect the new statutory changes. In the 
meantime, the Department of Transportation will accept and process 
project applications that propose to operate or expand service on 
Marine Highway routes, including those with no parallel landside route.

Exceptions to This Open Season

    If new Marine Highway grant funds are appropriated in a fiscal 
year, it is possible that the review period for the July 1-September 30 
review session may be truncated so that projects submitted on June 30 
could be made eligible to apply for those Marine Highway grant funds.

Participation

    Although Marine Highway Projects often involve private entities 
such as

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vessel operators, the applications must be sponsored and submitted to 
the Department of Transportation by a public entity, such as a State 
Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), 
or Port Authority. Public/private partnerships are encouraged.
    To be eligible for Marine Highway Project status, the proposed 
project must (1) use U.S. documented vessels, (2) transport passengers, 
containerized freight, or trailer-based freight, and (3) operate on a 
designated Marine Highway Route. (Please see 46 CFR 393.4(c) for a 
comprehensive description of project eligibility). However, because the 
number of navigable waterways eligible for designation as a Marine 
Highway Route was increased in the Coast Guard and Marine 
Transportation Act of 2012, the Department will consider Marine Highway 
projects that would operate on newly eligible navigable waterways that 
have been recommended for, but not yet granted, a Marine Highway Route 
designation. For further information on recommending that a navigable 
waterway be designated as a Marine Highway Route, please contact your 
regional Gateway Office. Their contact information is available on 
MARAD's Web site at http://www.marad.dot.gov/about_us_landing_page/gateway_offices/Gateway_Presence.htm.

    Authority:  49 CFR 1.92 and 1.93.
* * * * *

    Dated: May 27, 2014.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Thomas M. Hudson,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-12602 Filed 5-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P