[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 9, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38841-38842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16074]



[[Page 38841]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Parts 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, and 147

46 CFR Parts 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15

[Docket No. USCG-2013-0175]
RIN 1625-AC10


Training of Personnel and Manning on Mobile Offshore Units and 
Offshore Supply Vessels Engaged in U.S. Outer Continental Shelf 
Activities

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is extending the comment period on the advance 
notice of proposed rulemaking titled, ``Training of Personnel and 
Manning on Mobile Offshore Units and Offshore Supply Vessels Engaged in 
U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Activities,'' published on April 14, 2014. 
We are extending the comment period at the request of industry to 
ensure stakeholders have adequate time to submit complete responses.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published April 14, 
2014 (79 FR 20844) is extended. Comments and related material must 
either be submitted to our online docket via http://www.regulations.gov 
on or before September 8, 2014, or reach the Docket Management Facility 
by that date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2013-0175 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 notice, 
call or email Mr. Gerald Miante, Maritime Personnel Qualifications 
Division (CG-OES-1), U.S. Coast Guard, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. 
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20593; telephone 202-372-1407, or email 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Ms. Cheryl Collins, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related materials on the 
advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM). With the exception of 
confidential and sensitive comments, 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 
notice (USCG-2013-0175) 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 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.
    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-2013-0175'' 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 your 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.
    If you submit comments, do not send materials that include trade 
secrets, confidential, commercial, or financial information; or 
Sensitive Security Information to the public regulatory docket. Please 
submit such comments separately from other comments on the rulemaking. 
Comments containing this type of information should be appropriately 
marked as containing such information and submitted by mail to the 
Coast Guard point of contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section.
    Upon receipt of such comments, the Coast Guard will not place the 
comments in the public docket and will handle them in accordance with 
applicable safeguards and restrictions on access. The Coast Guard will 
hold them in a separate file to which the public does not have access, 
and place a note in the public docket that the Coast Guard has received 
such materials from the commenter. If the Coast Guard receives a 
request to examine or copy this information, we will treat it as any 
other request under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).

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-2013-0175'' 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 all 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).

II. Regulatory History and Information

    On April 14, 2014, the Coast Guard published an ANPRM, ``Training 
of Personnel and Manning on Mobile

[[Page 38842]]

Offshore Units and Offshore Supply Vessels Engaged in U.S. Outer 
Continental Shelf Activities'' (79 FR 20844). In the ANPRM, the Coast 
Guard announced that it is considering expanding current maritime 
safety training requirements to cover all persons other than crew 
working on offshore supply vessels (OSVs) and mobile offshore units 
(MOUs) that are involved in activities on the U.S. Outer Continental 
Shelf (OCS), regardless of flag. The rationale for expanding this 
safety training is to ensure that more effective responses and 
protocols are in place to address emergencies and other incidents both, 
onboard OSVs and MOUs that are engaged in activities on the OCS, and to 
thwart or mitigate potential damage to the surrounding environment 
where these vessels operate. Examples of safety concerns include fire, 
personal injuries, and abandon ship situations. Some urgent response 
scenarios take place in hazardous environments and under extreme 
weather conditions. Recent incidents involving human casualties and 
environmental damage underscore the need to expand training 
requirements to apply to persons other than crew since current safety 
training regulations only apply to maritime crew.

III. Reason for the Extension

    On May 29, 2014, the International Association of Drilling 
Contractors requested that the Coast Guard extend the comment period by 
an additional 60 days to allow their organization, and others in the 
industry, more time to respond to the ANPRM and to gather the 
``organizational and economic data'' that the Coast Guard requested in 
the ANPRM. The Coast Guard is extending the public comment period, as 
requested, to ensure that all stakeholders (industry, State and Federal 
Government agencies, and other individuals who would be impacted by 
this rulemaking) have adequate time to review and fully respond to the 
questions posed in the ANPRM and to any other material included in the 
ANPRM.
    We encourage all members of the public to send comments explaining 
what, if any, impact this ANPRM could have on them or their 
organizations. Also, we ask that commenters be specific and detailed in 
their submissions to aid us in effectively responding to the comments, 
and so that we may craft regulations that will enhance existing 
maritime safety training.
    This notice of extension is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 
552(a).

     Dated: July 3, 2014.
J.G. Lantz,
Director of Commercial Regulations and Standards, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 2014-16074 Filed 7-8-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P