[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 134 (Monday, July 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40838-40839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16298]



[[Page 40838]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket Number MARAD-2012-0015]


America's Marine Highway Draft Programmatic Environmental 
Assessment and Public Comment Period

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of availability, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has prepared a draft 
Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) in compliance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to evaluate potential 
environmental impacts associated with the execution of the ``America's 
Marine Highway'' Program. The draft PEA identifies and assesses 
hypothetical scenarios associated with the operation of potential 
Marine Highway services in five distinct regions throughout the 
continental United States. Once finalized, the PEA will serve as a 
guidance document from which future site specific NEPA analyses can be 
initiated.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 13, 2014. MARAD 
will consider comments filed after this date to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket Number 
MARAD-2012-0015 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Search MARAD-2012-0015 and follow the instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Email Mr. Andrew Larimore at [email protected]. 
Include MARAD-2012-0015 in the subject line of the message.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West 
Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays.
     Facsimile/Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    Instructions: All submissions received must be written in English 
and include the agency name and docket number. All comments received 
will be posted without change to the docket at www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided. For detailed instructions 
on submitting comments, see the section entitled Public Participation.
    Note: If you mail or hand-deliver your comments, 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.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read the PEA or comments 
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to Room W12-
401 of the Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal Holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Yuska, Office of Environment, 
(202) 366-0714 or via email at [email protected]. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above 
individual during business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 
seven days a week, to leave a message or question. You will receive a 
reply during normal business hours. You may send mail to Mr. Yuska at 
Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Office of 
Environment, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Energy Independence and Security Act of 
2007 (2007 Energy Act) directed the Secretary of Transportation to 
establish a ``short sea'' transportation program, and to designate 
short sea transportation routes and projects to be conducted under the 
program, for the purpose of mitigating landside congestion. Pursuant to 
the statutory mandate, in 2010, MARAD established the ``America's 
Marine Highway'' Program (the Program), designating criteria, 
eligibility requirements and information for applicants seeking to 
establish America's Marine Highway (AMH) routes and projects. Projects 
designated under the program must use U.S. documented vessels, 
transport passengers or freight (in containers or trailers) and must 
operate on a designated Marine Highway route. Section 405 of the Coast 
Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2012 expanded the geographic 
scope of the program to include routes between all U.S. ports, 
including U.S. ports with no contiguous landside connection, as well as 
routes between U.S. ports and ports in Canada located in the Great 
Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System. The Act also added the purpose of 
promoting the use of short sea transportation.
    The Program itself does not develop or operate Marine Highway 
services. Rather, the program provides a set of tools for use by ports, 
state and local governments, and private industry to consider expansion 
of AMH services. Where such designations are made, MARAD may encourage 
development of particular AMH projects or services when funding is 
available.
    MARAD has prepared a programmatic environmental assessment (PEA) to 
analyze the potential environmental impacts of performance of the AMH 
program. As a programmatic document, the PEA does not analyze the 
environmental impacts of specific AMH route or project designations or 
the establishment of specific AMH services. Such analyses can only be 
done in the context of specific proposals, with known ports, 
infrastructure, natural environments, transportation volumes, etc. 
MARAD envisions that additional environmental analyses of the federal 
aspects of future project and service development along designated AMH 
routes will be necessary. Those future analyses may use this PEA as a 
starting point, to analyze the specific environmental impacts of each 
particular proposal.

Public Participation

    We encourage you to participate 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.

A. Submitting comments

    All submissions must be written in English and include the agency 
name and docket number for this rulemaking (MARAD-2012-0015), and 
should provide support for each suggestion or recommendation. You may 
submit your comments and material online via http://www.regulations.gov 
or by email, fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of 
these means for your submission. If you submit a comment online via 
www.regulations.gov or email, it will be considered received by MARAD 
when it posts to the www.regulations.gov Web site. (Please Note: 
Comments submitted to www.regulations.gov or via email are not 
immediately posted to the Web site. It may take several business days 
before your comments will be posted on the electronic docket.) If you 
fax, hand deliver, or mail your comment, it will be considered as 
having been received by MARAD when it is received at the Docket 
Management Facility. We recommend that you include your name

[[Page 40839]]

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, 
type the docket number (MARAD-2012-0015) in the ``SEARCH'' box and 
click ``SEARCH.'' Click on ``Submit a Comment'' on the line associated 
with this rulemaking.
    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 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.

B. Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov, type the docket 
number ``MARAD-2012-0015'' in the ``SEARCH'' box and click ``Search.'' 
Click and Open the Docket Folder on the line associated with this 
rulemaking. 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.
    The draft PEA will be posted by MARAD to the electronic docket at 
www.regulations.gov and may be accessed using the same search as 
described above. You may also view the draft PEA by visiting MARAD's 
Marine Highway Web page at http://www.marad.dot.gov/ships_shipping_landing_page/mhi_home/mhi_home.htm and clicking on ``Draft 
Programmatic Environmental Assessment.''
    Please note that even after the comment period has closed, MARAD 
will continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes 
available. Accordingly, MARAD recommends that you periodically check 
the Docket for new material.

C. Privacy Act

    Anyone is able to 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 the DOT 
Privacy Act system of records notice for the Federal Docket Management 
System (FDMS) in the Federal Register published on January 17, 2008, 
(73 FR 3316) at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.

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

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

    Dated: July 8, 2014.
Thomas M. Hudson,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-16298 Filed 7-11-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P