[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 80 (Thursday, April 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19379-19380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08528]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2017-0340]


Certificate of Alternative Compliance for U.S. Coast Guard 
National Security Cutters

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces that a Certificate of Alternate 
Compliance was issued for the U.S. Coast Guard's National Security 
Cutters (WMSL Class). We are issuing this notice because its 
publication is required by statute. Due to their unique purpose, these 
vessels cannot fully comply with the masthead light provisions of the 
International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (72 
COLREGS) without interfering with their special function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this notice, 
please call or email LCDR Matthew Walter, Commandant (CG-NAV-2), U.S. 
Coast Guard, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE., Stop 7418, 
Washington, DC 20593, telephone 202-372-1565 or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    The United States is signatory to the International Maritime 
Organization's International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at 
Sea, 1972 (72 COLREGS), as amended. The special construction or purpose 
of some vessels makes them unable to comply with the light, shape, and 
sound signal provisions of the 72 COLREGS. Pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 
1605(a), Navy and Coast Guard vessels of special construction or 
purpose may be issued a Certificate of Alternative Compliance (COAC) 
authorizing alternative requirements to the 72 COLREGS. For Coast Guard 
vessels, the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard determines whether the 
vessel for which the COAC is sought complies as closely as possible 
with 72 COLREGS, and decides whether to issue the COAC. By law, notice 
of COACs must be published in the Federal Register.
    Pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 1605(d), a COAC may be issued for a class of 
vessels. The Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, hereby finds and certifies 
that the U.S. Coast Guard's class of WMSL-750 vessels (also known as 
National Security Cutters) are a class of vessels of special 
construction or purpose, and that with respect to the horizontal 
position of the Forward and Aft Masthead navigational lights, it is not 
possible to comply fully with the requirements of the provisions 
enumerated in the 72 COLREGS Annex I, section 3(a), without interfering 
with the special function of these vessels. The Commandant, U.S. Coast 
Guard, further finds and certifies that the masthead lights of the 
National Security Cutters are in the closet possible compliance with 
the applicable

[[Page 19380]]

provisions of the 72 COLREGS and that full compliance with the 72 
COLREGS would not significantly enhance the safety of the vessels' 
operation.
    This notice is issued in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1605(c).

    Dated: April 21, 2017.
 Michael D. Emerson,
Director of Marine Transportation Systems Management, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 2017-08528 Filed 4-26-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9110-04-P