[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 41 (Friday, March 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7168-7169]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03598]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration


Marine Highway Project Designation Open Season General 
Information Announcement

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of open season for Marine Highway Project Designations.

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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 Designation submissions is being extended to January 31, 2022 
(Open Season). The purpose of this notice is to extend the invitation 
to interested parties to submit Marine Highway Project Designation 
applications to DOT for review and consideration.

DATES: There will be six additional project review sessions during the 
extended Marine Highway Project Designation Open Season. Table 1 
contains the application due dates and review periods for each review 
session. Qualified projects will be announced shortly after the 
completion of each review session. Applications can also be submitted 
at any time.

[[Page 7169]]



 Table 1--Open Season Project Designation Submission and Review Timeline
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Project
                                    application due     Project review
         Review session            date (11:59 p.m.         period
                                       Pacific)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............................  July 31, 2019.....  August 1, 2019-
                                                       November 30,
                                                       2019.
2...............................  January 31, 2020..  February 1, 2020-
                                                       May 31, 2020.
3...............................  July 31, 2020.....  August 1, 2020-
                                                       November 30,
                                                       2020.
4...............................  January 31, 2021..  February 1, 2021-
                                                       May 31, 2021.
5...............................  July 31, 2021.....  August 1, 2021-
                                                       November 30,
                                                       2021.
6...............................  January 31, 2022..  February 1, 2022-
                                                       May 31, 2022.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


ADDRESSES: Submit applications to Fred Jones, Office of Ports & 
Waterways Planning, W21-311, U.S. Department of Transportation, 
Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590 or via email to [email protected]. Telephone (202) 366-1123; Fax (202) 
366-5904.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy Pickering, Office of Ports & 
Waterways Planning, W21-312, U.S. Department of Transportation, 
Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590. Telephone (202) 366-0704; Fax (202) 366-5904 or email Mr. 
Pickering at [email protected]. You may also visit MARAD's Marine Highway web 
page at http://www.marad.dot.gov search ``America's Marine Highway 
Program.'' MARAD's Gateway Offices can also respond to questions about 
the Marine Highway Program, Route Designations, and Project Designation 
Open Season. Offices contact information is available on the MARAD 
website at http://www.marad.dot.gov search ``Office of Gateways.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As originally announced in the Federal 
Register on June 2, 2014 (79 FR 31404), the scope of the Marine Highway 
Program has been expanded to encompass 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 and 
between islands, such as those in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. 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 scope 
was further expanded in Section 3508 of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Pub. L. 114-92), which adds to 
the definition of freight by adding cargo ``shipped in discrete units 
or packages that are handled individually, palletized, or unitized for 
purposes of transportation'' and ``freight vehicles carried aboard 
commuter ferry boats.'' In addition, the revised final rule that 
outlines the scope of the Marine Highway Program (46 CFR part 393) was 
published in the Federal Register (82 FR 56902) on December 1st, 2017, 
and became effective on January 2, 2018.
    The purpose of the open season call for project designation 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 the 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 their 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 Department of Transportation will accept and process Project 
Designation applications that propose to operate or expand service on 
Designated Marine Highway Routes.

Participation

    The Marine Highway Project Designation application process is 
detailed in 46 CFR Section 393.4 Marine Highway Projects, which is 
accessible online at https://www.federalregister.gov search ``Revision 
of the America's Marine Highway Program Regulations.''
    Although Marine Highway Project Designations often involve private 
entities such as 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 Designation status, the 
proposed project must (1) use U.S. documented vessels, (2) transport 
containerized freight, trailer-based freight, palletized or unitized 
freight, or freight carried on passenger vessels, and (3) operate on a 
designated Marine Highway Route. (Refer to 46 CFR 393.4(c) for a 
comprehensive description of project eligibility). For further 
information on recommending that a navigable waterway be designated as 
a Marine Highway Route, please contact your regional Gateway Office.

(Authority: 49 CFR Sections 1.92 and 1.93)
* * * * *

    Date: February 25, 2019.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-03598 Filed 2-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-81-P