[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]
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