[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60961-60963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19131]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2023-0586]


National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee; September 
2023 Meetings

AGENCY: Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION: Notice of Federal advisory committee meeting.

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SUMMARY: The National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee 
(Committee) will conduct a series of meetings over three days to 
discuss and make recommendations to the Secretary on matters related to 
reducing casualties and fatalities in the commercial fishing industry. 
See task statements included in this notice below for specifics. The 
meetings will be open to the public.

DATES: 
    Meetings: The Committee will hold a meeting on Tuesday, September 
26, 2023, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. PDT, and 
Thursday, September 28, 2023, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. PDT. The

[[Page 60962]]

Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. 
will be dedicated to an administrative meeting (Committee members 
only). Please note these meetings may close early if the Committee has 
completed its business.
    Comments and supporting documentation: To ensure your comments are 
received before the meeting, please submit your written comments no 
later than September 20, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Federal Courthouse, 700 
Stewart Street, Seattle, Washington 98101.
    The National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee is 
committed to ensuring all participants have equal access regardless of 
disability status. If you require reasonable accommodation due to a 
disability to fully participate, please email Mr. Jonathan Wendland at 
[email protected] or call at 202-372-1245 as soon as 
possible.
    Instructions: You are free to submit comments at any time, 
including orally at the meeting as time permits, but if you want your 
comment reviewed before the meeting, please submit your comments no 
later than September 20, 2023. We are particularly interested in 
comments regarding the topics in the ``Agenda'' section below. We 
encourage you to submit comments through Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
https://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be submitted using 
https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the individual in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate 
instructions. You must include the docket number [USCG-2023-0586]. 
Comments received will be posted without alteration at https://www.regulations.gov including any personal information provided. You 
may wish to review the Privacy and Security notice available on the 
homepage of https://www.regulations.gov, and DHS's eRulemaking System 
of Records notice (85 FR 14226, March 11, 2020). If you encounter 
technical difficulties with comment submission, contact the individual 
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.
    Docket Search: Documents mentioned in this notice as being 
available in the docket, and all public comments, will be in our online 
docket at https://www.regulations.gov, and can be viewed by following 
that website's instructions. Additionally, if you go to the online 
docket and sign-up for email alerts, you will be notified when comments 
are posted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jonathan Wendland, Alternate 
Designated Federal Officer (ADFO) of the National Commercial Fishing 
Safety Advisory Committee, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Stop 
7509, Washington, DC 20593-7509, telephone 202-372-1245 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of this meeting is in compliance with 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act, (Pub. L. 117-286, 5 U.S.C., ch. 
10). The National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee is 
authorized by section 601 of the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard 
Authorization Act of 2018, (Pub. L. 115-282, 132 Stat. 4190), and is 
codified in 46 U.S.C. 15102. The Committee operates under the 
provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and 46 U.S.C. 15109. 
The National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee provides 
advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security 
through the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), on matters 
relating to the safe operation of vessels including the matters of:
    (A) navigation safety;
    (B) safety equipment and procedures;
    (C) marine insurance;
    (D) vessel design, construction, maintenance, and operation; and
    (E) personnel qualifications and training.
    Additionally, the Committee will review regulations proposed under 
chapter 45 of Title 46 of U.S. Code (during preparation of the 
regulations) and review marine casualties and investigations of vessels 
covered by chapter 45 of Title 46 U.S. Code and make recommendations to 
the Secretary of Homeland Security to improve safety and reduce vessel 
casualties.

Agenda

Day 1

    The agenda for the National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory 
Committee meeting is as follows:
I. Opening
    a. Call to Order and Designated Federal Officer (DFO) Remarks
    b. Roll Call and Determination of Quorum
    c. Swear in New Members
    d. USCG Leadership Remarks
II. Administration
    a. Old Business
    b. Review and Adoption of Meeting Agenda
    c. Meeting Goals
    d. Roberts Rules Simplified
III. General Updates
    a. Regulatory Status
IV. Information Session
    a. USCG District Presentations
    b. Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis (CG-INV) Drug 
Presentation
    c. Marine Casualty Case Familiarization
V. Public Comment Period
VI. Meeting Recess

Day 2

    VII. New Business
    a. Task Statement #04-23: Review the multi-year statistics 
(provided by the USCG) regarding commercial fishing vessels of less 
than 200 gross ton accidents or losses that resulted in fatalities, 
injuries, or property damage. Major marine casualties such as the loss 
of the DESTINATION, NO LIMITS, and other fishing vessels with multiple 
fatalities and vessel losses should be reviewed to provide the 
background information necessary to other supplementary taskings in 
best efforts to make informed recommendations to the USCG.
    b. Task Statement #05-23: Examine and make recommendations to the 
USCG on best practices to reduce and mitigate the negative consequences 
caused by the misalignment of state and federal regulations regarding 
drug laws legalizing the recreational and/or medical use for drugs also 
classed as dangerous drugs by federal law and applicable transportation 
related statutes. This is critical for the safety of operations and 
creating an environment for vessel personnel to work in a drug-free 
workplace, with special emphasis on critical safety sensitive jobs such 
as navigation and engineering duties to bring fishing vessels into 
alignment with other commercial vessels. Develop recommendations that 
include testing for pre-employment, routine, and reasonable cause. 
Submit recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
    c. Task Statement #06-23: Examine and effectively disseminate 
recommendations for best practices to ensure full crew access to all 
parts of a vessel to allow for safe vessel operation. This task should 
address and examine things like a means to access all areas of the 
vessel and allow the crew to safely move fore and aft to remove ice, 
inspect the vessel, and operate critical equipment like the vessel's 
anchors and similar gear that does not require the crew to climb over 
the pot stack (for example, in the case of a vessel carrying pots, nets 
or similar devices to create pathways for access). Submit 
recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

[[Page 60963]]

    d. Task Statement #07-23: Establish best practices for standard 
procedures and guidance for crew standing navigation watches. This 
should include a detailed crew orientation for each unique vessel, 
including the operation of critical equipment and establish clear and 
easily understood watchstanding orders to protect the safety of the 
vessel during its applicable operations. This could be accomplished as 
a standardized form or checklist. Submit recommendations to the 
Secretary of Homeland Security.
    e. Task Statement #08-23: Evaluate and provide a comprehensive list 
of recommendations to the USCG, in the form of best practices (NVICs, 
policies, training), or amended or new regulations, regarding stability 
considerations which may pose severe risk to the safety of a fishing 
vessel such as icing, loading, the need for stability instructions, and 
vessel modifications. As part of this task, review the USCG's current 
level of oversight, provide recommendations on its adequacy, and 
specify needed changes to areas of the fishing safety program that need 
additional attention. Submit recommendations to the Secretary of 
Homeland Security.
    f. Task Statement #09-23: Evaluate and provide recommendations to 
the USCG for best practices to address the high degree of risk 
associated with fishing vessel operations and how the acceptance of 
risk is prevalent and accepted in the fishing industry. Specifically, 
the Marine Board recommends the committee focus on topics including 
icing, heavy weather avoidance in voyage planning, and formalizing the 
navigation watch duties via onboard familiarization and written 
standard orders to ensure the safety of vessel during its transit and 
during fishing operations. Submit recommendations to the Secretary of 
Homeland Security.
    g. Task Statement #10-23: Evaluate and provide recommendations to 
the USCG to ensure the most effective means to widely disseminate 
critical safety information for the commercial fishing industry. Submit 
recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
    h. Task Statement #11-23: Review and provide recommendations on the 
development of a publicly accessible website that contains all 
information related to fishing industry activities, including vessel 
safety, inspections, enforcement, hazards, training, regulations 
(including proposed regulations), outages of the Rescue 21 system in 
Alaska and similar outages, and any other fishing-related activities. 
Submit recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
    i. Task Statement #12-23: Discuss and make recommendations 
requiring watch alarms on specific types of commercial fishing vessels. 
Submit recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
    j. Task Statement #13-23: Examine and make recommendations to the 
USCG on a way to widely distribute personal location beacons at minimal 
expense. Ensure availability and access for crewmembers of these 
critical lifesaving devices which could be acquired by consortiums, 
associations, or other organizations for distribution to vessel crews 
through federally funded grant programs or other programs. Submit 
recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

VIII. Subcommittee(s) Break Out and Discussions
    a. Action Items by Task
IX. Public Comment Period
X. Committee Discussion and Actions
XI. Meeting Recess

Day 3

XII. Subcommittee Break Out and Discussions
    a. Action Items by Task
XIII. Recommendations and Committee Actions
XIV. Full Committee Open Discussion
XV. Public Comment Period
XVI. Present Recommendations on Taskings to the USCG
XVII. Plans for Next Meeting
XVIII. Closing Remarks (Committee and USCG)
XIX. Adjournment of Meeting

    A copy of pre-meeting documentation will be available at https://www.dco.uscg.mil/NCFSAC2023/no later than September 14, 2023. 
Alternatively, you may contact Mr. Jonathan Wendland as noted in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above.
    There will be a public comment period scheduled each day of the 
meeting. Speakers are requested to limit their comments to 3 minutes. 
Please note that the public comment period may end before the period 
allotted, following the last call for comments. Please contact the 
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT SECTION to 
register as a speaker.

    Dated: August 30, 2023.
Amy M. Beach,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Inspections and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2023-19131 Filed 9-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P