[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 25, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3664-3666]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1440]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 117
[Docket No. USCG-2011-1138]
RIN 1625-AA09
Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Sacramento River, CA
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is seeking comments and information on how
best to address a proposal to change the operating regulation for the
Freeport Drawbridge, mile 46.0, over the Sacramento River. The bridge
owner has proposed to change the 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., summer time ``on
demand'' bridge opening hours to a new timeframe between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m.; and to extend the annual winter operating schedule to include the
month of October, due to a documented decrease in drawbridge openings
compared to other nearby bridges. The proposed change is to address the
issue of misalignment between drawbridge staffing and actual usage of
the drawbridge that currently appears to be resulting in unnecessary
staffing of the drawbridge during periods of navigational inactivity.
In addressing this issue, the Coast Guard will continue to ensure the
reasonable needs of navigation and maritime users are met. We will use
your comments to help determine the best means to resolve this issue.
DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our
online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before March 26,
2012 or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2011-1138 using any one of the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Fax: (202) 493-2251.
(3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is (202) 366-9329. To avoid duplication, please use only one of
these four methods. See the ``Public Participation and Request for
Comments'' portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for
instructions on submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
call or email David H. Sulouff, Chief, Bridge Section, Eleventh Coast
Guard District; telephone (510) 437-3516, email
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or
submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to respond to this notice 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.
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (USCG-2011-1138), indicate the specific section of this document
to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion
or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material online
(via http://www.regulations.gov) or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but
please use only one of these means. If you submit a comment online via
www.regulations.gov, it will be considered received by the Coast Guard
when you successfully transmit the comment. If you fax, hand deliver,
or mail your comment, it will be considered as having been received by
the Coast Guard when it is received at the Docket Management Facility.
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.
To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
inserting USCG-2011-1138 in the ``Keyword'' box, and then clicking
``Search.'' 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
[[Page 3665]]
comments and material received during the comment period.
Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
inserting USCG-2011-1138 in the ``Keyword'' box, and then clicking
``Search.'' 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. We
have an agreement with the Department of Transportation to use the
Docket Management Facility.
Privacy Act
Anyone can search the electronic form of 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 a Privacy Act notice
regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the
Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
Public Meeting
We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a
request for one before the comment period ends, using one of the four
methods specified under ADDRESSES. Please explain why you believe a
public meeting would be beneficial. If we determine that one would aid
in solving this problem, we will hold one at a time and place announced
by a later notice in the Federal Register.
Background
Anyone may submit a written request to the District Commander for a
permanent change to a drawbridge operating requirement. The request
must include documentation supporting or justifying the requested
change. If after evaluating the request, the District Commander
determines that the requested change is not needed, he or she will
respond to the request in writing and provide the reasons for denial of
the requested change. If the District Commander decides that a change
may be needed, he or she will begin a rulemaking to implement the
change.
The Freeport, CA Drawbridge, mile 46.0 over the Sacramento River,
is owned by the County of Sacramento and maintained by Sacramento and
Yolo Counties. Both counties have submitted a request for a permanent
change to the Freeport, CA Drawbridge operating requirements. The
existing drawbridge regulation found at 33 CFR 117.189, requires the
drawbridges between Isleton, CA and the American River junction
(including the Freeport drawbridge), to open on signal from May 1
through October 31 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and from November 1 through
April 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. At all other times, the draws shall open
on signal if at least four hours notice is given to the drawtender at
the Rio Vista bridge across the Sacramento River, mile 12.8.
The Counties who maintain and operate the drawbridge have proposed
to change the summer time ``on demand'' bridge opening hours from
between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., to between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.; and to extend
the annual winter operating schedule to include the month of October.
The bridge owner has provided bridge operating statistics that show
significantly fewer drawspan operations during 2009-2010 than nearby
bridges at Georgiana Slough, Tyler Island and Walnut Grove. The
statistical information and a detailed explanation by the bridge owner
have been included in the docket and are available for public review
and comment. The bridge owner also has indicated a significant amount
of outreach has been performed on this proposal to various waterway
user organizations including the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association,
the Recreational Boaters of California, the Capital City Yacht Club,
the Sacramento Yacht Club, River View Yacht Club and Hornblower
Cruises.
The Coast Guard policy regarding the promulgation of drawbridge
operation regulations requires that no regulation shall be implemented
for the sole purpose of saving the bridge owner the cost to operate a
bridge, nor to save wear and tear mechanically on a bridge. It is the
bridge owner's statutory and regulatory responsibility to provide the
necessary drawbridge tenders for the safe and prompt opening of a
bridge and to maintain drawbridges in good operating condition.
The Freeport Drawbridge provides 29 feet of vertical clearance for
vessels above Mean High Water in the closed-to-navigation position and
unlimited vertical clearance when open. The Sacramento River is
navigable from its confluence with Suisun Bay to mile 245.0 at Red
Bluff, CA.
A regulation change to 33 CFR 117.189 may look like the following:
(a) The draws of each bridge from Isleton to the American River
junction except for the Sacramento County highway bridge across the
Sacramento River, mile 46.0 at Freeport, shall open on signal from May
1 through October 31 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and from November 1 through
April 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. At all other times, the draws shall open
on signal if at least four hours notice is given to the drawtender at
the Rio Vista bridge across the Sacramento River, mile 12.8.
(b) The draw of the Sacramento County highway bridge, mile 46.0 at
Freeport, shall open on signal from May 1 through September 30 from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. At all other times, the draw shall open on signal if at
least four hours notice is given to the drawtender at the Rio Vista
Bridge across the Sacramento River, mile 12.8.
Information Requested
To aid us in evaluating this proposed rule, we seek response from
all waterway users who navigate in this area and may be affected by the
proposed change to the existing operating schedule of the Freeport
Drawbridge crossing the Sacramento River (found at 33 CFR 117.189):
Based on the last analysis of this waterway the Coast Guard determined
in 1986 that the existing regulation met the reasonable needs of
waterway traffic while still meeting the needs of land traffic.
However, that analysis is over twenty years old, thus, we need current
information from waterway users. In particular we would like to receive
comments addressing the following questions:
(1) Would the proposal to reduce the summertime ``on demand''
operating hours and to include the month of October in the annual
winter operating regulation, result in any negative impact to
recreational, commercial or other navigational operation on the
waterway?
(2) Would the proposal to reduce the summertime ``on demand''
operating hours and to include the month of October in the annual
winter operating regulation, add or subtract transit time through this
bridge or on the waterway?
(3) Would the proposal to reduce the summertime ``on demand''
operating hours and to include the month of October in the annual
winter operating regulation, result in a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities as described in the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612)? The term ``small entities''
comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations that are
independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their fields,
and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than 50,000.
[[Page 3666]]
This document is issued under authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 33 CFR
1.05-1, and 1.05-30.
Dated: January 3, 2012.
J.R. Castillo,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard
District.
[FR Doc. 2012-1440 Filed 1-24-12; 8:45 am]
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