[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 60 (Friday, March 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17556-17557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06975]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2013-1049]
Lifeboat Release Mechanisms
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a policy letter
regarding a recent International Maritime Organization amendment to
Chapter III of the International Convention for the Safety of Life At
Sea, 1974 (SOLAS). The amendment requires all SOLAS ships, regardless
of build date, to identify and replace existing lifeboat on-load
release mechanisms that do not comply with certain provisions of the
International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code. Compliance is required
no later than the next scheduled dry-docking after July 1, 2014, but in
any case before July 1, 2019. The amendment does not apply to the
release mechanisms on free-fall lifeboats. Any U.S. ship subject to
SOLAS that operates on international voyages without complying with the
amendment past the applicable compliance date may be subject to
detention by foreign port state officials and other administrative
action by foreign authorities.
DATES: The amendment to SOLAS Chapter III promulgated as IMO Resolution
MSC.317(89) became effective on January 1, 2013. Comments and related
material must either be submitted to our online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before April 28, 2014 or reach the Docket
Management Facility by that date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2013-1049 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'' portion of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on submitting
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice
or the policy, contact Mr. George Grills, Commercial Regulations and
Standards Directorate, Office of Design and Engineering Standards,
Lifesaving and Fire Safety Division (CG-ENG-4), Coast Guard, telephone
202-372-1385, or email [email protected]. If you have questions on
viewing material in the docket, call Ms. Barbara Hairston, Docket
Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation
You may submit comments and related materials regarding this
proposed policy. 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-2013-1049) and provide a reason for
each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and
materials online or by fax, mail or hand delivery, but please use only
one of these means. 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 and use ``USCG-2013-1049'' as your search term.
Locate this notice in the results and click the corresponding ``Comment
Now'' box to submit your comment. 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 comments and material received during
the comment period.
Viewing the comments: To view comments, as well as documents
mentioned in this notice as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov and use ``USCG-2013-1049'' as your search term.
Use the filters on the left side of the page to highlight ``Public
Submissions'' or other document types. If you do not have access to the
Internet, you may view the docket online by visiting 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 system of records notice regarding our public dockets in
the
[[Page 17557]]
January 17, 2008 issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
Background and Purpose
SOLAS Regulation III/1.5
On May 20, 2011, the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee adopted
Resolution MSC.317(89). This resolution promulgated new SOLAS
Regulation III/1.5, which entered into force on January 1, 2013.
Regulation III/1.5 requires all SOLAS ships, regardless of build date,
to identify and replace existing on-load release mechanisms that do not
comply with paragraphs 4.4.7.6.4 to 4.4.7.6.6 of the IMO LSA Code with
compliant release mechanisms, no later than the next scheduled dry-
docking after July 1, 2014, but in any case before July 1, 2019.
Regulation III/1.5 does not apply to the release mechanisms on free-
fall lifeboats. This SOLAS amendment potentially affects the release
mechanisms for any existing SOLAS lifeboats, and some SOLAS rescue
boats, installed on U.S. ships subject to SOLAS.
IMO MSC.1/Circ.1392
In support of new SOLAS regulation III/1.5, IMO's Maritime Safety
Committee, at the same session it approved Resolution MSC.317(89),
promulgated IMO Circular MSC.1/Circ.1392 (Circular 1392) under the
title, ``Guidelines for Evaluation and Replacement of Lifeboat Release
and Retrieval Systems.'' The purpose of Circular 1392 is to provide
flag administrations, ship owners, and manufacturers of lifeboat
release and retrieval systems a detailed process to achieve compliance
with Regulation III/1.5. Circular 1392 outlines five major steps in
evaluating existing lifeboat release and retrieval systems: (1) A
design review; (2) a performance test; (3) a process for flag states to
report to the IMO compliant and non-compliant systems; (4) procedures
for replacement of non-compliant lifeboat release and retrieval
systems; and (5) a one-time follow-up overhaul examination for existing
systems.
A copy of Circular 1392 is available for viewing in the public
docket for this notice. You may also download Circular 1392 from http://www.imo.org by clicking the following succession of links: ``Our
Work,'' ``Circulars,'' and ``Browse Circulars available at IMODOCS.''
Public users will need to establish a user name and password to access
the Circular.
CG-ENG Policy Letter
The Coast Guard has not adopted domestic regulations to implement
Regulation III/1.5. The Coast Guard strongly urges voluntary compliance
on the part of U.S. ships subject to SOLAS because any such ship that
operates on international voyages without complying with Regulation
III/1.5 past the applicable compliance date may be subject to detention
or other administrative action by foreign port state officials.
A new CG-ENG policy letter is available in the docket for this
notice. It provides guidance to enable U.S. ships subject to SOLAS to
remain in compliance with SOLAS as amended by Resolution MSC.317(89),
including detailed procedures to comply with the new requirements in
Resolution MSC.317(89) and the guidance in Circular 1392.
The Coast Guard recognizes that Circular 1392 contains valuable
safety improvements. Therefore, the Coast Guard recommends voluntary
compliance with the guidelines in Circular 1392 for U.S. non-SOLAS
ships, MODUs, and offshore facilities that carry lifeboats and rescue
boats fitted with certain release mechanisms, as described in the
Circular. We seek comments from the public on the application of
Circular 1392 to U.S. vessels not subject to SOLAS.
The guidance contained in this notice is not a substitute for
applicable legal requirements, nor is it itself a rule. It is not
intended to nor does it impose legally binding requirements on any
party. It represents the Coast Guard's current thinking on this topic
and provides the public with an indication of current and future action
being considered by the Coast Guard.
Authority
This notice is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a).
Dated: March 13, 2014.
Jeffrey G. Lantz,
Director, Commercial Regulations and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2014-06975 Filed 3-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P