[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 105 (Monday, June 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31404-31405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12602]
[[Page 31404]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
Marine Highway Projects Open Season
AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of Open Season for Marine Highway Projects.
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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 submissions begins today and ends on September 30, 2016. The
purpose of this notice is to invite interested parties to submit Marine
Highway project applications to DOT for review and consideration.
Marine Highway route recommendations will continue to be accepted and
reviewed at any time.
Since the last open season, the program's originating authority,
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, has been amended to
include short sea routes that do not have parallel landside routes.
Accordingly, the Department can now review and consider designating
Marine Highway routes and projects between all U.S. ports, including
U.S. ports with no contiguous landside connection, as well as between
U.S. ports and ports in Canada located in the Great Lakes Saint
Lawrence Seaway System.
DATES: There will be five project review sessions during the Marine
Highway Project Open Season, and route designation recommendations will
continue to be accepted and reviewed at any time. Table 1 contains the
project application due dates and review periods for each review
session. Qualified projects will be announced shortly after the
completion of each project review session.
Table 1--Open Season Project Submission and Review Timeline
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project
application due Project review
Review session date (11:59 p.m. period
Pacific)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1............................... June 30, 2014..... July 1, 2014-
September 30,
2014.
2............................... December 31, 2014. January 1, 2015-
March 31, 2015.
3............................... June 30, 2015..... July 1, 2015-
September 30,
2015.
4............................... December 31, 2015. January 1, 2016-
March 31, 2016.
5............................... June 30, 2016..... July 1, 2016-
September 30,
2016.
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Key Instructions/Information: The Marine Highway project
application process is detailed in 46 CFR 393.4 Marine Highway
Projects, which is accessible online at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/04/09/2010-7899/americas-marine-highway-program. MARAD's Gateway Offices can respond to questions about
the Marine Highway Program, Route designations, and Project Open
Season, and their contact information is available on the MARAD Web
site at the following URL: http://www.marad.dot.gov/about_us_landing_page/gateway_offices/Gateway_Presence.htm.
ADDRESSES: Submit applications to Stephen Shafer, Office of Intermodal
System Development, W21-315, U.S. Department of Transportation,
Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC
20590 or via email to [email protected]. Telephone (202) 366-5468; Fax (202)
366-5904.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Shafer, Office of Intermodal
System Development, W21-315, U.S. Department of Transportation,
Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC
20590. Telephone (202) 366-5468; Fax (202) 366-5904 or email Mr. Shafer
at [email protected]. You may also visit MARAD's Marine Highway Web page at
http://www.marad.dot.gov/ships_shipping_landing_page/mhi_home/mhi_home.htm and click on ``Final Rule in the Federal Register'' for
special instructions.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since the last call for Marine Highway
projects on April 15, 2010, the scope of the Marine Highway Program has
been expanded to include 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. 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 purpose of the open season call for projects 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 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 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 Marine Highway Program implementing regulations at 46 CFR Part
393 will be amended to reflect the new statutory changes. In the
meantime, the Department of Transportation will accept and process
project applications that propose to operate or expand service on
Marine Highway routes, including those with no parallel landside route.
Exceptions to This Open Season
If new Marine Highway grant funds are appropriated in a fiscal
year, it is possible that the review period for the July 1-September 30
review session may be truncated so that projects submitted on June 30
could be made eligible to apply for those Marine Highway grant funds.
Participation
Although Marine Highway Projects often involve private entities
such as
[[Page 31405]]
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 status, the proposed
project must (1) use U.S. documented vessels, (2) transport passengers,
containerized freight, or trailer-based freight, and (3) operate on a
designated Marine Highway Route. (Please see 46 CFR 393.4(c) for a
comprehensive description of project eligibility). However, because the
number of navigable waterways eligible for designation as a Marine
Highway Route was increased in the Coast Guard and Marine
Transportation Act of 2012, the Department will consider Marine Highway
projects that would operate on newly eligible navigable waterways that
have been recommended for, but not yet granted, a Marine Highway Route
designation. For further information on recommending that a navigable
waterway be designated as a Marine Highway Route, please contact your
regional Gateway Office. Their contact information is available on
MARAD's Web site at http://www.marad.dot.gov/about_us_landing_page/gateway_offices/Gateway_Presence.htm.
Authority: 49 CFR 1.92 and 1.93.
* * * * *
Dated: May 27, 2014.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Thomas M. Hudson,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-12602 Filed 5-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P