[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 14, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13653-13654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6152]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 117
[CGD13-93-031]
Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Columbia River, OR and WA
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.
ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: This notice supplements a notice of proposed rulemaking
concerning the drawbridge operation regulations for the twin Interstate
5 drawbridges across the Columbia River, mile 106.5, between Portland,
Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. Previous notices of proposed
rulemaking which proposed the extension of the morning and afternoon
time periods when the bridge need not open did not contain language
needed to distinguish the proposed rule's applicability to commercial
and noncommercial vessels. This supplemental notice adds the omitted
language and clearly states the proposed rule's applicability by vessel
type and river flow conditions.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 15, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to Commander (oan), Thirteenth
Coast Guard District, 915 Second Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98174-
1067. The comments and other materials referenced in this notice will
be available for inspection and copying at 915 Second Avenue, Room
3410, Seattle, Washington. Normal office hours are between 7:45 a.m.
and 4:15 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Comments may
also be hand-delivered to this address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John E. Mikesell, Chief, Plans and Programs Section, Aids to Navigation
and Waterways Management Branch, (Telephone: (206) 220-7272).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Comments
The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to participate in
this rulemaking by submitting written data, views, and arguments.
Persons submitting comments should include their names and addresses,
identify this notice, specify the section of this notice to which each
comment applies, and give the reason for each comment. Two copies of
each comment should be provided in an unbound format. All comments
should be on paper no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches and should be
suitable for copying and electronic filing. Persons wanting
acknowledgment of receipt of comments should enclose stamped, self-
addressed postcards or envelopes.
The proposed regulations may be changed in light of comment
received. All comments received before the expiration of the comment
period will be considered before final action is taken on this
proposal.
The Coast Guard plans no public hearings. Persons may request a
public hearing by writing to the above address. The request should
include the reasons why a hearing would be beneficial. If the Coast
Guard determines that the opportunity for oral presentation will aid
this rulemaking, it will hold a public hearing at a time and place
announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.
Drafting Information: The principal persons involved in drafting
this document are John E. Mikesell, Chief, Plans and Programs
Section, Aids to Navigation and Waterways Management Branch,
Thirteenth Coast Guard District, Seattle, WA, and LCDR John Odell,
project attorney, Thirteenth Coast Guard District Legal Office,
Seattle, WA.
Background and Purpose
This notice proposes drawbridge operation regulations for the twin
Interstate 5 drawbridges across the Columbia River, mile 106.5, between
Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. The proposed rule would
extend the morning and afternoon time periods when the draws of the
bridges need not open for the passage of vessels while delineating
clear exceptions based on the river flow conditions and the type of
vessel traffic involved.
Regulatory History
This notice is the second supplemental notice of proposed
rulemaking published for this proposed rule. The original notice of
proposed rulemaking, published in the Federal Register on November 26,
1993 (58 FR 62302), proposed an extension of the morning and afternoon
time periods when the draws need not open for the passage of vessels
without regard to vessel type or river flow condition. A supplemental
notice, published in the Federal Register on October 4, 1994 (59 FR
50531), provided for relatively uninterrupted vehicular flow during
peak traffic times while being less restrictive to vessel traffic by
adding provisions which would apply during periods of high river flow
conditions. However, that first supplemental notice of proposed
rulemaking omitted language distinguishing the rule's applicability to
commercial and noncommercial vessels. This second supplemental notice
of proposed rulemaking adds the language to clearly state the
proposal's applicability to commercial and noncommercial vessel
traffic.
Discussion of Proposed Regulation
The twin Interstate 5 vertical lift bridges across the Columbia
River between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, are
currently required to open on signal, except that from 6:30 a.m. to
8:00 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday
(except Federal holidays), the draws need not open. These closed
periods are necessary to accommodate peak morning and afternoon
vehicular commute traffic across the bridges. Both bridges also provide
alternate mid-level fixed spans which provide greater vertical
clearance than do the drawspans in the closed position. The alternate
fixed spans are routinely used by tug and barge traffic except at
higher water surface elevations. Because the number of vehicles
crossing the interstate bridges has increased dramatically,
particularly during commute times, any opening in close proximity to
these commute times, before or after, results in unacceptable vehicular
traffic delays. Therefore, Oregon State Department of Transportation
(ORDOT) has requested an extension of the weekday closed periods.
Subsequent to publication of a previous supplemental notice of
proposed rulemaking on October 4, 1994 (59 FR 50531), the Coast Guard
recognized the need for clarification concerning the rule's
applicability to commercial and noncommercial vessels. After
reevaluation, the Coast Guard determined that the proposed rule's
provisions for high water conditions (when the river gauge indicates
6.0 feet or more) were only required in order to meet the reasonable
needs of commercial vessel traffic. The needs of noncommercial vessel
traffic will be adequately met during high water conditions despite the
extended closed periods.
Therefore, based on this reevaluation, this second notice of
proposed rulemaking further amends the proposed rule, making the high
water provisions applicable only to commercial vessels. During low
water [[Page 13654]] conditions (when the river gauge indicates 5.9
feet or less), the proposed extended periods when the bridges need not
open for the passage of vessels will apply to both commercial and
noncommercial vessels.
Regulatory Evaluation
This proposal is not a significant action under section 3(f) of
Executive Order 12866 and does not require an assessment of potential
costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of that order. It has been
exempted form review by the Office of Management and Budget under that
order. It is not significant under the regulatory policies and
procedures of the Department of Transportation (DOT) (44 FR 11040;
February 26, 1979).
The Coast Guard expects the economic impact of this proposal to be
so minimal that a full regulatory evaluation under paragraph 10e of the
regulatory policies and procedures of DOT is unnecessary. Most waterway
traffic can be accommodated by the alternate fixed span channel. For
the benefit of commercial vessels, the proposed rule would revert to
its previous, less-restrictive form when the vertical clearance under
the alternate fixed span was less than 52 feet.
Small Entities
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the
Coast Guard must consider whether this proposal will have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. ``Small
entities'' include independently owned and operated small businesses
that are not dominant in their field and that otherwise qualify as
``small business concerns'' under section 3 of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 632). Because the impacts of this proposal are expected to
be minimal, the Coast Guard certifies under section 605(b) of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) that this proposal
will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
Federalism
The Coast Guard has analyzed this action in accordance with the
principles and criteria contained in Executive Order 12612 and has
determined that this proposal does not have sufficient federalism
implications to warrant the preparation of a federalism assessment.
Environment
The Coast Guard considered the environmental impact of this
proposed regulation and concluded that, under paragraph 2.B.2 of
Commandant Instruction M16475.1B (as revised by 59 FR 38654; July 29,
1994), this proposed regulation is categorically excluded from further
environmental documentation. An environmental checklist and categorical
exclusion determination have been completed for this proposed action
and have been included in the rulemaking docket.
List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 117
Bridges.
Proposed Regulations
For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes
to amend Part 117 of Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations as follows:
PART 117--DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS
1. The authority citation for Part 117 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 499; 49 CFR 1.46; 33 CFR 1.05-1(g); section
117.255 also issued under the authority of Pub. L. 102-587, 106
Stat. 5039.
2. In Sec. 117.869, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 117.869 Columbia River.
(a) The draws of the Interstate 5 highway bridge, mile 106.5,
between Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, shall open on signal, except
that:
(1) When the river gauge at the bridge indicates 6.0 feet, or more,
as determined by the drawtender on duty, the draws need not open for
the passage of commercial vessels from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and from
3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays,
and for all other vessels the draws need not open from 5:30 a.m. to
9:00 a.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
(2) When the river gauge at the bridge indicates 5.9 feet, or less,
as determined by the drawtender on duty, the draws need not open for
the passage of any vessels from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 2:30
p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
* * * * *
Dated: February 28, 1995.
John A. Pierson,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, 13th Coast Guard District,
Acting.
[FR Doc. 95-6152 Filed 3-13-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-14-M
