Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Columbia River, OR and WA

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]

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