OPSAIL 2000, Port of Miami, FL

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Parts 100 and 165

[CGD07-99-087]

RIN 2115--AA97

OPSAIL 2000, Port of Miami, FL

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard requests public comment on the temporary

establishment of several exclusion areas for OPSAIL 2000 in the Port of

Miami, Florida, from June 6 through June 10, 2000. The Coast Guard

anticipates a rulemaking to establish temporary Limited Access Areas

and/or Special Local Regulations to control vessel traffic within the

Port of Miami on the last two days of the event, June 9 and 10, 2000.

These temporary regulations will be necessary to ensure the safety of

persons and property in the vicinity of a fireworks display scheduled

for June 9, 2000, in the vicinity of the west turning basin, and in the

movement of numerous large sail vessels (Tall Ships) during the parade

of sail out of the Port of Miami scheduled for June 10, 2000.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 31, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Port Management and Response

Department, Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Miami, 100 MacArthur

Causeway, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, or delivered to the same address

between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays.

The Port Management and Response Department of Marine Safety Office

Miami maintains the public docket for this rulemaking. Documents

indicated in this preamble as being available in

[[Page 70651]]

the docket, are part of docket [CGD07-99-087] and are available for

inspection or copying at the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Miami,

between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lieutenant Joseph Boudrow, Port

Management and Response Department, Coast Guard Marine Safety Office

Miami, (305) 535-8705, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through

Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to participate in the

early stages of this rulemaking by submitting written data, views, or

arguments. Please explain your reasons for each comment so that we can

carefully weigh the consequences and impacts of any future requirements

we may propose. Persons submitting comments should include their name

and address, identify this rulemaking (CGD07-99-087) and the specific

section of this document to which each comment applies. Please submit

two copies of all comments and attachments in an unbound format, no

larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic

filing. Persons wanting acknowledgment of receipt of comments should

enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelop. The Coast Guard

will consider all comments received during the comment period.

The Coast Guard plans no public hearing. Persons may request a

public hearing by writing to the Port Management and Response

Department at the address under ADDRESSES. The request should include

the reasons why a hearing would be beneficial. If the Coast Guard

determines that the opportunity for oral presentations will aid this

rulemaking, the Coast Guard will hold a public hearing at a time and

place announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.

Background and Purpose

OPSAIL 2000 is sponsoring a fireworks display and parade of Tall

Ships in the Port of Miami and on the waters of Government Cut, on June

9 and 10, 2000 respectively. The Coast Guard expects many spectator

craft for this millennium event. The anticipated rulemaking will

provide specific guidance on vessel movement controls, and limited

access areas that will be in effect at various times in those waters

during the period June 9 through 10, 2000. The Coast Guard may seek to

establish additional regulated areas, anchorage grounds, and safety or

security zones once confirmation of the exact number of Tall Ships and

dignitaries that will be participating in OPSAIL 2000 is available.

Schedule of Events

Current planned marine related events include:

1. Starting June 6, 2000: Tall Ships arrive on individual schedules

and moor at Dodge Island.

2. June 9, 2000: Fireworks display scheduled to take place in the

west turning basin, which is bounded by the western end of Dodge

Island, Watson Island, and Miami's Bicentennial Park.

3. June 10, 2000: Outbound Parade of Sail and departure of the

participating Tall Ships through the Port of Miami.

Discussion

The Coast Guard anticipates large numbers of spectator craft and

numerous commercial vessels (passenger vessels and charter boats) in

the area during June 9 through 10, 2000, to view OPSAIL events. The

safety of parade participants and spectators will require that these

craft be kept at a safe distance from the parade route. The greatest

traffic restrictions will be in place during the outbound Parade of

Sail, which will begin the morning of June 10 and end that afternoon.

The Parade of Sail restrictions will affect all vessels and will

include a limited access area for the vessel parade to provide for

maximum safety of the event. The sponsor will designate and

appropriately mark the recommended spectator viewing areas. The only

other anticipated restriction for marine traffic will be during the

fireworks display on the evening of June 9, 2000.

Regulatory Evaluation

At this early stage in what is still just a potential rulemaking,

the Coast Guard has not determined whether any future rulemaking may be

considered a significant regulatory action under section 3(f) of

Executive Order 12866 or 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 any future

rulemaking to be minimal. Although the Coast Guard anticipates

prohibiting all non-parade traffic from Government Cut and Outer Bar

Cut during the Outbound Parade of Sail on Saturday, June 10, 2000, the

effect of any future rulemaking will be minimized because of the

limited duration of the event and the extensive advance notifications

that will be made to the maritime community via the Local Notice to

Mariners, facsimile, the Internet, marine information broadcasts,

maritime association meetings, and Miami area newspapers. Mariners and

commercial vessels can adjust their plans accordingly. The Coast Guard

anticipates that the majority of the maritime industrial activity in

the Port of Miami will continue, relatively unaffected by any future

rulemaking.

Small Entities

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), the Coast

Guard must consider whether this potential rulemaking will have a

significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

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.

The Coast Guard does not anticipate that its potential rulemaking

will have anything but a minimal impact upon small entities, but

expects that comments received on this advance notice will help it

determine the number of potentially affected small entities and in

weighing the impacts of the various regulatory alternatives for the

purpose of drafting any rules.

Assistance for Small Entities

Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we will assist small entities

in understanding this advance notice and how it affects them. Small

entities may call the person identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. The Coast Guard is particularly interested in how any future

rulemaking will affect small entities. If you are a small entity and

believe that you may be affected by such a rulemaking, please tell how,

and what flexibility or compliance alternatives the Coast Guard should

consider to minimize the burden on small entities while promoting port

safety.

Collection of Information

The Coast Guard anticipates that any future rulemaking will not

require any new collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).

Federalism

The Coast Guard analyzed this advance notice under Executive Order

13132. From the information currently available, we cannot determine

whether this potential rulemaking will have

[[Page 70652]]

significant federalism implications under that Order.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538)

governs the issuance of Federal regulations that require unfunded

mandates. An unfunded mandate is a regulation that requires a State,

local, or tribal government or the private sector to incur direct costs

without the Federal Government's having first provided the funds to pay

those unfunded mandate costs. The Coast Guard does not anticipate that

any future rulemaking will result in an unfunded mandate.

Taking of Private Property

The Coast Guard anticipates that any potential rulemaking will not

effect a taking of private property or otherwise have taking

implications under E.O. 12630, Governmental Actions and Interference

with Constitutionally Protected Property Rights.

Civil Justice Reform

The Coast Guard anticipates that any potential rulemaking will meet

applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of E.O. 12988, Civil

Justice Reform, to minimize litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce

burden.

Protection of Children

The Coast Guard anticipates that any potential rulemaking will not

be economically significant and will not present an environmental risk

to health or risk to safety that may disproportionately affect children

under E.O. 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental Health

Risks and Safety Risks.

Environment

The Coast Guard anticipates that any potential rulemaking will

require an Environmental Assessment due to the advertised size of the

event and its proximity to sensitive environmental areas. Further, any

potential rulemaking will be designed to minimize the likelihood of

maritime accidents and attendant environmental consequences and to

enhance the safety of event participants, spectators and other maritime

traffic. The Coast Guard invites comments addressing possible effects

that any such rulemaking may have on the human environment, or

addressing possible inconsistencies with any Federal, State, or local

law or administrative determination relating to the environment. The

Coast Guard will reach a final determination once it has received a

detailed parade of sail plan and environmental analysis from the

sponsor organization.

Dated: December 8, 1999.

L.J. Bowling,

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the Port, Miami Zone.

[FR Doc. 99-32784 Filed 12-16-99; 8:45 am]

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