[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 31, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75603-75605]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-32078]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2003-16696]


Pollution Prevention Equipment; Standards for Approval

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

[[Page 75604]]


ACTION: Notice of policy.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard will consider alternative testing standards, 
including but not limited to standards in International Maritime 
Organization (IMO) resolutions MEPC.107(49) and MEPC.108(49), for 
approval of oil-water separators, bilge monitors, cargo monitors and 
bilge alarms, and for the designation of laboratories as approved 
facilities to conduct tests on this pollution prevention equipment 
(PPE). The standards in these resolutions will come into force 
internationally in 2005 and will replace existing international 
standards reflected in current PPE Coast Guard regulations.

DATES: This policy is effective December 31, 2003. Comments and related 
material must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before March 
30, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket 
number USCG-2003-16696 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one 
of the following methods:
    (1) Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (4) Delivery: Room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329. This notice and resolutions MEPC.107(49) and 
MEPC.108(49) are in docket USCG-2003-16696 and are available for 
inspection or copying at the Docket Management Facility, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. You may also find this docket on the Internet 
at http://dms.dot.gov. ISO 9377-2 may be obtained for a fee through 
ISO's website http://www.iso.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
call Lieutenant George Grills, Systems Engineering Division, Office of 
Design and Engineering Standards, (202) 267-6640. If you have questions 
on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Andrea M. 
Jenkins, Program Manager, Docket Operations, (202) 366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Reason for Policy Notice

    As a participant in the International Maritime Organization Marine 
Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) that revised international 
pollution prevention equipment (PPE) performance, design and 
maintenance standards, the U.S. Coast Guard is aware of advances in PPE 
technology more capable of effectively processing emulsified oils, 
surfactants, and contaminants.
    It is also aware that current Coast Guard PPE regulations, 
reflected in 46 CFR 162.050-39, require use of solvents, specifically 
carbon tetrachloride and Freon 113 (CFC 113), that are Class I ozone-
depleting substances under the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 7671a). Under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete 
the Ozone Layer, the production of these solvents is being phased out 
internationally.
    The United States phased out the import and production of class I 
ozone-depleting substances effective January 1, 1996 (see 40 CFR 82.4, 
and 60 FR 24986, May 10, 1995). A provision known as a de minimis 
exception covering the use of these solvents in laboratories does not 
include the oil-in-water tests called for by 46 CFR 162.050-39 (see 
both Decision XI/15 of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, and 
appendix G to 40 CFR part 82, subpart A). This situation leaves 
domestic and foreign manufacturers and testing laboratories looking for 
other options to measure oil content in water samples taken from PPE.
    The MEPC tasked the subcommittee on Ship Design and Equipment with 
updating MEPC.60(33) adopted on October 30, 1992, and A.586(14) adopted 
on November 20, 1985, to specifically address the concerns with PPE 
performance and testing. Representatives of the U.S. government 
participated in the subcommittee's 46th session that resulted in draft 
guidelines for PPE that were presented to MEPC at its 49th session.
    At that session, on July 18, 2003, MEPC approved resolutions 
MEPC.107(49) entitled ``Revised Guidelines and Specifications for 
Pollution Prevention Equipment for Machinery Space Bilges of Ships'' 
and MEPC.108(49) entitled ``Revised Guidelines and Specifications for 
Oil Discharge Monitoring and Control Systems for Oil Tankers'' to 
replace MEPC.60(33) and A.586(14) respectively. The new resolutions 
carry the same titles as those they will replace but these recently 
approved resolutions now reference ISO 9377-2, a new oil-in-water test 
standard developed by the International Organization for 
Standardization (ISO), that does not require the use of ozone-depleting 
solvents.
    The United States is a party to the International Convention for 
the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the 
Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78, Annex I/II). 
Resolutions MEPC.60(33) and A.586(14) were created under MARPOL 73/78, 
Annex I/II. These two older resolutions will be superseded on January 
1, 2005, but while they remain in force, the following sections in 
subpart 162.050 will continue to reflect their implementation:
    Sec.  162.050-17 Separator test rig.
    Sec.  162.050-19 Monitor and bilge alarm test rig.
    Sec.  162.050-23 Separator: Approval tests.
    Sec.  162.050-27 Cargo Monitor: Approval tests.
    Sec.  162.050-31 Bilge Monitor: Approval tests.
    Sec.  162.050-35 Bilge alarm: Approval tests.
    Sec.  162.050-37(b) Vibration test.
    Sec.  162.050-39 Measurement of oil content.
    All other subpart 162.050 sections are either substantially the 
same as new resolutions MEPC.107(49) and MEPC.108(49) or contain a 
unique application.
    The Coast Guard expects to publish in the Federal Register a 
proposal to revise 46 CFR subpart 162.050 to reflect the new standards 
called for in those resolutions. In the interim, PPE manufacturers 
seeking Coast Guard approval and laboratories applying for designation 
as an authorized facility, may consider using alternative testing 
standards to those in the subpart 162.050 sections listed above--
including alternative standards in resolutions MEPC.107(49) and 
MEPC.108(49), that the Coast Guard may, in its discretion, determine 
ensure equivalent performance characteristics.

Commenting on Notice and Viewing Documents Referenced in It

    If you wish to submit comments regarding this policy notice, please 
send them to the Docket Management Facility at the address under 
ADDRESSES. All comments received will be posted, without change, to 
http://dms.dot.gov and will include any personal information you have 
provided. We have an agreement with the Department of Transportation 
(DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please see DOT's ``Privacy 
Act'' paragraph below.

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    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your 
name and address, and identify the docket number for this rulemaking 
(USCG-2003-16696). You may submit your comments and material by 
electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket Management 
Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit your 
comments and material by only one means. If you submit them by mail or 
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 them 
by mail and would like to know that they reached the Facility, please 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as 
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using 
the docket number. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in 
room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh 
Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all 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 the 
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

    Authority: 46 U.S.C. 3306, 3703, E.O. 11735, 38 FR 21243; 3 CFR, 
1971-1975 Comp., p. 793; 46 CFR 159.001-7 and 159.005-7; Department 
of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1.


    Dated: December 12, 2003.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security & Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 03-32078 Filed 12-30-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P