Notice of the Secretary of Transportation's Determination and the Department's Next Steps on Marine Transportation Safety in Puget Sound- Area Waters

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 226 (Tuesday, November 24, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64983-64985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31513]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary
[OST-1997-3286]


Notice of the Secretary of Transportation's Determination and the 
Department's Next Steps on Marine Transportation Safety in Puget Sound-
Area Waters

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On April 28, 1996, the White House issued the Department of 
Transportation (DOT) Action Plan to Address Vessel and Environmental 
Safety on Puget Sound-Area Waters. One element of this Action Plan 
committed DOT to assess the marine safety system in Puget Sound-area 
waters to determine whether any hazard scenarios warrant consideration 
of additional casualty prevention or response measures. Secretary 
Rodney E. Slater signed this determination on November 17, 1998. The 
determination and DOT's related announcement of next steps regarding 
additional measures are printed in an appendix to this notice. Several 
of the measures discussed in the announcement on additional measures 
will be pursued in partnership with the State of Washington. A 
Memorandum of Understanding formalizing this partnership is under 
development. Pursuant to the announcement on additional measures, an 
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on ``Improvements to Marine 
Safety in Puget Sound-Area Waters'' appears in the ``Proposed Rules'' 
section of this issue of the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen M. Shaprio, Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S. Department of 
Transportation (P-130), 400 7th Street S.W., Room 10309, Washington, DC 
20590, telephone (202) 366-4866.


[[Page 64984]]


    Issued in Washington, D.C., on November 17, 1998.
Eugene A. Conti, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.

Appendix--Determination of the Safety of the Marine Transportation 
System for Puget Sound-Area Waters

    On April 28, 1996, the White House issued the Department of 
Transportation (DOT) Action Plan to Address Vessel and Environmental 
Safety on Puget Sound-Area Waters. This Action Plan consists of three 
elements. The first element is to establish criteria for and facilitate 
the development of a private sector system to provide timely emergency 
response to vessels in distress in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the 
waters near the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. The Coast 
Guard submitted reports to Congress in January and December of 1997 on 
the development of the voluntary International Tug of Opportunity 
System (ITOS) as required under the 1995 Alaska Power Administration 
Asset Sale and Termination Act (Public Law 104-58). As of October 1998, 
eighty-six U.S. and Canadian tugs operating in the region have been 
fitted with location transponders and are actively participating in 
ITOS.
    The second element--the subject of this statement--is to determine 
the adequacy of all vessel safety and environmental protection measures 
in Puget Sound-area waters. In November 1996 letters to Senator Murray, 
Congressman Dicks, and Governor Lowry--and in a December 1997 Federal 
Register notice (62 FR 68348)--we interpreted this provision as 
requiring our review of the overall marine safety regime in Puget 
Sound-area waters to determine whether any hazard scenarios warrant 
consideration of additional casualty prevention or response measures. 
The third element of the Action Plan--additonal measures to address any 
such hazard scenarios cited--is addressed in an accompanying 
announcement.
    During the last two and one half years, the Department of 
Transportation has worked to maintain a high degree of marine safety in 
Puget Sound-area waters. This effort has addressed concerns expressed 
by Senator Murray, other members of the Washington Congressional 
delegation, Governors Lowry and Locke, and many local interests. These 
concerns have focused on increasing the level of safety and 
environmental protection for the State's waterways.
    During 1996, we worked closely with industry in its development of 
ITOS, which serves a valuable function in providing a means to identify 
tugs that may be available to assist a vessel in distress. During 1997, 
DOT's Volpe National Transportation Systems Center conducted a broad 
assessment of the relative probabilities and consequences of marine 
accidents in the region. A critical element of the Volpe Center's 
review was a panel of recognized safety and environmental protection 
experts who provided information and opinions on the current system.
    In addition to ITOS, prevention elements of the current system that 
were identified in the course of the Volpe Center's review include the 
Vessel Traffic Service operated by the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, 
the Traffic Separation Scheme to facilitate movement of inbound and 
outbound vessels serving U.S. and Canadian ports, the ``Area To Be 
Avoided'' adjacent to the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and 
escort requirements for certain tankers east of Port Angeles. Response 
elements of the current system that were identified include oil spill 
response plans for each vessel, area contingency plans, and response 
equipment provided by industry, the Coast Guard, and the State.
    Based on the findings in the Volpe Center's report, I hereby 
determine that the many existing elements of the region's marine 
transportation system comprise a safe system. While there are always 
areas for improvement--and we should always be looking into means for 
improving safety--the Volpe report shows that the Puget Sound area has 
an excellent system now.
    Many different types of casualty scenarios were evaluated in the 
course of the Volpe Center's review. Based on the findings in the Volpe 
Center's report--and upon consideration of input received through 
public workshops and a public meeting we held subsequent to the release 
of the Volpe Center's report--I hereby find that the potential for 
collisions, powered groundings, and drift groundings warrant 
consideration of specific additional measures to further mitigate their 
risks. Our next steps regarding such measures are addressed in an 
accompanying announcement.

    Dated: November 17, 1998.
Rodney E. Slater,
Secretary of Transportation.

Announcement Regarding Additional Risk Mitigation Measures for 
Puget Sound-Area Waters

    This document outlines the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) 
next steps in light of the Secretary's determination on the safety of 
the marine transportation system for Puget Sound-area waters.
    While the Secretary determined that the elements of the system--
which encompasses many missions performed by the United States Coast 
Guard--comprise a safe system, he also found that consideration of 
specific additional measures is warranted to further mitigate the risks 
of collisions, powered groundings, and drift groundings. Some 
additional measures can be implemented immediately, while others 
require more thorough evaluation prior to implementation.
    The 1997 risk assessment of the area's marine transportation 
system--performed by DOT's Volpe National Transportation Systems Center 
in support of the Secretary's determination--found that the most 
promising area for risk reduction is to address the risk of collision 
in southwestern areas of Puget Sound from Admiralty Head to Tacoma, 
followed by the offshore area near the ``J'' buoy, and by the eastern 
end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
    A promising measure to reduce the risk of collisions and powered 
groundings is improved waterway management--such as potential 
modifications to the Traffic Separation Scheme at the western approach 
to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Such modifications could move traffic--
and the point where traffic merges to enter the Strait--farther 
offshore from sensitive areas, such as the Olympic Coast National 
Marine Sanctuary. This might facilitate safer merge patterns and 
increase the distance a disabled vessel could drift from offshore 
traffic lanes before grounding. The Thirteenth Coast Guard District is 
starting a Port Access Study to pursue this measure in consultation 
with its Canadian counterparts as well as State and local stakeholders.
    The Coast Guard's Port State Control program, which identifies and 
targets substandard foreign vessels, has provided a significant 
reduction of risk. The Coast Guard is pursuing further upgrades to the 
program, such as increased attention to English language proficiency 
and increased information sharing with Canada.
    In addition to the Port State Control elements to ensure crew 
competency, there are several other human element measures that will be 
taken to reduce the risk of collisions and powered groundings by 
improving crew effectiveness and performance. These include fatigue 
prevention and improved communications. The Coast Guard Captain of the 
Port of Puget Sound is implementing these measures

[[Page 64985]]

with Canadian and Washington State counterparts through the enforcement 
of recent international treaties and through ongoing Coast Guard 
programs.
    In addition to these activities addressing collisions and powered 
groundings, we are proceeding to more fully evaluate prospective 
measures to prevent a drift grounding in the event of a loss of 
steering or propulsion. The recently implemented International Tug of 
Opportunity System (ITOS) is an outstanding example of a voluntary 
private-sector initiative to ensure safe operations.
    The Coast Guard's Report to Congress on ITOS has noted that a 
sufficient number of tugs may not be present in the western Strait of 
Juan de Fuca and in the offshore areas in the course of routine 
commercial service. In order to assess this potential deficiency, DOT 
and the State of Washington have agreed to evaluate the effectiveness 
of ITOS. In addition, we will jointly fund and manage an analysis of 
the costs and additional risk reduction benefits that would be afforded 
by tug escorts for commercial vessels or by stationing a rescue tug in 
the region. These evaluations will start this winter. We expect that 
they will be completed by the end of next summer. If the evaluations 
indicate that pursuit of these measures is warranted, we will proceed 
with regulatory action at that time.
    Since any new tug escort or prepositioned rescue tug requirements 
would require regulatory action, the Coast Guard is issuing an Advance 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. It provides a more complete picture of 
implementation options that may be considered in a subsequent 
rulemaking, and solicits specific comments on and additions to these 
options.
    In addition to incident prevention, the Volpe report also addressed 
means to better mitigate and respond to incidents should they occur. 
Three such measures will be further pursued. The first is to review 
boom prepositioning and boom deployment capabilities to protect shallow 
shoreline habitats. The second is to review the allocation of response 
assets and area contingency plans in light of information gained 
through development of the Volpe report. The third measure is to 
evaluate the need to preposition a response vessel at the western 
entrance to the Strait.
    The first two measures will be pursued by the Captain of the Port 
of Puget Sound in consultation with the Area Committee established to 
coordinate response preparations under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. 
Consideration of the last measure, a prepositioned oil spill response 
vessel, will be incorporated in the evaluation of a prepositioned 
rescue tug.
    These next steps provide meaningful and reasonable actions to 
further improve the already high level of marine safety in this region. 
We look forward to building on the progress and partnerships that have 
developed to this point as our efforts proceed.

[FR Doc. 98-31513 Filed 11-23-98; 8:45 am]
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