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The Coast Guard is seeking comments on its Great Lakes Pilotage Rates – 2017 Annual Review supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register today.

In the supplement, the Coast Guard proposes to modify its calculations for hourly pilotage rates on the Great Lakes by accounting for the “weighting factor,” which is a multiplier that can increase the pilotage costs for larger vessels traversing areas in the Great Lakes by a factor of up to 1.45.

While the weighting factor has existed for decades, it has never been included in any of the previous ratemaking calculations. The supplemental rulemaking proposes to add steps to the Coast Guard’s rate-setting methodology to adjust hourly rates downwards by an amount equal to the average weighting factor, so that when the weighting factor is applied, the cost to the shippers and the corresponding revenue generated for the pilot associations will adjust to what was originally intended.

Until a final rule is produced, the 2016 rates will stay in effect, even if a final rule is not published by the start of the 2017 season.

To submit a comment or to read the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking in its entirety, view the Federal Register post.

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