As a courtesy to our audience, Maritime Commons will provide a daily compilation of nationally-relevant Federal Register Notices, or those notices that may impact a large segment of our readers. To provide comments for the public record, follow the Federal Register link for each individual notice. In the notice you will find instructions for using an online docket to submit your comments. To ensure your comments are considered, please submit them to the online docket.

The Coast Guard published in the Federal Register a proposed amendment to its regulations concerning waterfront facilities handling liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied hazardous gas (LHG). The proposed rule would make the following three changes. First, the proposed rule would revise the Coast Guard’s existing regulations to allow waterfront facilities handling LNG as fuel to conduct an operational risk assessment instead of a waterway suitability assessment (WSA) without first obtaining Captain of the Port approval.

Second, the proposed rule would revise existing regulations to update incorporated technical standards to reflect the most recent published editions.

Third, for waterfront facilities handling LNG that must comply with the WSA requirements, the proposed rule would require these facilities to provide information to the Coast Guard regarding the nation of registry for vessels transporting natural gas that are reasonably anticipated to be servicing the facilities, and the nationality or citizenship of officers and crew serving on board those vessels.

Comments and related material must be received by the Coast Guard on or before December 4, 2020.

For full details, view the Federal Register notice identified by docket number USCG-2019-0444 using the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.

For information about this document call or email Mr. Ken Smith, Project Manager, Coast Guard, Vessel and Facility Operating Standards Division, Commandant (CG-OES-2); telephone 202-372-1413, email Ken.A.Smith@uscg.mil.

This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official publications, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These publications remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.