Coast Guard Announces Publication of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Proposed rule: Notice of Arrival on the Outer Continental Shelf would be required for owners and operators of United States flag and foreign flag floating facilities, mobile offshore drilling units and vessels.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday the publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to enhance maritime domain safety and security awareness on units and personnel planning to engage in Outer Continental Shelf activities.

The proposed rule begins the process of implementing section 109 of the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006. The rulemaking proposes that owners and operators of United States flag and foreign flag floating facilities, mobile offshore drilling units and vessels be required to submit notice of arrival information to the National Vessel Movement Center prior to engaging in Outer Continental Shelf activities.

Requiring owners or operators to submit notice of arrival information will provide the Coast Guard with knowledge of individuals and units engaging in Outer Continental Shelf activities and will better enable the Coast Guard to prevent and respond to safety or security incidents on the Outer Continental Shelf.

The Coast Guard welcomes comments on this proposed rule, which may be found on the docket at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number: USCG-2008-1088. The Coast Guard will respond to comments received in the final rule.