National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee; September 2023 Meetings
| Court | Coast Guard |
| Citation | 88 FR 60961 |
| Published date | 06 September 2023 |
| Record Number | 2023-19131 |
| Section | Notices |
Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 171 (Wednesday, September 6, 2023)
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60961-60963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19131]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2023-0586]
National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee; September
2023 Meetings
AGENCY: Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security.
ACTION: Notice of Federal advisory committee meeting.
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SUMMARY: The National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee
(Committee) will conduct a series of meetings over three days to
discuss and make recommendations to the Secretary on matters related to
reducing casualties and fatalities in the commercial fishing industry.
See task statements included in this notice below for specifics. The
meetings will be open to the public.
DATES:
Meetings: The Committee will hold a meeting on Tuesday, September
26, 2023, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT),
Wednesday, September 27, 2023, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. PDT, and
Thursday, September 28, 2023, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. PDT. The
[[Page 60962]]
Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
will be dedicated to an administrative meeting (Committee members
only). Please note these meetings may close early if the Committee has
completed its business.
Comments and supporting documentation: To ensure your comments are
received before the meeting, please submit your written comments no
later than September 20, 2023.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Federal Courthouse, 700
Stewart Street, Seattle, Washington 98101.
The National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee is
committed to ensuring all participants have equal access regardless of
disability status. If you require reasonable accommodation due to a
disability to fully participate, please email Mr. Jonathan Wendland at
[email protected] or call at 202-372-1245 as soon as
possible.
Instructions: You are free to submit comments at any time,
including orally at the meeting as time permits, but if you want your
comment reviewed before the meeting, please submit your comments no
later than September 20, 2023. We are particularly interested in
comments regarding the topics in the ``Agenda'' section below. We
encourage you to submit comments through Federal eRulemaking Portal at
https://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be submitted using
https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the individual in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate
instructions. You must include the docket number [USCG-2023-0586].
Comments received will be posted without alteration at https://www.regulations.gov including any personal information provided. You
may wish to review the Privacy and Security notice available on the
homepage of https://www.regulations.gov, and DHS's eRulemaking System
of Records notice (85 FR 14226, March 11, 2020). If you encounter
technical difficulties with comment submission, contact the individual
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.
Docket Search: Documents mentioned in this notice as being
available in the docket, and all public comments, will be in our online
docket at https://www.regulations.gov, and can be viewed by following
that website's instructions. Additionally, if you go to the online
docket and sign-up for email alerts, you will be notified when comments
are posted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jonathan Wendland, Alternate
Designated Federal Officer (ADFO) of the National Commercial Fishing
Safety Advisory Committee, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Stop
7509, Washington, DC 20593-7509, telephone 202-372-1245 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of this meeting is in compliance with
the Federal Advisory Committee Act, (Pub. L. 117-286, 5 U.S.C., ch.
10). The National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee is
authorized by section 601 of the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard
Authorization Act of 2018, (Pub. L. 115-282, 132 Stat. 4190), and is
codified in 46 U.S.C. 15102. The Committee operates under the
provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and 46 U.S.C. 15109.
The National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee provides
advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security
through the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), on matters
relating to the safe operation of vessels including the matters of:
(A) navigation safety;
(B) safety equipment and procedures;
(C) marine insurance;
(D) vessel design, construction, maintenance, and operation; and
(E) personnel qualifications and training.
Additionally, the Committee will review regulations proposed under
chapter 45 of Title 46 of U.S. Code (during preparation of the
regulations) and review marine casualties and investigations of vessels
covered by chapter 45 of Title 46 U.S. Code and make recommendations to
the Secretary of Homeland Security to improve safety and reduce vessel
casualties.
Agenda
Day 1
The agenda for the National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory
Committee meeting is as follows:
I. Opening
a. Call to Order and Designated Federal Officer (DFO) Remarks
b. Roll Call and Determination of Quorum
c. Swear in New Members
d. USCG Leadership Remarks
II. Administration
a. Old Business
b. Review and Adoption of Meeting Agenda
c. Meeting Goals
d. Roberts Rules Simplified
III. General Updates
a. Regulatory Status
IV. Information Session
a. USCG District Presentations
b. Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis (CG-INV) Drug
Presentation
c. Marine Casualty Case Familiarization
V. Public Comment Period
VI. Meeting Recess
Day 2
VII. New Business
a. Task Statement #04-23: Review the multi-year statistics
(provided by the USCG) regarding commercial fishing vessels of less
than 200 gross ton accidents or losses that resulted in fatalities,
injuries, or property damage. Major marine casualties such as the loss
of the DESTINATION, NO LIMITS, and other fishing vessels with multiple
fatalities and vessel losses should be reviewed to provide the
background information necessary to other supplementary taskings in
best efforts to make informed recommendations to the USCG.
b. Task Statement #05-23: Examine and make recommendations to the
USCG on best practices to reduce and mitigate the negative consequences
caused by the misalignment of state and federal regulations regarding
drug laws legalizing the recreational and/or medical use for drugs also
classed as dangerous drugs by federal law and applicable transportation
related statutes. This is critical for the safety of operations and
creating an environment for vessel personnel to work in a drug-free
workplace, with special emphasis on critical safety sensitive jobs such
as navigation and engineering duties to bring fishing vessels into
alignment with other commercial vessels. Develop recommendations that
include testing for pre-employment, routine, and reasonable cause.
Submit recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
c. Task Statement #06-23: Examine and effectively disseminate
recommendations for best practices to ensure full crew access to all
parts of a vessel to allow for safe vessel operation. This task should
address and examine things like a means to access all areas of the
vessel and allow the crew to safely move fore and aft to remove ice,
inspect the vessel, and operate critical equipment like the vessel's
anchors and similar gear that does not require the crew to climb over
the pot stack (for example, in the case of a vessel carrying pots, nets
or similar devices to create pathways for access). Submit
recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
[[Page 60963]]
d. Task Statement #07-23: Establish best practices for standard
procedures and guidance for crew standing navigation watches. This
should include a detailed crew orientation for each unique vessel,
including the operation of critical equipment and establish clear and
easily understood watchstanding orders to protect the safety of the
vessel during its applicable operations. This could be accomplished as
a standardized form or checklist. Submit recommendations to the
Secretary of Homeland Security.
e. Task Statement #08-23: Evaluate and provide a comprehensive list
of recommendations to the USCG, in the form of best practices (NVICs,
policies, training), or amended or new regulations, regarding stability
considerations which may pose severe risk to the safety of a fishing
vessel such as icing, loading, the need for stability instructions, and
vessel modifications. As part of this task, review the USCG's current
level of oversight, provide recommendations on its adequacy, and
specify needed changes to areas of the fishing safety program that need
additional attention. Submit recommendations to the Secretary of
Homeland Security.
f. Task Statement #09-23: Evaluate and provide recommendations to
the USCG for best practices to address the high degree of risk
associated with fishing vessel operations and how the acceptance of
risk is prevalent and accepted in the fishing industry. Specifically,
the Marine Board recommends the committee focus on topics including
icing, heavy weather avoidance in voyage planning, and formalizing the
navigation watch duties via onboard familiarization and written
standard orders to ensure the safety of vessel during its transit and
during fishing operations. Submit recommendations to the Secretary of
Homeland Security.
g. Task Statement #10-23: Evaluate and provide recommendations to
the USCG to ensure the most effective means to widely disseminate
critical safety information for the commercial fishing industry. Submit
recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
h. Task Statement #11-23: Review and provide recommendations on the
development of a publicly accessible website that contains all
information related to fishing industry activities, including vessel
safety, inspections, enforcement, hazards, training, regulations
(including proposed regulations), outages of the Rescue 21 system in
Alaska and similar outages, and any other fishing-related activities.
Submit recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
i. Task Statement #12-23: Discuss and make recommendations
requiring watch alarms on specific types of commercial fishing vessels.
Submit recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
j. Task Statement #13-23: Examine and make recommendations to the
USCG on a way to widely distribute personal location beacons at minimal
expense. Ensure availability and access for crewmembers of these
critical lifesaving devices which could be acquired by consortiums,
associations, or other organizations for distribution to vessel crews
through federally funded grant programs or other programs. Submit
recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
VIII. Subcommittee(s) Break Out and Discussions
a. Action Items by Task
IX. Public Comment Period
X. Committee Discussion and Actions
XI. Meeting Recess
Day 3
XII. Subcommittee Break Out and Discussions
a. Action Items by Task
XIII. Recommendations and Committee Actions
XIV. Full Committee Open Discussion
XV. Public Comment Period
XVI. Present Recommendations on Taskings to the USCG
XVII. Plans for Next Meeting
XVIII. Closing Remarks (Committee and USCG)
XIX. Adjournment of Meeting
A copy of pre-meeting documentation will be available at https://www.dco.uscg.mil/NCFSAC2023/no later than September 14, 2023.
Alternatively, you may contact Mr. Jonathan Wendland as noted in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above.
There will be a public comment period scheduled each day of the
meeting. Speakers are requested to limit their comments to 3 minutes.
Please note that the public comment period may end before the period
allotted, following the last call for comments. Please contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT SECTION to
register as a speaker.
Dated: August 30, 2023.
Amy M. Beach,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Inspections and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2023-19131 Filed 9-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P
