USCG Open to Comments on Proposed Regs

The U.S. Coast Guard is scheduled to hold public meetings in Oakland, Calif., Oct. 27 and New York City Oct. 29 to hear comments about a proposed rulemaking for ballast water discharge standards.

These meetings are the last two of six public meetings held for the Coast Guard to receive comments about a proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register Aug. 28 (74 FR 44632) that would add ballast water discharge standards to the Coast Guard's ballast water management regulations in Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 151, Subparts C and D. The proposed rule would also add approval procedures for ballast water management systems found in Title 46, Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter Q.

Live webcasts (audio and video) of the public meetings will also be broadcast online at: http://ballastwater.us

The public meeting scheduled for Oct. 27 will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Hilton Oakland Airport, One Hegenberger Rd., Oakland, Calif. The phone number for the hotel is (510) 635-5000. The public meeting scheduled for Oct. 29 will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Marriott New York Downtown, 85 West Street at Albany Street, New York City. The phone number for the hotel is (212) 385-4900.

The public is encouraged to participate by submitting written or verbal comments at the meetings. The comment period for the advance notice of proposed rulemaking closes Dec. 4. All comments and related material submitted after the meetings must be submitted to the online docket at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USCG-2001-10486, on or before Dec. 4, or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.