Marine Highway Project Designation Open Season and Renewal of Project Designations

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Published

July 14, 2022

Issuing agencies

Transportation DepartmentMaritime Administration

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT or Department) and Maritime Administration (MARAD) announce that the open season for the America's Marine Highway Program (AMHP) Marine Highway Project Designation application submissions is being extended to September 30, 2025 (Open Season). The purpose of this notice is to invite eligible applicants to submit Marine Highway Project Designation applications to DOT for review and consideration during this extended open season, in addition to outlining the process for renewing Project Designations once they have reached four years or older.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 134 (Thursday, July 14, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 134 (Thursday, July 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42263-42264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15006]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

Marine Highway Project Designation Open Season and Renewal of
Project Designations

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of Open Season for Marine Highway Project Designation
and Renewal of Project Designations.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT or Department) and
Maritime Administration (MARAD) announce that the open season for the
America's Marine Highway Program (AMHP) Marine Highway Project
Designation application submissions is being extended to September 30,
2025 (Open Season). The purpose of this notice is to invite eligible
applicants to submit Marine Highway Project Designation applications to
DOT for review and consideration during this extended open season, in
addition to outlining the process for renewing Project Designations
once they have reached four years or older.

DATES: There will be eleven Project Designation application review
sessions during the extended Marine Highway Project Designation Open
Season. Table 1 contains the application due dates and review periods
for each review session. Projects qualified for designation will be
announced shortly after the completion of each review session.
Applications can be submitted at any time but will only be reviewed
during the next upcoming review session after submittal.

Table 1--Open Season Project Designation Application Submission and
Review Timeline
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project
application due Project review
Review session date (11:59 p.m. period
pacific)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1............................... September 30, 2022 October 1, 2022-
December 30,
2022.
2............................... January 31, 2023.. February 1, 2023-
April 30, 2023.
3............................... May 31, 2023...... June 1, 2023-
August 31, 2023.
4............................... September 30, 2023 October 1, 2023-
December 30,
2023.
5............................... January 31, 2024.. February 1, 2024-
April 30, 2024.
6............................... May 31, 2024...... June 1, 2024-
August 31, 2024.
7............................... September 30, 2024 October 1, 2024-
December 30,
2024.
8............................... January 31, 2025.. February 1, 2025-
April 30, 2025.
9............................... May 31, 2025...... June 1, 2025-
August 31, 2025.
10.............................. September 30, 2025 October 1, 2025-
December 30,
2025.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADDRESSES: Applicants can submit applications for new Project
Designations or to renew current Project Designations via hardcopy to
the AMHP, Office of Ports & Waterways Planning, W21-233, U.S.
Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, or via email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#620f0a22060d164c050d14"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d2bfba92b6bda6fcb5bda4">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. Electronic
applications are preferred. Telephone (202) 366-0704; Fax (202) 366-
5904.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy Pickering, Office of Ports &
Waterways Planning, W21-312, U.S. Department of Transportation,
Maritime Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC
20590. Telephone (202) 366-0704; Fax (202) 366-5904; or email Mr.
Pickering at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cba6a38bafa4bfe5aca4bd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b3dedbf3d7dcc79dd4dcc5">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. You may also visit MARAD's America's Marine
Highway web page at <a href="https://www.maritime.dot.gov/grants/marine-highways/marine-highway">https://www.maritime.dot.gov/grants/marine-highways/marine-highway</a>. MARAD's Gateway Offices can also respond to
questions about the AMHP, including questions about Route Designations,
the Project Designation Open Season, or grant funding. The Gateway
Offices' contact information is available on the MARAD website at
<a href="https://www.maritime.dot.gov/about-us/gateway-offices/gateway-offices">https://www.maritime.dot.gov/about-us/gateway-offices/gateway-offices</a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AMHP was established by Section 1121 of
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to reduce landside
congestion through the designation of Marine Highway Routes. Section
405 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2012 further
expanded the scope of the program to increase the utilization and
efficiency of domestic freight transportation on Marine Highway Routes
between U.S. ports by including routes that do not have parallel
landside routes. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2016 expanded the definition of short sea shipping (now referred to as
marine highway transportation) to include freight vehicles carried
aboard commuter ferry boats and cargo shipped in discrete units--or
packages that are handled individually, palletized, or unitized
specifically for transport. In addition, the revised final rule at 46
CFR part 393, which outlines the scope of the AMHP, became effective on
January 2, 2018.
The Department's objective through this program is to reduce
landside congestion and increase the use of domestic marine highway
transportation by supporting the development of transportation options
for shippers. These services provide economic and environmental
benefits to the U.S. public at large. Marine Highway Designated
Projects can improve safety and system resilience, and serve to reduce
transportation-related air emissions, transportation costs for
shippers, energy consumption, and costs associated with landside
transportation infrastructure. Currently, the AMHP includes Marine
Highway Routes in the continental U.S. in addition to the non-
contiguous states of Hawaii and Alaska as well as the U.S. territories
of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The AMHP includes
projects that move freight along America's coastlines or waterways. For
example, the change in definition to add freight vehicles carried on
commuter passenger ferries allowed the AMHP to provide Federal support
to several existing ferry services. The addition of

[[Page 42264]]

palletized and unitized cargoes has allowed the AMHP to work with steel
manufacturers, as well as less-than-container/less-than-truckload
services.

New Project Designations

The purpose of the open season call for Project Designation
applications is to seek eligible Marine Highway Projects that will
establish new or expand existing marine highway services. Eligible
projects may be designated as Marine Highway Projects by the Secretary
of Transportation. Designation as a Marine Highway Project allows the
Project Applicant or an eligible substitute applicant to become
eligible for funding from the AMHP. MARAD will accept and review
Project Designation applications that propose to operate a new service
or expand an existing service on a designated Marine Highway Route, use
U.S. documented vessels, and mitigate landside congestion or promote
marine highway transportation.

New Project Designation Application Process

The Marine Highway Project Designation application process is
detailed in 46 CFR 393.3, Marine Highway Projects (found at <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-46/chapter-II/subchapter-K/part-393/subpart-B/section-393.3">https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-46/chapter-II/subchapter-K/part-393/subpart-B/section-393.3</a>).
Although Marine Highway Project Designations often involve private
entities, such as vessel operators, the Project Designation
applications must be submitted to MARAD by a public entity, such as a
State government (including State departments of transportation),
metropolitan planning organization, port authority, or a Federally
recognized tribal government. Public/private partnerships, however, are
encouraged.
To be eligible for designation, the proposed Marine Highway Project
must: (1) use U.S. vessels documented under 46 U.S.C. chapter 121; (2)
mitigate landside congestion or promote marine highway transportation;
(3) involve the carriage of cargo in marine highway transportation as
defined in 46 U.S.C. 55605; (4) involve new or expand existing services
for the carriage of cargo; and (5) operate on a designated Marine
Highway Route.
Refer to 46 U.S.C. 55601 & 55605 and 46 CFR part 393 for further
information on project eligibility and application requirements. For
more information on recommending that a navigable waterway be
designated as a Marine Highway Route, please contact your regional
Gateway Office (<a href="https://www.maritime.dot.gov/about-us/gateway-offices/gateway-offices">https://www.maritime.dot.gov/about-us/gateway-offices/gateway-offices</a>). Designating a Marine Highway Project does not
obligate the Department to provide future funding to support the
project; however, the designation is necessary for projects to be
eligible for funding from the AMHP.

Renewal of Project Designations

As outlined in 46 CFR 393.3(i), Marine Highway Project Designations
are effective for a period of five years. Original Project Applicants
wishing to renew a Marine Highway Project Designation must submit an
updated application no later than six months before their Project's
five-year designation period ends. To meet that requirement, Project
Applicants with Designated Projects more than four years old must
submit an updated application by June 30th of the year prior to their
expiration period. The year the Project was designated will constitute
the Project's starting period. For example, projects designated in 2018
(or earlier) must submit an updated application by June 30, 2022;
projects designated in 2019 must submit an updated application by June
30, 2023, and so forth. If approved for renewal by the Maritime
Administrator, the Project Designation will be effective for another
five years after its expiration period. Project Applicants can
determine the year their Project was designated, and, therefore, their
Project's expiration period, by referring to the latest list of current
Marine Highway Project descriptions document, found at <a href="https://www.maritime.dot.gov/grants/marine-highways/marine-highway">https://www.maritime.dot.gov/grants/marine-highways/marine-highway</a>, or by
contacting the AMHP Office.
The updated application should follow the format and contain the
information outlined in 46 CFR 393.3(c) and must include any changed or
new information that is relevant to the Project. The updated
application affords Project Applicants the opportunity to make changes
to or update the original Project Designation. Examples of such changes
may include a change in operator, addition or removal of a port or
facility, addition or change to the commodity moved, or a change to the
public benefits associated with the project. If still applicable,
Project Applicants may use information submitted in their original
Project Designation application; however, applicants should make sure
their application for renewal addresses any AMHP requirements that may
have changed since submittal of their original application.
Project Applicants are required to submit their renewal
applications by June 30th of the year prior to their Project's
expiration period. If the Project Applicant notifies MARAD that they no
longer wish to maintain their Project Designation or if the Project
Applicant does not apply for a Project Designation renewal by the
applicable deadline, those projects will no longer be designated Marine
Highway Projects.

(Authority: 46 U.S.C. 55601 and 55605, 46 CFR part 393, 49 CFR 1.92
and 1.93)

By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-15006 Filed 7-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P

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