PART 393—AMERICA'S MARINE HIGHWAY PROGRAM Authority: Pub. L. 110-140, title XI, subtitle C, sections 1121-1123, 121 Stat. 1494; Pub. L. 112-213, title IV, section 405, 126 Stat. 1541; 49 CFR 1.92 and 1.93(a), 46 U.S.C. 55601, 55604, 55605. Source: 82 FR 56904, Dec. 1, 2017, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—General Provisions § 393.1 Special definitions. For the purposes of this part: (a) Administrator (b) Department (c) Cargo (d) Freight (e) Marine Highway Routes Routes (f) Marine Highway Projects (g) Project Applicant (h) Program Office (i) Route Sponsors (j) Secretary (k) Short sea transportation (1) That is— (i) Contained in intermodal cargo containers and loaded by crane on the vessel; (ii) Loaded on the vessel by means of wheeled technology; (iii) Shipped in discrete units or packages that are handled individually, palletized, or unitized for purposes of transportation; or (iv) Freight vehicles carried aboard commuter ferry boats; and (2) That is— (i) Loaded at a port in the United States and unloaded either at another port in the United States or at a port in Canada located in the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Seaway System; or, (ii) Loaded at a port in Canada located in the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Seaway System and unloaded at a port in the United States. (l) United States documented vessel Subpart B—Marine Highway Route and Project Designations § 393.2 Marine Highway Routes. (a) What are the minimum eligibility requirements for MARAD to recommend a Marine Highway Route for the Secretary to designate? (2) That advance the objectives of the AMHP in paragraph (c) of this section. (b) When can a Route Sponsor request designation of a Marine Highway Route? (2) The Maritime Administration publishes all designated Routes on its Web site. Go to http://www.marad.dot.gov (c) What should Route Sponsors consider when preparing Marine Highway Route designation requests? (i) Establishing Marine Highway Routes as extensions of the national surface transportation system; (ii) Developing multi-jurisdictional coalitions and partnerships that focus public and private efforts to improve reliability and resiliency of the Route for freight and passengers; (iii) Obtaining public benefits as described in paragraph (d)(1)(vi) of this section; and (iv) Identifying potential savings that could be realized by providing an alternative to existing supply chains through short sea transportation. (2) [Reserved] (d) What information should Route Sponsors include in their designation requests? (i) Physical Description of the Proposed Marine Highway Route. (ii) Surface transportation regions served. (B) U.S. Domestic Shipping Lane Served. For Marine Highway Routes that pass through waters outside U.S. territorial waters, provide a summary of the shipping routes or trade lanes that the Marine Highway Route would benefit. Include a description of the route, its primary users, the nature, locations and occurrence of travel delays, urban areas affected, and other geographic or jurisdictional issues that impact its overall operation and performance. (iii) Involved parties. (iv) Volume and characteristics. (v) Congestion reduction. (vi) Public benefits. (vii) Public costs. (viii) Impediments. (2) [Reserved] (e) How will the Program Office evaluate and recommend Marine Highway Route designation requests? (2) The Program Office may consider additional factors and may request supplemental information during the review process. USDOT will notify Route Sponsors as to the status of their request in writing once the Secretary makes a determination. § 393.3 Marine Highway Projects. (a) What are the minimum eligibility requirements for MARAD to recommend a Marine Highway Project for the Secretary to designate? (2) MARAD may recommend only those Marine Highway Projects that: (i) Involve the carriage of cargo in Short Sea Transportation as defined in paragraph (k) of this section; (ii) Involve new or expand existing services for the carriage of cargo; and (iii) Are on a designated Marine Highway Route. (3) Proposed Route Designations are accepted at any time, and may be submitted together with the proposed Project Designation. (4) Successful Project Applicants must demonstrate a direct connection between a proposed Marine Highway Project and the carriage of cargo through ports on Designated Marine Highway Routes. (b) When does the Program Office accept Marine Highway Project designation applications? Federal Register (2) [Reserved] (c) What should Project Applicants include when preparing a Marine Highway Project designation application? (i) A description of how the market is currently served by transportation options; (ii) Identities of shippers that have indicated an interest in, and level of commitment to, the proposed service; (iii) Specific commodities, markets, and shippers the Project is expected to attract; (iv) Extent to which interested entities have been educated about the Project and expressed support, and (v) A marketing strategy for the project if one exists. (2) Operational framework. (3) The cost model for the proposed service. [email protected] (4) An overall quantification of the net public benefits estimated to be gained through the successful initiation of the Marine Highway Project, including highway miles saved, road maintenance savings, air emissions savings, and safety and resiliency impacts. (5) Marine Highway Route(s). (6) Organization. (7) Partnerships: Private sector partners. (ii) Public sector partners. (iii) Documentation. (8) Public benefits. (i) Emissions benefits. (ii) Energy savings. (iii) Landside transportation infrastructure maintenance savings. (iv) Economic competitiveness. (v) Safety improvements. (vi) System resiliency and redundancy. (9) Proposed project timeline. (10) Support and investment required. (11) Environmental considerations. et seq. (d) How will the Program Office evaluate and recommend Marine Highway Project applications for designation? (2) The Program Office may consider additional factors and may request supplemental information during the review process. USDOT will notify Project Applicants as to the status of their application in writing once the Secretary makes a determination. (e) How will MARAD support designated America's Marine Highway Projects? (i) Promote the service with appropriate governmental, regional, State, local or tribal government transportation planners, private sector entities or other decision makers to the extent permitted by law. (ii) Coordinate with ports, State Departments of Transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, localities, other public agencies and the private sector to support the designated service. Efforts can be aimed at identifying resources, obtaining access to land or terminals, developing landside facilities and infrastructure, and working with Federal, regional, State, local or Tribal governmental entities to remove barriers to success. (iii) Pursue commitments from Federal entities to transport Federally owned or generated cargo using the services of the designated project, when practical or available. (iv) In cases where transportation infrastructure is needed, Project Applicants may request to be included on the Secretary's list of high-priority transportation infrastructure projects under E.O. 13274, “Environmental Stewardship and Transportation Infrastructure Project Review.” (v) Assist with developing individual performance measures for Marine Highway Projects. (vi) Work with Federal entities and regional, State, local and tribal governments to include designated Projects in transportation planning. (vii) Coordinate with public and private entities to resolve impediments to the success of Marine Highway Projects. (viii) Conduct research on issues specific to Marine Highway Projects. (ix) Advise Project Applicants on the availability of various Federal funding mechanisms to support the Projects. (x) Maintain liaison with Project Applicants and representatives of designated Projects to provide ongoing support and identify lessons learned and best practices for other projects and the overall Marine Highway program. (2) [Reserved] (f) How will the Department protect confidential information? (2) What should I do if I believe my Project designation application contains confidential or business sensitive information? (ii) Mark each affected page “CBI;” and (iii) Clearly highlight or otherwise denote the CBI portions. The USDOT protects such information from disclosure to the extent allowed under applicable law. (3) What will happen if information related to my Project designation application is the subject of a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? (g) Is there a specific format required for project designation applications and attached documents? regulations.gov http://www.regulations.gov etc. (2) In the event that the Project Applicant of a Marine Highway Project that has already been designated by the Secretary seeks a modification to the designation because of a change in project scope, an expansion of the project, or other significant change to the project, the Project Applicant should request the change in writing to the Secretary via the Maritime Administrator. The request must contain any changed or new information that is relevant to the project. (h) What does the Program Office do to ensure designated projects are developing properly? (2) Overall project performance will be assessed according to three categories—exceeds, meets, or does not meet original projections—in each of the three areas defined below: (i) Public benefit. (ii) Public cost. i.e., (iii) Timeliness factor. (i) Can a Project designation expire or be terminated? (2) Project Applicants wishing to extend a Project Designation must submit an updated application no later than six months before the five-year designation period ends. Project Applicants who no longer wish to maintain project designation may submit a request to the Secretary to revoke their designation. Subpart C—Department of Transportation Efforts To Foster and Support America's Marine Highways § 393.4 DOT Support for planning activities. (a) How does DOT provide support? (i) Working with these entities to assess plans and develop strategies, where appropriate, to incorporate Marine Highway transportation and other short sea transportation solutions to their statewide and metropolitan transportation plans, including the Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs and State Freight Plans. (ii) Facilitating groups of States and multi-State transportation entities to determine how Marine Highway transportation can address port congestion, traffic delays, bottlenecks, and other interstate transportation challenges to their mutual benefit. (iii) Identifying other Federal agencies that have jurisdiction over services, or which currently provide funding for components of services, in order to determine which agencies should be consulted and assist in the coordination process. (iv) Organizing the Department's modal administrations, including Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, and Federal Transit Administration, as appropriate, for support and to evaluate costs and benefits of proposed Marine Highway Routes and Projects. (2) [Reserved] (b) [Reserved] § 393.5 DOT Support for Marine Highway-related research. (a) How does DOT support research? (i) Identify markets, cargoes, and service parameters that could facilitate the development of new or expanded Marine Highway Services. (ii) Identify existing or emerging technology, vessel design, infrastructure designs, and other improvements that would reduce emissions, increase fuel economy, and lower costs of Marine Highway transportation and increase the efficiency of intermodal transfers. (iii) Identify impediments to the establishment of Marine Highway services. (iv) Identify incentives to increase the use and efficiency of Marine Highway services. (b) The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, may conduct research on short sea transportation regarding: (1) The environmental and transportation benefits to be derived from short sea transportation alternatives for other forms of transportation; (2) Technology, vessel design, and other improvements that would reduce emissions, increase fuel economy, and lower costs of short sea transportation and increase the efficiency of intermodal transfers; and (3) Solutions to impediments to short sea transportation projects designated. § 393.6 America's Marine Highway Program Project grants. (a) How does MARAD administer the AMHP grant program? (2) MARAD establishes grant program priorities as reflected in its grant opportunity announcements and, from time-to-time, issues clarifying guidance documents through the MARAD Web site and the Federal Register (3) The Administrator makes funding recommendations to the Secretary, who has the authority to award grants. (b) How does MARAD make grant opportunities known? (2) The MARAD staff prepares Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcements consisting of all information necessary to apply for each grant and publishes the announcement in the Federal Register grants.gov. (c) How may an applicant apply for an AMHP grant? grants.gov Federal Register (2) [Reserved]