Federal Register VISA Open Season

Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 208 / Monday, October 28, 2013 / Notices
notice in the Federal Register prior to
the meeting.
6. A transcript of the public meeting
will be made available via our Web site
at http://www.MARAD.dot.gov and
posted to the docket at
www.regulations.gov. The recorded
webcast video will remain available
following the meeting via a link from
our Web site at www.MARAD.dot.gov.
Privacy Act Statement
Anyone is able to search all comments
entered into any of our dockets by the
name of the individual submitting the
comment (or signing the comment, if
submitted on behalf of an association,
business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT’s complete Privacy Act
Statement in the Federal Register
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR
19476, 04/11/2011) or at http://
www.dot.gov/privacy.html.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 610; E.O., 13563, 76 FR
3821, Jan. 21 2011; E.O. 12866, 58 FR 51735,
Oct. 4, 1993.

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Dated: October 23, 2013.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Julie Agarwal,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013–25396 Filed 10–25–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–81–P

Submit applications and
questions related to this notice to
Jerome D. Davis, Director, Office of
Sealift Support, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Maritime
Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Telephone (202) 366–0688; Fax (202)
366–5904.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Exceptions to This Open Season

VISA Program applications must
be received on or before November 27,
2013.

DATES:

ADDRESSES:

AGENCY:
ACTION:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Maritime Administration
Voluntary Intermodal Sealift
Agreement Open Season
Maritime Administration, DOT.
Notice of open season for
enrollment in the VISA program.
The Maritime Administration
(MARAD) announces that the open
season for Fiscal Year 2014 applications
for participation in the Voluntary
Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA)
program will run for 30 days beginning
today and ending November 27, 2013.
The purpose of this notice is to invite
interested, qualified U.S.-flag vessel
operators that are not currently enrolled
in the VISA program to apply. This is
the only planned enrollment period for
carriers to join the VISA program and
derive benefits for Department of
Defense (DOD) peacetime contracts
initiated during the period from October
1, 2013, through September 30, 2014.
Any U.S.-flag vessel operator
organized under the laws of a state of
the United States, or the District of
Columbia, who is able and willing to
commit militarily useful sealift assets
and assume the related consequential

SUMMARY:

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VISA Concept
The VISA program provides for the
staged, time-phased availability of
participants’ shipping services/systems
through pre-negotiated contracts
between the Government and
participants. Such arrangements are
jointly planned with the MARAD,
USTRANSCOM, and participants in
peacetime to allow effective and best
valued use of commercial sealift
capacity, provide DOD assured
contingency access, and to minimize
commercial disruption.
There are three time-phased stages in
the event of VISA activation. VISA
Stages I and II provide for prenegotiated contracts between DOD and
participants to provide sealift capacity
to meet all projected DOD contingency
requirements. These contracts are
executed in accordance with approved
DOD contracting methodologies. VISA
Stage III provides for additional capacity
to DOD when Stages I and II
commitments or volunteered capacity
are insufficient to meet contingency
requirements, and adequate shipping
services from non-participants are not
available through established DOD
contracting practices or U.S.
Government treaty agreements.

Jerome D. Davis, Director, Office of
Sealift Support, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Maritime
Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Telephone (202) 366–0688; Fax (202)
366–5904, or visit http://
www.marad.dot.gov.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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risks of commercial disruption, may be
eligible to participate in the VISA
program.
The mission of VISA is to provide
commercial sealift and intermodal
shipping services and systems,
including vessels, vessel space,
intermodal systems and equipment,
terminal facilities, and related
management services, to the Department
of Defense (DOD), as necessary, to meet
national defense contingency
requirements or national emergencies.
Carriers enrolled in the VISA program
provide DOD with assured access to
such services during contingencies. In
return for their VISA commitment, DOD
gives VISA participants priority for
peacetime cargos.

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The VISA
program was established pursuant to
Section 708 of the Defense Production
Act of 1950, as amended (DPA). The
VISA program was created to provide
for voluntary agreements for emergency
preparedness programs. Pursuant to the
DPA, voluntary agreements for
preparedness programs, including the
VISA program expire five (5) years after
the date they became effective.
The VISA program is open to U.S.-flag
vessel operators of oceangoing militarily
useful vessels, to include tugs and
barges. An operator is defined as an
owner or bareboat charterer of a vessel.
Tug enrollment alone does not satisfy
VISA eligibility. Operators include
vessel owners and bareboat charter
operators if satisfactory signed
agreements are in place committing the
assets of the owner to VISA. Voyage and
space charterers are not considered
U.S.-flag vessel operators for purposes
of VISA eligibility.

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The only exception to this open
season period for VISA enrollment will
be for a non-VISA carrier that reflags a
vessel into U.S. registry. That carrier
may submit an application to participate
in the VISA program at any time upon
completion of reflagging.
Advantages of Peacetime Participation
In return for their VISA commitment,
DOD awards peacetime cargo contracts
to VISA participants on a priority basis.
Award of DOD cargoes to meet DOD
peacetime and contingency
requirements is made on the basis of the
following priorities: U.S.-flag vessel
capacity operated by VISA participants
and U.S.-flag Vessel Sharing Agreement
(VSA) capacity held by VISA
participants; U.S.-flag vessel capacity
operated by non-participants;
Combination U.S.-flag/foreign-flag
vessel capacity operated by VISA
participants, and combination U.S.-flag/
foreign-flag VSA capacity held by VISA
participants; Combination U.S.-flag/
foreign-flag vessel capacity operated by
non-participants; U.S.-owned or
operated foreign-flag vessel capacity and
VSA capacity held by VISA
participants; U.S.-owned or operated
foreign-flag vessel capacity and VSA
capacity held by non-participants; and

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 208 / Monday, October 28, 2013 / Notices

Foreign-owned or operated foreign-flag
vessel capacity of non-participants.

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Participation
Applicants must provide satisfactory
evidence that the vessels being
committed to the VISA program are
operational and are intended to be
operated by the applicant in the carriage
of commercial or government preference
cargoes. Operator is defined as an ocean
common carrier or contract carrier that
owns, controls or manages vessels by
which ocean transportation is provided.
While vessel brokers, freight forwarders,
and agents play an important role as a
conduit to locate and secure appropriate
vessels for the carriage of DOD cargo,
they are not eligible to participate in the
VISA program due to lack of requisite
vessel ownership or operation.
Commitment
Any U.S.-flag vessel operator desiring
to receive priority consideration for
DOD peacetime contracts must commit
no less than 50 percent of its total U.S.flag militarily useful capacity in Stage
III of the VISA program. Participants
operating vessels in international trade
may receive top tier consideration in the
award of DOD peacetime contracts by
committing the minimum percentages of
capacity to all three stages of VISA or
bottom tier consideration by committing
the minimum percentage of capacity to
only Stage III of VISA. USTRANSCOM
and MARAD will coordinate to ensure
that the amount of sealift assets
committed to Stages I and II will not
have an adverse national economic
impact. To minimize domestic
commercial disruption, participants
operating vessels exclusively in the
domestic Jones Act trades are not
required to commit the capacity of those
U.S. domestic trading vessels to VISA
Stages I and II. Overall VISA
commitment requirements are based on
annual enrollment.
In order to protect a U.S.-flag vessel
operator’s market share during
contingency activation, VISA allows
participants to join with other vessel
operators in Carrier Coordination
Agreements (CCAs) to satisfy
commercial or DOD requirements. VISA
provides a defense against antitrust laws
in accordance with the DPA. CCAs must
be submitted to the MARAD for
coordination with the Department of
Justice for approval, before they can be
utilized.
Vessel Position Reporting
If VISA applicants have the capability
to track their vessels, they must include
the tracking system used in their VISA
application. Such applicants are

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required to provide MARAD access to
their vessel tracking systems upon
approval of their VISA application. If
VISA applicants do not have a tracking
system, they must indicate this in their
VISA application. The VISA program
requires enrolled ships to comply with
46 CFR Part 307, Establishment of
Mandatory Position Reporting System
for Vessels.
Compensation
In addition to receiving priority in the
award of DOD peacetime cargo, a
participant will receive compensation
during contingency activation for that
capacity activated under Stage I, II and
III. The amount of compensation will
depend on the Stage at which capacity
is activated. During enrollment, each
participant must select one of several
compensation methodologies. The
compensation methodology selection
will be completed with the appropriate
DOD agency, resulting in prices in
contingency contracts between DOD and
the participant.
Security Clearances
All VISA applicants accepted for
VISA participation, not having a Facility
Security Clearance (FCL), will be
required to pursue the clearance process
with the Defense Security Service (DSS).
If the accepted applicant does not have
a clearance, MARAD and
USTRANSCOM will initiate the
clearance process with DSS.
Participants must have a FCL and
security clearances at a minimum of
SECRET level for key personnel in order
for them to participate in the VISA Joint
Planning Advisory Group (JPAG)
meetings and to meet VISA contingency
contract obligations. One of the
objectives of the JPAG is to provide the
USTRANSCOM, MARAD and VISA
participants a planning forum to analyze
DOD contingency sealift/intermodal
service and resource requirements
against industry commitments. JPAG
meetings are often SECRET classified
sessions. Eligibility for VISA
participation will be terminated if an
applicant is rejected for a facility
clearance or if it fails to progress in a
timely manner in the clearance process.
Application for VISA Participation
New applicants may apply to
participate by obtaining a VISA
application package (Form MA–1020
(OMB Approval No. 2133–0532)) from
the Director, Office of Sealift Support.
Form MA–1020 includes instructions
for completing and submitting the
application, blank VISA Application
forms and a request for information
regarding the operations and U.S.

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citizenship of the applicant company. A
copy of the VISA document as
published in the Federal Register on
March 24, 2010, will also be provided
with the package. This information is
needed in order to assist MARAD in
making a determination of the
applicant’s eligibility. An applicant
company must provide an affidavit that
demonstrates that the company is
qualified to document a vessel under 46
U.S.C. 12103, and that it owns, or
bareboat charters and controls,
oceangoing, militarily useful vessel(s)
for purposes of committing assets to the
VISA program.
New VISA applicants are required to
submit their applications for the VISA
program as described in this Notice no
later than 30 days after the date of
publication of this Federal Register
notice. Applicants must provide the
following: U.S. citizenship
documentation; Copy of their Articles of
Incorporation and/or By Laws; Copies of
loadline documents from a recognized
classification society to validate
oceangoing vessel capability; U.S. Coast
Guard Certificates of Documentation for
all vessels in their fleet; Copy of
Bareboat Charters, if applicable, valid
through the period of enrollment, which
state that the owner will not interfere
with the charterer’s obligation to
commit chartered vessel(s) to the VISA
program for the duration of the charter;
and Copy of Time Charters, valid
through the period of enrollment, for tug
services to barge operators, if sufficient
tug service is not owned or bareboat
chartered by the VISA applicant. Barge
operators must provide evidence to
MARAD that tug service of sufficient
horsepower will be available for all
barges enrolled in the VISA program.
Approved VISA participants will be
responsible for ensuring that
information submitted with their
application remains up to date beyond
the approval process. Any changes to
VISA commitments must be reported to
MARAD and USTRANSCOM not later
than seven days after the change. If
charter agreements are due to expire,
participants must provide MARAD with
charters that extend the charter duration
for another 12 months or longer.
Once MARAD has reviewed the
application and determined VISA
eligibility, MARAD will sign the VISA
application document which completes
the eligibility phase of the VISA
enrollment process.
After VISA eligibility is approved by
MARAD, approved applicants are
required to execute a VISA contingency
contract with USTRANSCOM. The
USTRANSCOM VISA contract will
specify the following: Participant’s

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 208 / Monday, October 28, 2013 / Notices
Stage III commitment, and appropriate
Stage I and/or II commitments for the
period October 1, 2013 through
September 30, 2014; Drytime
Contingency terms and conditions; and
Liner Contingency terms and
conditions, if applicable.
Execution of the USTRANSCOM
VISA contract completes the enrollment
process and establishes the approved
applicant as a VISA Participant. The
Maritime Administration reserves the
right to revalidate all eligibility
requirements without notice.
USTRANSCOM reserves the right to
revalidate eligibility for VISA priority
for DOD business at any time without
notice.
Authority: 49 CFR 1.92 and 1.93.

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By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Dated: October 22, 2013.
Julie P. Agarwal,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013–25376 Filed 10–25–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–81–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA–2013–0040; Notice 1]

General Motors, LLC, Receipt of
Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Receipt of Petition.
AGENCY:

General Motors, LLC (GM) has
determined that certain model year
(MY) 2013 Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet
Volt, and Buick Verano passenger cars
manufactured between November 15,
2012 and January 11, 2013, do not fully
comply with paragraph S4.2.6 of
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) No. 202a, Head Restraints;
Mandatory Applicability Begins on
September 1, 2009. GM has filed an
appropriate report dated February 15,
2013, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573,
Defect and Noncompliance
Responsibility and Reports.
DATES: November 27, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written data, views,
and arguments on this petition.
Comments must refer to the docket and
notice number cited at the beginning of
this notice and be submitted by any of
the following methods:
• Mail: Send comments by mail
addressed to: U.S. Department of

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SUMMARY:

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Transportation, Docket Operations, M–
30, West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590.
• Hand delivery: Deliver comments
by hand to: U.S. Department of
Transportation, Docket Operations, M–
30, West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590. The Docket
Section is open on weekdays from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. except Federal Holidays.
• Electronically: Submit comments
electronically by: logging onto the
Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) Web site at http://
www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Comments may also be faxed to (202)
493–2251.
Comments must be written in the
English language, and be no greater than
15 pages in length, although there is no
limit to the length of necessary
attachments to the comments. If
comments are submitted in hard copy
form, please ensure that two copies are
provided. If you wish to receive
confirmation that your comments were
received, please enclose a stamped, selfaddressed postcard with the comments.
Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to http://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
Documents submitted to a docket may
be viewed by anyone at the address and
times given above. The documents may
also be viewed on the Internet at http://
www.regulations.gov by following the
online instructions for accessing the
dockets. DOT’s complete Privacy Act
Statement is available for review in the
Federal Register published on April 11,
2000, (65 FR 19477–78).
The petition, supporting materials,
and all comments received before the
close of business on the closing date
indicated below will be filed and will be
considered. All comments and
supporting materials received after the
closing date will also be filed and will
be considered to the extent possible.
When the petition is granted or denied,
notice of the decision will be published
in the Federal Register pursuant to the
authority indicated below.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. GM’s Petition: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C.
30118(d) and 30120(h) (see
implementing rule at 49 CFR part 556),
GM submitted a petition for an
exemption from the notification and
remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C.
Chapter 301 on the basis that this
noncompliance is inconsequential to
motor vehicle safety.

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This notice of receipt of GM’s petition
is published under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and
30120 and does not represent any
agency decision or other exercise of
judgment concerning the merits of the
petition.
II. Vehicles Involved: Affected are
approximately 32,838 MY 2013
Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Volt, and
Buick Verano passenger cars
manufactured between November 15,
2012 and January 11, 2013.
III. Noncompliance: GM explains that
the noncompliance is that between 8
and 12 percent of the affected vehicles
have rear outboard head restraints that
do not meet the height retention
requirements specified in paragraph
S4.2.6 of FMVSS No. 202a.
GM further explained that the
noncompliance is the result of a notch
in one of the two head restraint rods not
being machined to specifications. This
notch corresponds to the rear head
restraint’s highest adjustment position.
This condition does not affect the ability
to lock the head restraint in the middle
or lowest positions. Nor does it make
the head restraint capable of being more
easily removed.
IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S4.2.6 of
FMVSS 202a specifically states:
S4.2.6 Height retention. When tested in
accordance with S5.2.6 of this section, the
cylindrical test device specified in S5.2.6(b)
must return to within 13 mm of its initial
reference position after application of at least
a 500 N load and subsequent reduction of the
load to 50 N ±1 N. During application of the
initial 50 N reference load, as specified in
S5.2.6(b)(2) of this section, the cylindrical
test device must not move downward more
than 25 mm.

V. Summary of GM’s Analysis: GM
stated its belief that the subject
noncompliance is inconsequential to
motor vehicle safety for the following
reasons:
The root cause of the condition was
determined to be a change made by a
machine operator which reduced the
clamping force in the operation that cuts
the notches in the head restraint rod,
slightly altering the shape of the notch.
Restraints with the altered notch have a
lower retention force than design intent.
The retention force for the head
restraints with the improperly machined
notch was measured as approximately
150 N.
GM recognizes that one of NHTSA’s
concerns was improper positioning of
head restraints due to the head restraint
moving out of position either during
normal vehicle use or in a crash, as
stated in the FMVSS No. 202a NPRM
(January 4, 2001, 66 FR 979).
For everyday use, with the adjustment
button depressed, these head restraints

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