Notice of the Secretary of Transportation's Determination and the Department's Next Steps on Marine Transportation Safety in Puget Sound- Area Waters

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On April 28, 1996, the White House issued the Department of Transportation (DOT) Action Plan to Address Vessel and Environmental Safety on Puget Sound-Area Waters. One element of this Action Plan committed DOT to assess the marine safety system in Puget Sound-area waters to determine whether any hazard scenarios warrant consideration of additional casualty prevention or response measures. Secretary Rodney E. Slater signed this determination on November 17, 1998. The determination and DOT's related announcement of next steps regarding additional measures are printed in an appendix to this notice. Several of the measures discussed in the announcement on additional measures will be pursued in partnership with the State of Washington. A Memorandum of Understanding formalizing this partnership is under development. Pursuant to the announcement on additional measures, an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on ``Improvements to Marine Safety in Puget Sound-Area Waters'' appears in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of this issue of the Federal Register.