(a) What are the minimum eligibility requirements for MARAD to recommend a Marine Highway Route for the Secretary to designate?

(1) MARAD may recommend Marine Highway Routes that relieve landside congestion along coastal corridors or that promote short sea transportation; and

(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?

(1) The Department accepts Marine Highway Route designation requests any time. Route Sponsors must submit designation requests through the Program Office.

(2) The Maritime Administration publishes all designated Routes on its Web site. Go to http://www.marad.dot.gov and search “America's Marine Highways” to see the current list.

(c) What should Route Sponsors consider when preparing Marine Highway Route designation requests?

(1) Route Sponsors designation requests should explain how a proposed route will help achieve the following objectives:

(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?

(1) One or more eligible Route Sponsors may submit Marine Highway Route designation requests to the Program Office. Designation requests should include the following information:

(i) Physical Description of the Proposed Marine Highway Route. Describe the proposed Marine Highway Route, and its connection to existing or planned transportation infrastructure and intermodal facilities. Include key navigational factors such as available draft, channel width, bridge air draft, or lock clearance, and any foreseeable impacts on navigation or commerce. When available, include one or more maps of the proposed Route.

(ii) Surface transportation regions served.

(A) Land transportation routes that would benefit. Provide a summary of any land transportation route 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.

(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. Provide the organizational structure of the Route Sponsors and supporters recommending the Route designation, including business affiliations and private sector stakeholders. Multi-jurisdictional coalitions may include State Departments of Transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, municipalities and other governmental entities (including tribal governments). Include the extent to which these entities have expressed support for the route designation and describe any affiliations with environmental groups or civic associations, or affiliations with any foreign interests.

(iv) Volume and characteristics. If authoritative data are available, provide the volume of passengers and/or cargo that are candidates for shifting to water transportation on the proposed Route. Otherwise provide estimates for this information, include identified shippers, manufacturers, distributors, and other entities that could benefit from a Marine Highway alternative, and the extent to which these entities have expressed support for the Marine Highway Route designation request.

(v) Congestion reduction. Describe the extent to which the proposed Route could relieve landside congestion in measurable terms, if applicable. Include any known offsetting land transportation infrastructure savings (either construction or maintenance) that would likely result from the Route, if applicable.

(vi) Public benefits. Provide, if known, the net savings over status quo in emissions, including greenhouse gases, energy consumption, landside infrastructure maintenance costs, safety and system resiliency. Specify if the Marine Highway Route represents the most cost-effective option among other modal improvements. Include consideration of the implications future growth may have on the proposed Route.

(vii) Public costs. If applicable and known, identify any costs that may result from designation of the route. If able, provide costs that are quantifiable such as the additional cost of emissions or energy consumption required to effectively leverage the benefits of the designated route. These costs should be a component in the net savings identified in paragraph (d)(1)(vi) of this section.

(viii) Impediments. Describe known or anticipated obstacles to utilization of the proposed Marine Highway Route. Include any strategies, either in place or proposed, to deal with the impediments.

(2) [Reserved]

(e) How will the Program Office evaluate and recommend Marine Highway Route designation requests?

(1) The Program Office will evaluate and recommend Route Designations based on an analysis and technical review of the information provided by the Route Sponsor. The Maritime Administration will recommend Routes that receive a favorable technical review, and meet other criteria described in this part, for designation by the Secretary.

(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.