The State Department has received an application to create a new port of entry east of Otay Mesa on the border between California and Mexico, it said in a notice. “A new port of entry in San Diego County could alleviate strain on the existing ports of entry and the local and regional transportation infrastructure,” the notice said. According to an application submitted by the California Department of Transportation, the Otay Mesa East port of entry would be located at the end of a 2.5-mile extension of current California State Road 11. Comments are due March 9.

The Federal Maritime Commission recently issued a list of regulations "under its purview that are currently suitable for reform or elimination," and set "a schedule in which to consider further action on each of the items," it said in a news release. The list "outlines the steps to systematically review key regulations under the Commission’s authority for provisions that may be burdensome and no longer necessary to meet the agency’s obligations under the Shipping Act," it said. The "items identified as potential reform initiatives will require detailed review by staff working groups with the goal of initiating individual rulemakings. As part of the rulemaking process, public comments will be solicited before further review and analysis is conducted by staff, and a recommendation for consideration by the full Commission is made."

The Federal Maritime Commission will raise the penalty fees for statutory violations as of Jan. 15, the agency said in a news release. "Fees for Knowing and Willful violations of the Shipping Act will increase to $58,562.00, from $57,391.00; and, fees for Not Knowing and Willful violations of the Shipping Act will increase to $11,712.00 from $11,478.00," the agency said. A full list of the inflationary adjustments was published in the Federal Register.

The Federal Maritime Commission posted a witness list and schedule for the public Jan. 16 and 17, 2018, hearings on new rules for demurrage, detention and per diem fees during events beyond the control of shippers (see 1711210019). Twenty-six witnesses are scheduled to testify grouped in six panels over the two days, the agency said. The Coalition for Fair Port Practices, a group of 25 trade associations, filed a petition with the FMC in 2016 asking the agency to limit port fees related to port congestion or disruption, bad weather and delays spurred by government action or other issues out of shippers' control (see 1612080021).

The lack of direct customer relationships between actors in the commercial supply chain, such as shippers and marine terminals, hinders problem solving, and lack of mutual commitment impedes realizing the full potential of customer relationships, according to the Federal Maritime Commission’s final report of its Supply Chain Innovation Initiative. In areas such as service contracting and export container availability, the lack of mutual commitment or “skin in the game,” can stunt customer relationships, FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye, leader of the initiative, said in a statement. "One of our Export Teams recommended a ‘premium customer’ option that would solve the dual problems of export container availability and carrier booking integrity by increasing mutual customer commitments of carriers and exporters,” Dye said. In developing the report, Dye led six Supply Chain Innovation Teams, which all supported a National Seaport Information Portal to provide supply chain actors with critical and timely supply chain information. She noted she is closely following a Port of Los Angeles pilot to improve visibility of supply chain information.

The Federal Maritime Commission will hold public hearings at 10 a.m. Jan. 16 and 17, 2018, to receive testimony from maritime industry witnesses on a December 2016 petition to issue new rules preventing common carriers and marine terminal operators (MTOs) from charging demurrage, detention and per diem fees during events beyond the control of shippers, the FMC announced. Those events include port congestion or disruption, bad weather and delays spurred by government action. Those interested in testifying should send their requests to the FMC no later than Dec. 8, the agency said. The Coalition of Fair Port Practices filed the petition (see 1612080021).

The General Services Administration (GSA) plans to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to examine the impacts of proposed modernization of the San Luis I Land Port of Entry in Arizona, GSA said. “The [port] needs modernization due to unacceptable building conditions and increasing traffic demand,” GSA said. Plans for modernization include new privately owned vehicle processing facilities, demolition of the existing main building, a new main building, new outbound east and west exits, and a new pedestrian processing venue, GSA said. There are also two modernization alternatives under consideration -- one to demolish then reconstruct a modernized port, and another to renovate, expand and modernize the existing port -- and GSA will also analyze the option of no modernization at all. Comments on the proposed modernization must be received by Dec. 22.

PierPass will "evaluate alternative models for providing the traffic mitigation benefits of extended gates at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which are offered through the OffPeak program," it said in a news release. PierPass, a not-for-profit company owned by the ports' marine terminal operators, hired The Tioga Group and its partner World Class Logistics as consultants for the project. "The two alternatives under consideration are appointments to control traffic flow combined with a flat fee on both daytime and nighttime cargo moves; and port-wide peel-off, in which trucks would operate like taxis in an airport queue, each truck picking up the next container in the stack," it said. "Hybrid models may also be considered." Tioga will "analyze the traffic, commercial and operational impacts of two potential alternatives to the current model used by OffPeak, which mitigates traffic congestion caused by port truck operations through encouraging the pickup and delivery of containers on weeknights or Saturdays," PierPass said.

Vessels coming from the Federated States of Micronesia must take additional security measures before entering the U.S. due to "deficient port anti-terrorism measures," the Coast Guard said in a notice. The U.S. notified the country last year of the issues, but "to date, we cannot confirm that the Federated States of Micronesia has corrected the identified deficiencies," the Coast Guard said. As a result, vessels from the country are required to meet additional conditions for entry, it said. Additional countries that lack effective anti-terrorism measures and are subject to the security conditions are: Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Nauru, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, Timor-Leste, Venezuela and Yemen.

The Texas Department of Transportation approved $7 million in FASTLANE grant funding last week, in part, to repair the Presidio International Rail Bridge, Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, announced. “Cross-border trade is the lifeblood of many communities in my district,” Hurd said in a statement. “These infrastructure improvements will create jobs and facilitate the flow of goods and services through the region.” The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 instituted the FASTLANE grant program.