[Federal Register: February 18, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 33)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 8312-8314]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18fe05-21]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 167
[USCG-2005-20380]
Port Access Routes Study of Potential Vessel Routing Measures To
Reduce Vessel Strikes of North Atlantic Right Whales
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of study; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is conducting a Port Access Route Study (PARS)
to analyze potential vessel routing measures and consider adjusting
existing vessel routing measures in order to reduce vessel strikes of
the highly endangered North American right whale. Potential vessel
routing measures are being considered to protect the right whale from
ship strikes in their two major aggregation areas, while minimizing
adverse impacts on vessel operations. This study will focus on the
northern region: first on Cape Code Bay, and then, if it can be
accomplished within the timeframe required by applicable legislation,
the area off Race Point at the northern end of Cape Code (Race Point)
and the Great South Channel, and the southern region: Along the
seacoast in the approaches to the Ports of Jacksonville and Fernandina
Beach, Florida, and Brunswick, Georgia. The recommendations of the
study may lead to future rulemaking actions or appropriate
international agreements.
DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management
Facility on or before April 19, 2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket
number USCG-2005-20380 to the Docket Managaement Facility at the U.S.
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one
of the following methods:
(1) Web site: http://dms.dot.gov.
(2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
(4) Delivery: Room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
(5) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice
of study, call George Detweiler, Office of Vessel Traffic Management,
Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-0574,or send e-mail to
Gdetweiler@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or
submitting material to the docket, call Renee K. Wright, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-0271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to participate in this study by submitting
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted,
without change, to http://dms.dot.gov and will include any personal
information you have provided. We have an agreement with the Department
of Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please
see DOT's ``Privacy Act'' paragraph below.
Submitting Comments: If you submit a comment, please include your
name and address, identify the docket number
[[Page 8313]]
for this notice of study (USCG-2005-20380), indicate the specific
section of this document to which each comment applies, and give the
reason for each comment. You may submit your comments and material by
electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket Management
Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit your
comments and material by only one means. If you submit them by mail or
delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11
inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit them
by mail and would like to know that they reached the Facility, please
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will
consider all comments and material received during the comment period.
Viewing Comments and Documents: To view comments, as well as
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket,
go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using
the docket number. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in
room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh
Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments
received 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 the
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit
http://dms.dot.gov.
Definitions
The following definitions are from the International Maritime
Organization's (IMO's) publication ``Ships' Routing'' (except those
marked by an asterisk) and should help you review this notice:
Area to be avoided or ATBA means a routing measure comprising an
area within defined limits in which either navigation is particularly
hazardous or it is exceptionally important to avoid casualties and
which should be avoided by all vessels, or certain classes of vessels.
Deep-water route means within defined limits, which has been
accurately surveyed for clearance of sea bottom and submerged obstacles
as indicated on nautical charts.
Inshore traffic zone means a routing measure comprising a
designated area between the landward boundary of a traffic separation
scheme and the adjacent coast, to be used in accordance with the
provisions of Rule 10(d), as amended, of the International Regulations
for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGS).
Precautionary area means a routing measure comprising an area
within defined limits where vessels must navigate with particular
caution and within which the direction of traffic flow may be
recommended.
Recommended route means a route of undefined width, for the
convenience of vessels in transit, which is often marked by centerline
buoys.
Recommended track is a route which has been specially examined to
ensure so far as possible that it is free of dangers and along which
vessels are advised to navigate.
Regulated Navigation Area or RNA* means a water area within a
defined boundary for which regulations for vessels navigating within
the area have been established under 33 CFR part 165.
Roundabout means a routing measure comprising a separation point or
circular separation zone and a circular traffic lane within defined
limits. Traffic within the roundabout is separated by moving in a
counterclockwise direction around the separation point or zone.
Separation Zone or separation line means a zone or line separating
the traffic lanes in which vessels are proceeding in opposite or nearly
opposite directions; or from the adjacent sea area; or separating
traffic lanes designated for particular classes of vessels proceeding
in the same direction.
Traffic lane means an area within defined limits in which one-way
traffic is established. Natural obstacles, including those forming
separation zones, may constitute a boundary.
Traffic Separation Scheme or TSS means a routing measure aimed at
the separation of opposing streams of traffic by appropriate means and
by the establishment of traffic lanes.
Two-way route means a route within defined limits inside which two-
way traffic is established, aimed at providing safe passage of ships
through waters where navigation is difficult or dangerous.
Vessel routing system means any system of one or more routes or
routing measures aimed at reducing the risk of casualties; it includes
traffic separation schemes, two-way routes, recommended tracks, areas
to be avoided, no anchoring areas, inshore traffic zones, roundabouts,
precautionary areas, and deep-water routes.
Background and Purpose
Why is this study being conducted? The National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
recently published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (NMFS
ANPRM) (69 FR 30857, June 1, 2004) in the Federal Register, which
announced that it is considering regulations to implement a strategy to
reduce ship strikes of right whales (Strategy). The goal of the
Strategy is to address the lack of recovery of the right whale by
reducing the likelihood and threat of ship strikes.
Section 626 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of
2004 (the 2004 Act) (enacted August 9, 2004) mandates that the Coast
Guard shall: (1) Cooperate with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration ``in analyzing potential vessel routing measures for
reducing vessel strikes of North Atlantic Right Whales, as described in
the notice published at pages 30857 through 30861 of volume 69 of the
Federal Register;'' and (2) provide a final report of the analysis to
Congress within 18 months after the date of enactment of the Act.
The Coast Guard is charged with enforcing the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the
regulations issued under those statutes. One of the Coast Guard's
primary strategic goals is the protection to the marine environment,
including the conservation of living marine resources and enforcement
of living marine resource laws.
The Coast Guard works in collaboration with NMFS to prevent ship
strikes. The Coast Guard issues local and written periodic notices to
mariners concerning ship strikes, issues NAVTEX messages alerting
mariners to the location of right whales, and actively participates in
the Mandatory Ship Reporting (MSR) System that provides information to
mariners entering right whale habitat. In addition, the Coast Guard
provides patrols dedicated to enforcement of the ESA and the MMPA,
provides limited vessel and aircraft support to facilitate right whale
research and monitoring, and disseminates NMFS information packets to
vessels boarded in or near right whale waters. NMFS asked the Coast
Guard for assistance in its ship-strike rulemaking by conducting this
PARS.
When are port access route studies required? Under the Ports and
Waterways Safety Act (PWSA) (33 U.S.C. 1223(c)), the Commandant of the
Coast Guard may designate necessary
[[Page 8314]]
fairways and traffic separation schemes (TSSs) to provide safe access
routes for vessels proceeding to and from U.S. ports. The PWSA provides
that such designation of fairways and TSSs must recognize, within the
designated areas, the paramount right of navigation over all other
uses.
The PWSA requires the Coast Guard to conduct a study of potential
traffic density and the need for safe access routes for vessels before
establishing or adjusting fairways or TSSs. Through the study process,
we must coordinate with Federal, State, and foreign state agencies (as
appropriate) and consider the views of maritime community
representatives, environmental groups, and other interested
stakeholders. A primary purpose of this coordination is, to the extent
practicable, to reconcile the need for safe access routes with other
reasonable waterway uses.
What are the timetable, study area, and process of this PARS? The
Vessel Traffic Management Division (G-MWV) of Coast Guard Headquarters
will conduct this PARS. The study will begin immediately and must be
completed by September, 2005, in order for the Coast Guard and NMFS to
prepare their required report to Congress by January, 2006.
The study area is divided into two regions described as follows:
1. Northern region: Cape Cod Bay; the area off Race Point at the
northern end of Cape Cod (Race Point) and the Great South Channel.
2. Southern region: The area bounded to the north by a line drawn
at latitude 31[deg] 27'N (which coincides with the northernmost
boundary of the mandatory ship reporting system) and to the south by a
line drawn at latitude line 29[deg] 45'N. The eastern offshore boundary
is formed by a line drawn at longitude 81[deg] 00'W and the western
boundary is formed by the shoreline. Included in this area are the
ports of Jacksonville and Fernandina, FL, and Brunswick, GA.
As part of this study, we will consider previous studies, analyses
of vessel traffic density, and agency and stakeholder experience in and
public comments on vessel traffic management, navigation, ship
handling, and affects of weather. We encourage you to participate in
the study process by submitting comments in response to this notice.
We will publish the results of the PARS in the Federal Register.
The study may--
1. Recommend implementing the vessel routing measures identified in
the NMFS ANPRM for the two areas;
2. Recommend creating vessel routing measures other than those
proposed in the NMFS ANPRM for the two areas;
3. Validate existing vessel routing measures, if any, and conclude
that no changes are necessary; or
4. Recommend changes be made to the existing vessel routing
measures, if any, in order to reduce the threat of ship strikes of
right whales.
The recommendations may lead to future rulemakings or appropriate
international agreements.
Possible Scope of the Recommendations
We expect that information gathered during the study will identify
any problems and appropriate solutions. The study may recommend that,
in any or all of the study areas, all or some of the following items be
accompished:
1. Maintain current vessel routing measures, if any.
2. Establish Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS) at the entrances to
the identified ports.
3. Designate recommended or mandatory routes.
4. Create one or more precautionary areas.
5. Create one or more inshore traffic zones.
6. Create deep-draft routes.
7. Establish area(s) to be avoided (ATBA).
8. Establish, disestablish, or modify anchorage grounds.
9. Establish a Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) with specific vessel
operating requirements to ensure safe navigation near shallow water.
10. Identify any other appropriate ships' routing measures to be
used.
Questions
To help us conduct the port access route study, we request comments
on the following questions, although comments on other issues addressed
in this document are also welcome. In responding to a question, please
explain your reasons for each answer and follow the instructions under
``Public Participation and Request for comments'' above.
1. What navigational hazards do vessels operating in the study
areas face? Please describe.
2. Are there strains on the current vessel routing system, such as
increasing traffic density? If so, please describe.
3. What are the benefits and drawbacks to modifying existing vessel
routing measures, if any, or establishing new routing measures such as
those described in the NMFS ANPRM? If so, please describe.
4. What impacts, both positive and negative, would changes to
existing routing measures, if any, or new routing measures, such as
those described in the NMFS ANPRM, have on the study area?
Dated: February 10, 2005.
Howard L. Hime,
Acting Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security and Environmental
Protection.
[FR Doc. 05-3117 Filed 2-17-05; 8:45 am]
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