[Federal Register: October 23, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 204)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 62075-62076]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23oc06-8]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 165
[USCG-2006-25767; CGD09-06-123]
Safety Zones; U.S. Coast Guard Water Training Areas, Great Lakes
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings.
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SUMMARY: This document provides the times and locations of for the
additional public meetings which will be held by the Coast Guard to
discuss issues relating to the proposed permanent safety zones located
in the Great Lakes to conduct live gunnery training exercises. These
meetings will be open to the public and are in addition to the four
currently scheduled public meetings.
DATES: The Coast Guard will hold five additional public meetings as
follows: Monday, October 30, 2006 in Rochester, NY; Wednesday November
1, Waukegan, IL (Milwaukee, WI / Chicago, IL area); Friday November 3,
in Charlevoix, MI; Monday, November 6, in Erie, PA; and Wednesday,
November 8, Sturgeon Bay, WI. If you are unable to attend, you may
submit comments to the Docket Management Facility by November 13, 2006.
ADDRESSES: The Coast Guard will hold additional public meetings at the
following addresses:
1. Rochester, NY: Rochester Fast Ferry Terminal, 1000 N. River
Street, Rochester, NY 14612, (877) 283-7327;
2. Chicago, IL/ Milwaukee, WI: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee
Street, Waukegan, IL 60085, (847) 782-2366;
3. Charlevoix, MI: Charlevoix Public Library, 220 W. Clinton
Street, Charlevoix, MI 49720, (231) 547-2651;
4. Erie, PA: Port of Erie Cruise Boat Terminal, 1 Holland Street,
Erie PA 16507, (814) 455-7557; and
5. Sturgeon Bay, WI: Stoneharbor Resort, 107 North First Avenue,
Sturgeon Bay, WI (877) 746-0700.
You may submit your comments and related material by one of the
following means:
(1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility (USCG-2006-2567),
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street,
SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(2) By delivery to 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.
(3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
(4) Electronically through the Web site for the Docket Management
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for the
rulemaking. Comments and material received from the public will become
part of this docket and will be available for inspection or copying at
room PL-401, located on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building at the
same address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. You may electronically access the public docket by
performing a ``Simple Search'' for docket number 25767 on the Internet
at http://dms.dot.gov.
Electronic forms of all comments received into any of our dockets
can be searched by the name of the individual submitting the comment
(or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association,
business, labor unit, etc.) and is open to the public without
restriction. You may review the Department of Transportation's complete
Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11,
2000 (65 FR 19477-78), or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information concerning
this notice and the public meeting, contact Commander Gustav Wulfkuhle,
Chief Enforcement Branch, Ninth Coast Guard District, Cleveland, Ohio
at (216) 902-6091. If you have any questions on viewing or submitting
material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program
[[Page 62076]]
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-493-0402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Meetings
The Coast Guard will hold five additional public meetings as
follows: Monday, October 30, 2006 in Rochester, NY; Wednesday November
1, Waukegan, IL (Milwaukee, WI/Chicago, IL area); Friday, November 3,
in Charlevoix, MI; Monday, November 6, in Erie, PA; and Wednesday,
November 8, in Sturgeon Bay, WI. These meetings will be held to take
comments regarding the proposed Safety Zones; U.S. Coast Guard Water
Training Areas, Great Lakes, published on August 1, 2006, in the
Federal Register at 71 FR 43402.
The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to submit written
data, views, or comments. Persons submitting comments should please
include their name and address and identify the docket number (USCG-
2006-25767). You may submit your comments and material by mail, hand
delivery, fax or electronic means to the Docket Management Facility at
the address under ADDRESSES.
Regulatory History
On August 1, 2006, the Coast Guard published a notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM) (71 FR 43402) to establish permanent safety zones
throughout the Great Lakes, which would restrict vessels from portions
of the Great Lakes during live fire gun exercises that will be
conducted by Coast Guard cutters and small boats. The initial comment
period for this NPRM ended on August 31, 2006. In response to public
requests, the Coast Guard re-opened the comment period on this NPRM.
(71 FR 53629, September 12, 2006) Re-opening the comment period from
September 12, 2006 to November 13, 2006, provides the public more time
to submit comments and recommendations. On September 19, 2006, the
Coast Guard published a brief document announcing the dates of public
meetings. (71 FR 54792) On September 27, 2006 we published a document
containing detailed information about the first set of meetings. (71 FR
56420)
On October 12, 2006, the Coast Guard announced that the addition of
three more public meetings and again stated that more detailed
information related to the meetings would be published at a later date.
(71 FR 60094) This document provides detailed information regarding
these additional meetings by providing the locations of the public
meetings and the topics to be discussed. We are also announcing the
addition of public meetings to be held in Erie, PA and Sturgeon Bay,
WI.
Background and Purpose
The thirty-four permanent safety zones proposed in the NPRM will be
located throughout the Great Lakes in order to accommodate the training
needs of 57 separate Coast Guard units. The proposed safety zones are
all located more than three nautical miles from the shoreline.
Establishing permanent training areas serves to notify the public and
solicit its input on selection of the training locations.
The proposed safety zones will be enforced only when training is
conducted, and then only after notice by the Captain of the Port for
the area in which the exercise will be held. The Captain of the Port
will use all appropriate means to effect the widest publicity among the
affected segments of the public, including publication in the Federal
Register if practicable, in accordance with 33 CFR 65.7(a). Such means
of notification may also include, but are not limited to, Broadcast
Notice to Mariners or Local Notice to Mariners. The appropriate Captain
of the Port will also issue a Broadcast Notice to Mariners and Local
Notice to Mariners notifying the public when enforcement of a live fire
exercise safety zone is suspended.
Interested individuals are encouraged to attend the open house
forums and public meetings, provide comments and ask questions about
the weapons training areas. In the event that the Coast Guard decides
to conduct a higher level of environmental analysis pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act, input received from all nine public
meetings in the Great Lakes area will serve as ``scoping,'' to
determine the issues to be addressed in that analysis.
Meeting Times and Topics
The meetings are expected to run from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. (local).
We may end the meetings early if there are no additional comments or
questions.
Topics to be covered during the public meetings include the
following:
(1) Introduction of the proposed zones and the need to train on the
Great Lakes;
(2) How the Coast Guard determined the locations of the zones;
(3) Scheduling and frequency of training in the zones;
(4) Notification procedures;
(5) Safety procedures;
(6) Weapons and munitions; and
(7) Environmental risk assessment overview.
Before the start of the formal public meetings, from 4 p.m. to 5:30
p.m. (local), the Coast Guard is hosting an open house so that the
public can speak with Coast Guard personnel and obtain more information
on the proposed zones.
Procedure
Each open house and meeting is open to the public. Ideally,
comments will provide specific information and facts related to the
impact of the zone(s) on the commenter. Detailed and focused comments
will enable the Coast Guard to address identified areas of concern in
the rulemaking process. Please note that the meeting may close early if
all business is finished. If you are unable to attend, you may submit
comments to the Docket Management Facility at the address under
ADDRESSES by November 13, 2006.
Information on Services for Individuals With Disabilities
If you plan to attend any of the public meetings and require
special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other
reasonable accommodations, please contact us as indicated in FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Dated: October 18, 2006.
John E. Crowley, Jr.,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Ninth Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 06-8849 Filed 10-19-06; 3:10 pm]
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