[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 247 (Monday, December 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81284-81286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32465]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2009-0166]
Nationwide Use of High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency Active
SONAR Technology; Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment and Draft
Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announces the availability of the
Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the Nationwide
Use of High Frequency (HF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Sound
Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) Technology and Draft Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI). The USCG is proposing the nationwide use of
active SONAR technologies that operate at frequencies of 50 kiloHertz
(kHz) and greater from mobile platforms. Active SONAR technology would
be used in support of USCG missions to locate, image, and classify
submerged/underwater targets of interest (TOI). The PEA is a program-
level document that will provide the USCG with management-level
analysis of the potential impacts of each alternative on the human and
natural environments.
DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our
online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before January 31,
2011, or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.
ADDRESSES: The Draft PEA and Draft FONSI have been published and can be
downloaded at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USCG-2009-0166.
You may submit
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comments identified by docket number USCG-2009-0166 using any one of
the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
(3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods.
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on
submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Kenneth McDaniel (CG-532), Deputy
Division Chief, Maritime Security (Counterterrorism), Coast Guard, by
telephone 202-372-2119 or e-mail [email protected] for
questions regarding the Proposed Action; or Ms. Kebby Kelley (CG-47),
Program Manager, USCG National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)/Historic
Resources, by telephone 202-475-5690 or e-mail [email protected]
regarding NEPA or to request a paper copy. If you have questions on
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright,
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to submit comments and related materials on the
draft PEA and draft FONSI. All comments received will be posted,
without change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any
personal information you have provided.
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the
docket number for this notice (USCG-2009-0166) and provide a reason for
each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and
material online, or by fax, mail or hand delivery, but please use only
one of these means. We recommend that you include your name and a
mailing address, an e-mail address, or a telephone number in the body
of your document so that we can contact you if we have questions
regarding your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
click on the ``submit a comment'' box, which will then become
highlighted in blue. In the ``Document Type'' drop down menu select
``Notices'' and insert ``USCG-2010-1104'' in the ``Keyword'' box. Click
``Search'' then click on the balloon shape in the ``Actions'' column.
If you submit your comments by mail or hand 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 the comments: To view the comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov, click on the ``read comments'' box, which will
then become highlighted in blue. In the ``Keyword'' box insert ``USCG-
2009-0166'' and click ``Search.'' Click the ``Open Docket Folder'' in
the ``Actions'' column. If you do not have access to the Internet, you
may view the docket online by visiting the Docket Management Facility
in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the Department of Transportation
West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590,
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. We have an agreement with the Department of Transportation to
use the Docket Management Facility.
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of 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 a
Privacy Act, system of records notice regarding our public dockets in
the January 17, 2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
Background and Purpose
Purpose of Proposed Action
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to broaden the USCG's
capability to locate and classify underwater threats and other TOIs,
and to more safely and effectively accomplish the USCG's missions. TOIs
could include combat swimmers/divers; explosives or other offensive
devices that could be delivered to underwater hulls, piers, or other
shore structures; and objects that have become submerged as a result of
a natural or man-made disaster and have the potential to interrupt
maritime transportation, trade, commerce, recreational boating, or
other maritime activities. The use of HF (50 to 999 kHz) and UHF (1,000
kHz and higher) active SONAR technology would provide USCG operational
commanders with the ability to locate, image, and classify underwater
threats and other TOIs. HF and UHF SONAR technology could be used in
response to events such as: The attacks of September 11, 2001; natural
disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005; established
security areas around high-value vessels, infrastructure, and special
security events; and maritime environmental response and search-and-
rescue activities.
The USCG needs to broaden its capability to locate, image, and
classify submerged/underwater TOIs to safely and efficiently accomplish
mission activities. The USCG needs to detect targets in ranges of less
than 2 kilometers and needs to operate in harbor, anchorage, channel,
and wharf environments, including fresh, brackish, and salt waters, day
or night regardless of visibility and in air and water temperatures and
thermoclines normal for port/harbor and offshore environments
throughout the United States. The USCG's current research of
commercially available and reliable technology indicates that the
nationwide employment of various HF and UHF active SONAR technology
systems would provide the needed capability.
Proposed Use
HF and UHF SONAR use would fall into one of three general
categories: (1) Operational missions, (2) training and exercises, and
(3) research and development. All SONAR use would be of relatively
short-term duration (typically less than a week, unless otherwise
required for an emergency or disaster). Regardless of the category,
such use would only be for the amount of time necessary to complete the
mission objectives. In no case is the USCG proposing long-term
deployments of SONAR equipment in fixed positions (unless required by
an emergency or disaster). In general, the duration of SONAR use would
be from minutes to as long as several days. Typically, the duration of
most deployments would be less than a week; however, for environmental
disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, SONAR equipment
could be used on-site until the emergency has ended. An example of a
high-priority nonemergency operational mission is the anti-swimmer
SONAR system that would provide security zone protection during a two-
day special event. Once the event has
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concluded, the system would be shut down and removed.
The USCG proposes to use HF and UHF SONAR technology from mobile
platforms nationwide. Mobile platforms include ships, boats, remotely
operated vehicles (ROVs), and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
Additionally, SONAR could be towed by a boat (i.e., a torpedo-shaped
``towfish''), lowered from a boat on a pole, or temporarily fixed to a
pier or a pile. Impacts on the seafloor from ROV and AUV operations
would not be significant. ROVs would be used pierside or at a location
appropriate for conducting vessel inspections. An appropriate location
for inspection would be at a water depth that would preclude seafloor
disturbance. As such, ROVs and AUVs would usually be suspended in the
water column and would rarely contact the seafloor. Typically, ROVs and
AUVs would be used in open, navigable waterways or safe anchorages.
However, an ROV or AUV might contact the seafloor if there is a
suspected threat on the seafloor that needs to be investigated; such
contact would be short-term and transient in nature.
Although selected HF and UHF SONAR systems could be employed by any
USCG unit to accomplish a mission, the USCG does not intend to
permanently equip or outfit every USCG unit with SONAR capability. The
HF and UHF SONAR systems selected could be powered using existing USCG
power supplies such as public electrical distribution grids, shipboard
electrical power, or portable generators (e.g., Honda 1,000-watt
generator).
Scope of the Programmatic Environmental Assessment
The scope of the PEA focuses on potential impacts associated with
the anticipated use of the HF and UHF SONAR systems to accomplish USCG
mission activities. The PEA addresses potential impacts on living
marine resources based on these operating criteria. Supplemental,
follow-on NEPA documentation or additional consultations with
appropriate resource authorities would be required if site-specific,
non-mobile operating scenarios or newly developed technologies fall
outside of the scope of this assessment. The scope of the PEA
encompasses geographic locations where the systems are expected to
operate.
The SONAR technology systems would be available for use by the USCG
within all areas under USCG jurisdiction along the U.S. continental
coastline, the Great Lakes, Hawaii, Alaska, United States territories,
and inland operating areas. The inland operating areas would include
existing harbor infrastructure and adjacent inland waters, including
the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes, and western and inland river
systems. The offshore operating areas would include areas up to 12
nautical miles offshore and most areas shoreward. Normal locations for
deployments would include the ports and waterways of the nation's top
tiered militarily and economically significant ports. Emergency use of
HF and UHF SONAR technology during times of extreme weather, such as
hurricanes, could be required for onshore areas that become inundated
by floodwater.
Public input is important to the preparation of the Final PEA. Your
concerns and comments regarding the nationwide use of HF and UHF active
SONAR technology and the possible environmental impacts are important
to the USCG, and we encourage you to share them with us.
Authority: This notice is issued under authority of 42 U.S.C.
4321, et seq., and 40 CFR 1508.22.
Dated: December 14, 2010.
Michael Mohn,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Chief, Office of Terrorism and Defense
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-32465 Filed 12-23-10; 8:45 am]
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