[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 58 (Friday, March 25, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-7103]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 25, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 166

[CGD 94-023]

 

Port Access Routes; Approaches to Delaware Bay

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of study.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is conducting a port access route study to 
evaluate the need for changes to the vessel routing measures in the 
approaches to Delaware Bay. Due to a number of near collisions, and at 
least one collision between an outbound tug-barge and an inbound deep 
draft ship, the Mariner's Advisory Committee of the Bay and River 
Delaware has requested that the eastern approach lane of the Traffic 
Separation Scheme (TSS) be adjusted and that an inshore traffic zone be 
established for coastwise traffic. This port access route study will 
determine what, if any, changes to the vessel routing measures are 
needed in the approaches to Delaware Bay. As a result of the study, a 
new or modified TSS may be proposed in the Federal Register.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 23, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to Commander (oan), Fifth Coast 
Guard District, 431 Crawford Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704-5004. The 
comments and other materials referenced in this notice will be 
available for inspection and copying at 431 Crawford Street, 
Portsmouth, VA, room 116. Normal office hours are between 8 a.m. and 4 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Comments may also be hand 
delivered to this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LT Tom Flynn, (804) 398-6285.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    The Coast Guard is interested in receiving information and opinions 
from persons who have an interest in safe routing of ships in the study 
area. Vessel owners and operators are specifically invited to comment 
on any positive or negative impacts that they foresee, and to identify 
and support with documentation any costs or benefits which could result 
from the reconfiguration of the existing TSS.
    Commenters should include their names and addresses, identify this 
notice (CGD 94-023), and give reasons for each comment. Receipt of 
comments will be acknowledged if a stamped, self-addressed post card or 
envelope is enclosed. In addition to the specific questions asked 
herein, comments from the maritime community, offshore development 
concerns, environmental groups and any interested parties are invited. 
All comments received during the comment period will be considered in 
the study and in development of any regulatory proposals.
    The Fifth Coast Guard District will conduct the study and develop 
recommendations. LT Tom Flynn, Assistant Chief, Planning and Waterways 
Management Section, Aids to Navigation and Waterways Management Branch, 
Fifth Coast Guard District (804) 398-6285, is the project officer 
responsible for the study.

Background and Purpose

    The 1978 amendments to the Ports and Waterways Safety Act (PWSA), 
33 U.S.C. 1223(c), require that a port access route study be conducted 
prior to establishing or adjusting a traffic separation scheme (TSS). 
The Coast Guard is undertaking a port access route study to determine 
the effect of amending the TSS on vessel traffic safety in the study 
area.
    A TSS is an internationally recognized routing measure that 
minimizes the risk of collision by separating vessels into opposing 
streams of traffic through the establishment of traffic lanes. Vessel 
use of a TSS is voluntary; however, vessels operating in or near an 
International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved TSS are subject to 
Rule 10 of the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions 
at Sea, 1972 (72 COLREGS).
    The TSS in the Approaches to Delaware Bay was last studied in 1981, 
and the results were published on October 5, 1981, (46 FR 49035). The 
study concluded that the existing TSS was adequate for the foreseeable 
future.
    A Coast Guard initiated Waterways Analysis and Management System 
Study (WAMS) of the Delaware Bay Approach, conducted in 1990, 
recommended reorientation of the eastern approach TSS to the south. 
WAMS was developed to serve as the basis for a systematic analysis and 
management of the aids to navigation in our nation's waterways. WAMS is 
intended to identify the navigational needs of the users of a 
particular waterway, the present adequacy of the aids system in terms 
of those needs, and what is required in those cases where the users' 
needs are not being met. The WAMS process also looks into the 
resources--physical, financial, and personnel--needed to carry out the 
Aids to Navigation program responsibilities. The analyses of each 
waterway and the attendant resources are then integrated to provide 
documentation for both day to day management and future planning within 
the Aids to Navigation program.
    Because of safety concerns, the Mariners Advisory Committee for the 
Bay and River Delaware has also requested that the eastern approach 
lanes of the TSS be adjusted and that an inshore traffic zone be 
established for coastwise traffic.
    As part of the Delaware River Comprehensive Navigation Study, the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also conducting a study to consider 
construction of a Midstream Deepwater Port to provide deep draft crude 
oil carriers improved access for lightering operations in Anchorage A 
(off the entrance to the Mispillion River), 33 CFR 110.157, southwest 
of Brandywine Channel. If the Army Corps of Engineers determines there 
is a need for a Midstream Deepwater Port, a one-way access channel 
leading from the ocean to Anchorage A, in the vicinity of the current 
Southeastern Approach, may be designed to facilitate the safe movement 
of deep draft crude oil carriers to Anchorage A for lightering 
operations, and to encourage the use of larger and more efficient 
transport vessels to Delaware River ports. This channel would then lead 
through the Pilot Area near Cape Henlopen to Anchorage A, with the 
deepening of the lower (southeastern) corner of the anchorage. 
Incorporation of this study with the Army Corps of Engineers study is 
intended to identify those items of mutual concern and to blend channel 
deepening requirements into vessel traffic management requirements.
    At the request of the Mariners' Advisory Committee for the Bay and 
River Delaware, four lighted buoys will be relocated within the 
Precautionary Area during the week of April 25, 1994. Relocation of 
these buoys will shift the pilot area one half nautical mile to the 
southeast and Delaware Bay Approach LB 4 one half nautical mile to the 
southwest. This will allow more sea room for tug and tow traffic 
approaching from and departing along the New Jersey coast.

Study Area

    The study area is bounded by a line connecting the following 
geographic positions:

                                                                        
            Latitude                            Longtitude              
                                                                        
39 deg.00' N                      75 deg.10' W                          
38 deg.50' N                      74 deg.30' W                          
38 deg.25' N                      74 deg.30' W                          
38 deg.25' N                      75 deg.10' W                          
                                                                        

    The study area encompasses the existing TSS which was adopted by 
the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (as the 
International Maritime Organization was formerly known) on October 28, 
1969. A change to the southeastern approach lanes was implemented on 
March 15, 1976.
    The TSS Off Delaware Bay consists of two parts as described below:

Part I: Eastern Approach

    (a) A separation zone bounded by a line connecting the following 
geographical positions:

                                                                        
            Latitude                             Longitude              
                                                                        
38 deg.46.8' N                    74 deg.34.6' W                        
38 deg.46.8' N                    74 deg.55.7' W                        
38 deg.47.8' N                    74 deg.55.4' W                        
38 deg.47.8' N                    74 deg.34.6' W                        
                                                                        

    (b) A traffic lane for westbound traffic between the separation 
zone and a line connecting the following geographical positions:

                                                                        
            Latitude                             Longitude              
                                                                        
38 deg.49.8' N                    74 deg.34.6' N                        
38 deg.48.8' N                    74 deg.55.3' W                        
                                                                        

    (c) A traffic lane for eastbound traffic between the separation 
zone and a line connecting the following geographical positions:

                                                                        
            Latitude                             Longitude              
                                                                        
38 deg.45.8' N                    74 deg.56.1' W                        
38 deg.44.8' N                    74 deg.34.6' W                        
                                                                        

    (a) A separation zone bounded by a line connecting the following 
geographical positions:

                                                                        
            Latitude                             Longitude              
                                                                        
38 deg.27.0' N                    74 deg.42.3' W                        
38 deg.42.2' N                    74 deg.57.2' W                        
38 deg.43.4' N                    74 deg.58.0' W                        
38 deg.27.6' N                    74 deg.41.3' W                        
                                                                        

    (b) A traffic lane for north-westbound traffic between the 
separation zone and a line connecting the following geographical 
positions:

                                                                        
            Latitude                             Longitude              
                                                                        
38 deg.28.8' N                    74 deg.39.3' W                        
38 deg.45.1' N                    74 deg.56.6' W                        
                                                                        

    (c) A traffic lane for south-eastbound traffic between the 
separation zone and a line connecting the following geographical 
positions:

                                                                        
            Latitude                             Longitude              
                                                                        
38 deg.42.8' N                    74 deg.58.9' W                        
38 deg.27.0' N                    74 deg.45.4' W                        
                                                                        

Precautionary Area
    A precautionary area with a radius of eight miles centered upon 
Harbour of Refuge Light in geographical position 38 deg.48.9' N, 
754 deg.05.6' W.

Issues

    The study may recommend the following options:
    (a) Make no changes to the current traffic separation system in the 
Delaware Bay Approaches.
    (b) Discontinue the entire Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the 
Delaware Bay Approaches.
    (c) Adjust the Eastern Approach TSS by narrowing the separation 
zone to allow the establishment of an inshore traffic zone.
    (d) Relocate the Southern Approach TSS, and include a deepwater 
route similar to the deepwater route in the Southern Approach to 
Chesapeake Bay, i.e., the deepwater route centered between inbound and 
outbound lanes.
    (e) Adjust the Eastern Approach TSS by narrowing the separation 
zone to allow the establishment of an inshore traffic zone and retain 
the current Southern Approach TSS with a midstream Deepwater Port on 
the eastern side of the inbound traffic lane.
    (f) Adjust the Eastern Approach TSS by narrowing the separation 
zone to allow the establishment of an inshore traffic zone, and, 
relocate the Southern Approach TSS to include a deepwater route similar 
to the deepwater route in the Southern Approach to Chesapeake Bay, 
i.e., the deepwater route centered between inbound and outbound lanes.
    (g) Abolish the Eastern Approach TSS and maintain the current 
Southern Approach TSS.

Procedural Requirements

    In order to provide safe access routes for movement of vessel 
traffic proceeding to and from U.S. ports, the PWSA directs that the 
Secretary designate necessary fairways and traffic separation schemes 
in which the paramount right of navigation over all other uses shall be 
recognized. Before a designation can be made, the Coast Guard is 
required to undertake a study of potential traffic density and the need 
for safe access routes.
    During the study, the Coast Guard is directed to consult with 
federal and state agencies and to consider the views of representatives 
of the maritime community, port and harbor authorities or associations, 
environmental groups, and other parties who may be affected by the 
proposed action.
    In accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1223(c), the Coast Guard will, to the 
extent practicable, reconcile the need for safe access routes with the 
needs of all other reasonable uses of the area involved. The Coast 
Guard will also consider previous studies and experience in the areas 
of vessel traffic management, navigation, shiphandling, the effects of 
weather, and prior analysis of the traffic density in certain regions.
    The results of this study will be published in the Federal 
Register. If the Coast Guard determines that new routing measures are 
needed, a notice of proposed rulemaking will be published. It is 
anticipated that the study will be concluded by 30 October 1994.

    Dated: March 22, 1994.
W.J. Ecker,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Chief, Office of Navigation Safety and 
Waterway Services.
[FR Doc. 94-7103 Filed 3-24-94; 8:45 am]
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