[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 236 (Wednesday, December 9, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 68140-68141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32720]


      

[[Page 68139]]

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Part VI





Department of Defense





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Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers



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33 CFR Part 334



Naval Restricted Area: Naval Station Annapolis, Maryland; Final Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 236 / Wednesday, December 9, 1998 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 68140]]



DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army

33 CFR Part 334


Naval Restricted Area, Naval Station Annapolis, Maryland

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is establishing a new 
restricted area in the waters of the small boat basin off the Severn 
River, in Annapolis, Maryland to prohibit public entry into the area. 
The restricted area is needed for the security of U.S. Navy facilities 
and watercraft and navigational safety for U.S. Naval Academy training 
vessels in that area. The water area in the small boat basin has always 
been closed to the public, however, as a result of the closure of the 
adjacent Naval Surface Warfare Center and the planned future public 
ownership of that facility, the water area may become accessible by the 
public.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 8, 1999.

ADDRESSES: HQUSACE, CECW-OR, Washington, D.C. 20314-1000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Frank Torbett, Headquarters 
Regulatory Branch, at (202) 761-1787, or Mr. Steve Elinsky, Corps 
Baltimore District, at (410) 962-4503.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to its authorities in Section 7 of 
the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1917 (40 Stat. 266; 33 U.S.C. 1) and 
Chapter XIX of the Army Appropriations Act of 1919 (40 Stat. 892; 33 
U.S.C. 3), the Corps is amending the regulations in 33 CFR Part 334 by 
adding a new Sec. 334.155 which establishes a naval restricted area at 
the Naval Station Annapolis small boat basin, off the Severn River at 
Annapolis, Maryland. The Commanding Officer of the Naval Station 
Annapolis, has requested that the Corps establish the restricted area 
for reasons of security and navigational safety. The small boat basin 
plays an integral role in the training of midshipmen of the U.S. Naval 
Academy. The basin is used continuously by the Naval Academy as a 
training area for maneuvering and seamanship exercises. Over the past 
40 years, the small boat basin has been surrounded by restricted U.S. 
Navy property of the Naval Station Annapolis and the Naval Surface 
Warfare Center (NSWC), and accordingly, access to the basin was limited 
to Naval personnel. In 1995, the Congress approved the Department of 
Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission's recommendation to 
close the NSWC at that location. The NSWC property is slated to become 
the property of Anne Arundel County and presumably that area and the 
shoreline of the basin could become accessible to the public. Public 
access to the basin from the NSWC property by non-U.S. Navy/Department 
of Defense personnel would pose an unacceptable security risk to the 
Naval Station. Navigational safety would also be a problem if non-Naval 
vessels are allowed to operate in the basin and because 260 feet of the 
NSWC seawall is located at the entrance to the basin, which is only 170 
feet wide, any mooring by vessels along the seawall would further 
restrict the entrance and present a hazard to boats entering and 
leaving the basin.

Procedural Requirements

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866

    This rule is issued with respect to a military function of the 
Defense Department and the provisions of EXECUTIVE ORDER 12866 do not 
apply.

B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

    These rules have been reviewed under the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(Pub. L. 96-354), which requires the preparation of a regulatory 
flexibility analysis for any regulation that will have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (i.e., small 
businesses and small Governments). The Corps expects that the economic 
impact of the establishment of this restricted area would have 
practically no impact on the public, no anticipated navigational hazard 
or interference with existing waterway traffic and accordingly, 
certifies that this proposal if adopted, will have no significant 
economic impact on small entities.

C. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act

    An environmental assessment has been prepared for this action. We 
have concluded, based on the minor nature of the proposed additional 
restricted area regulations, that this action will not have a 
significant impact to the human environment, and preparation of an 
environmental impact statement is not required. The environmental 
assessment may be reviewed at the District Office listed at the end of 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above.

D. Unfunded Mandates Act

    This rule does not impose an enforceable duty among the private 
sector and, therefore, is not a Federal private sector mandate and is 
not subject to the requirements of Section 202 or 205 of the Unfunded 
Mandates Act. We have also found under Section 203 of the Act, that 
small Governments will not be significantly and uniquely affected by 
this rulemaking.

E. Submission to Congress and the GAO

    Pursuant to Section 801(a)(1)(A) of the Administrative Procedure 
Act as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1996, the Army has submitted a report containing this rule to 
the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General 
of the General Accounting Office. This rule is not a major rule within 
the meaning of Section 804(2) of the Administrative Procedure Act, as 
amended.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 334

    Navigation (water), Transportation, Danger zones.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Corps amends 33 CFR 
Part 334, as follows:

PART 334--DANGER ZONE AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 334 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 40 Stat. 266 (33 U.S.C. 1) and 40 Stat. 892 (33 
U.S.C. 3).

    2. Add new Sec. 334.155, to read as follows:


Sec. 334.155  Severn River, Naval Station Annapolis, Small Boat Basin, 
Annapolis, MD; naval restricted area.

    (a) The area. The waters within the Naval Station Annapolis small 
boat basin and adjacent waters of the Severn River enclosed by a line 
beginning at the southeast corner of the U.S. Navy Marine Engineering 
Laboratory; thence to latitude 38 deg.58'56.5'', longitude 
76 deg.28'11.5''; thence to latitude 38 deg.58'50.5'', longitude 
76 deg.27'52''; thence to the southeast corner of the Naval Station's 
seawall.
    (b) The regulations. No person, vessel or other craft shall enter 
or remain in the restricted area at any time except as authorized by 
the enforcing agency.
    (c) Enforcement. The regulations in this section shall be enforced 
by the Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Maryland, and 
such agencies as he/she may designate.

    Dated: October 13, 1998.


[[Page 68141]]


    Approved:
Eric R. Potts,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers Executive Director of Civil Works.
[FR Doc. 98-32720 Filed 12-8-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-92-P