[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 33 (Friday, February 18, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8312-8314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3117]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 
[email protected]. 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]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-M