[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 223 (Monday, November 21, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 70052-70054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22951]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 165

[CGD01-05-094]


Navigation and Waterways Management Improvements, Providence 
River Regulated Navigation Area; Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island and Mt. 
Hope Bay, MA

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The First Coast Guard District announces that it is 
considering changing, rescinding, or maintaining certain navigation 
regulations currently in effect for the Providence River, and

[[Page 70053]]

is also considering what, if any, navigation safety measures should be 
implemented within Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island and Mt. Hope Bay, 
Massachusetts [hereafter ``Bays''].

DATES: Comments are due on or before December 21, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number CGD01-
05-094 to the Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office 
Providence. That office maintains the public dockets for this 
rulemaking. Comments and documents will become part of this docket and 
will be available for inspection and copying at the same address 
between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. To avoid duplication, please use only one of the following 
methods:
    (1) Mail or delivery to Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Marine 
Safety Office Providence, 20 Risho Avenue, East Providence, RI, 02914-
1208.
    (2) Fax to 401-435-2399.
    (3) Electronically via e-mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
address mail to Mr. Edward G. LeBlanc, c/o Commanding Officer, U.S. 
Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Providence, 20 Risho Avenue, East 
Providence, RI 02914-1208, call 401-435-2351, e-mail at [email protected], or fax 401-435-2399.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Submitting Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this request for public comments 
by submitting comments and related material. If you do so, please 
include your name and address, identify the docket number for this 
notice (CGD01-05-094), indicate the question to which each comment 
applies, and give the reason for each comment. You may submit your 
comments and material by mail, hand delivery, fax, or electronic means 
to the project officer at the addresses or phone numbers listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, but please submit your comments and 
material by only one means. If you submit them 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 U.S. Coast Guard 
Marine Safety Office Providence, please enclose a stamped, self-
addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and 
material received during the comment period.

Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting, but you may submit a 
request for one to U. S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Providence at 
the address under ADDRESSES explaining why one would be beneficial. If 
we determine that a public meeting would aid the Coast Guard in 
determining what type, if any, of rulemaking is appropriate, we will 
hold one at a time and place announced by a later notice in the Federal 
Register.

Background and Purpose

    On May 1, 1994, the Coast Guard established a Regulated Navigation 
Area (RNA) in the Providence River, Providence, Rhode Island. That RNA 
is described at 33 CFR 165.122. The RNA was designed to protect the 
maritime community from hazards to navigation associated with the 
extreme shoaling that had previously occurred in the northern section 
of the Providence River channel. Generally, the RNA imposed certain 
navigation restrictions in various segments of the Providence River 
including, among other requirements, a maximum draft of 35 feet for 
most vessels, one-way vessel traffic, and a requirement that vessels 
over 65 feet in length make periodic SECURITE calls via VHF radio. In 
September 2005, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (``The USACE'') 
completed a major maintenance dredging of the Providence River to 
remove most shoaling and restore the channel to a depth of 40' at Mean 
Lower Low Water (MLLW), and a minimum channel width of 600'. (The USACE 
``Results of Survey'' dated September 16, 2005, is available for review 
in the docket, CGD 01-05-094.) The restoration of the Providence River 
Channel to the above described dimensions should permit sufficient 
depth and width for typical commercial and recreational vessels to 
navigate within the channel without the special restrictions and 
reporting requirements currently imposed by the RNA. Consequently, the 
Coast Guard is considering disestablishing the RNA and restoring the 
Providence River to normal navigation practices, revising the RNA, or 
leaving the current RNA in effect.
    Concurrently, the Coast Guard seeks public comment and 
recommendations on what, if any, navigation safety regulations may be 
appropriate for the waterways that encompass Narragansett Bay and Mt. 
Hope Bays in their entirety, including the Providence River and Taunton 
River. On September 7 and September 8, 2004, the Coast Guard sponsored 
a Ports and Waterways Safety Assessment (PAWSA) of Narragansett Bay, 
which was conducted by a cross-section of key waterways users and 
stakeholders. The report produced by the PAWSA participants identified 
several issues and areas within the Bays where navigation safety was of 
particular concern. (A copy of the PAWSA report is available in the 
docket, CGD01-05-094.) Although the Coast Guard has taken several non-
regulatory actions to improve navigation safety, such as public 
outreach, education and improved aids to navigation, we seek public 
comment with respect to the need, if any, for additional navigation 
safety regulations within the Bays.

Questions

    We invite the public to answer the following questions. In 
responding to each question, please explain your reasoning as fully as 
possible so that we can carefully weigh the consequences and impacts of 
any future regulatory actions the Coast Guard may take. In preparing 
your responses to these questions, please indicate your position in the 
maritime community, if applicable.
    1. Now that the shoaling has been removed subsequent to a major 
dredging operation by the USACE, should the Providence River RNA as 
currently defined in 33 CFR 165.122 be maintained? Why, or why not? 
What specific hazards to navigation would be mitigated by maintaining 
this RNA? How would navigation safety be enhanced?
    2. Should the Providence River RNA be maintained in some form other 
than as it currently exists? Are there less severe or more severe 
restrictions that should be implemented? How, specifically, would your 
recommendations reduce risk, mitigate hazards to navigation, and 
improve navigation safety?
    3. Should the Providence River RNA be expanded to cover any or all 
other portions of Narragansett Bay, including Mt. Hope Bay and the 
Taunton River? If so, what type of navigation safety regulations would 
be beneficial and why? What hazards to navigation would be mitigated? 
How would risks be reduced? (Comment on such possible restrictions as 
one-way traffic areas, under keel clearance requirements, security call 
requirements, equipment carriage requirements, anchorage regulations, 
etc.)
    4. If you recommend the Coast Guard adopt certain regulatory 
measures, what would be the cost (or savings), if any, to commercial 
and recreational vessel

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owners and operators to comply with your recommendations?
    5. If you recommend the Coast Guard adopt certain regulatory 
measures, what would be the economic impact to small entities, if any? 
``Small entities'' is defined by the Regulatory Flexibility Act [5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.], and generally refers to an enterprise or business 
that ``is independently owned and operated and is not dominant it its 
field * * *'' 5 U.S.C. 601.
    Comments are not limited to the preceding questions and are invited 
on any aspect of navigation safety within the Bays.

    Dated: November 10, 2005.
Mark J. Campbell,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting Commander, First Coast Guard 
District.
[FR Doc. 05-22951 Filed 11-18-05; 8:45 am]
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