[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 168 (Tuesday, August 31, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53266-53267]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21735]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

33 CFR Part 334


United States Army Restricted Area, Designated Portions of Eagle 
Bay and Eagle River, Fort Richardson, AK

AGENCY: United States Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to revise its 
regulations to establish a restricted area to change the navigability 
status of a portion of Eagle River within the boundaries of Fort 
Richardson, Alaska as well as an adjacent portion of Eagle Bay in the 
Knik Arm. More specifically, the restricted area is to include all 
waters of Eagle River downstream from the Bravo Bridge as well as the 
portion of Eagle Bay east of a demarcation line to extend from two 
points of Fort Richardson land along northern and southern shores of 
the Bay. This amendment would prohibit vessels and persons from 
entering affected waters of Eagle Bay and Eagle River in order to 
enhance safety and security. This portion of Eagle River runs through 
an active military range munitions impact area. This portion of Eagle 
Bay could be subjected to hazardous levels of noise during certain 
training exercises; Army control of this area is also necessary to 
prevent unauthorized access into the impact area. The restricted area 
is necessary to protect the public from entering an extremely hazardous 
area.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted by September 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number COE-
2010-0031, by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    E-mail: [email protected]. Include the docket number, 
COE-2010-0031, in the subject line of the message.
    Mail: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CECW-CO (David B. Olson), 
441 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20314-1000.
    Hand Delivery/Courier: Due to security requirements, we cannot 
receive comments by hand delivery or courier.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket number COE-2010-0031. 
All comments received will be included in the public docket without 
change and may be made available on-line at http://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided, unless the commenter 
indicates that the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI, or otherwise protected, through regulations.gov or 
e[dash]mail. The regulations.gov Web site is an anonymous access 
system, which means we will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an e[dash]mail directly to the Corps without going through 
regulations.gov, your e[dash]mail address will be automatically 
captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the 
public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an 
electronic comment, we recommend that you include your name and other 
contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or 
CD-ROM you submit. If we cannot read your comment because of technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, we may not be 
able to consider your comment. Electronic comments should avoid the use 
of any special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any 
defects or viruses.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov. All documents in 
the docket are listed. Although listed in the index, some information 
is not publicly available, such as CBI or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as 
copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Olson, Headquarters, 
Operations and Regulatory Community of Practice, Washington, DC at 202-
761-4922 or Ms. Serena Sweet, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska 
District, Regulatory Division, at 907-753-2819.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to a request from the Department 
of the Army and pursuant to its authorities in Section 7 of the River 
and Harbor 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 proposing to amend the restricted area regulations in 33 CFR 
part 334 to establish a restricted area to the east of a demarcation 
line bisecting Eagle Bay and extending up Eagle River to Bravo Bridge 
within Fort Richardson. The restricted area is necessary to protect the 
public against hazardous noise impacts and to prevent vessels and 
persons from entering an active military range munitions impact area.

Procedural Requirements

a. Review Under Executive Order 12866

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

[[Page 53267]]

b. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This proposed rule has 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). Due to the nature of 
the waterway and the minimal historic use of this portion of Eagle Bay 
for travel, recreation or fishing, as well as the availability of an 
alternate channel within Knik Arm, the Corps expects that the economic 
impact of this portion of the restricted area would have practically no 
impact on the public and no anticipated navigational hazard or 
interference with existing waterway traffic, and accordingly, certifies 
that this proposed rule will have no significant economic impact on 
small entities.

c. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act

    Due to the administrative nature of this action and because there 
is no intended change in the use of the area, the Corps expects that 
this regulation, if adopted, will not have a significant impact to the 
quality of the human environment and, therefore, preparation of an 
environmental impact statement, for the establishment of this 
restricted area, is not required. An environmental assessment (EA) will 
be prepared after the public notice comment period is closed and all 
comments have been received and considered. After it is prepared, it 
may be reviewed at the District office listed at the end of the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section, above.

d. Unfunded Mandates Act

    This proposed rule does not impose an enforceable duty upon the 
private sector. Therefore, it 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.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 334

    Danger zones, Marine safety, Navigation (water), Restricted areas, 
Waterways.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Corps proposes to amend 
33 CFR part 334 as follows:

PART 334--DANGER ZONE AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for 33 CFR 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 Sec.  334.1305 to read as follows:


Sec.  334.1305  Eagle River Flats Weapons Training Range Impact Area, 
Fort Richardson, Alaska; Restricted Area.

    (a) The area. The danger zone shall encompass all navigable waters 
of Eagle River, as defined at 33 CFR part 329, beginning at Eagle River 
Flats Bravo Bridge at latitude 61[deg]18[min]39.33[sec] N, longitude 
149[deg]41[min]15.68[sec] W on Fort Richardson, Alaska extending along 
the shore downstream to the river's outflow to Eagle Bay in the Knik 
Arm, as well as those waters of Eagle Bay to the east of a demarcation 
line drawn from a point of Fort Richardson land located at latitude 
61[deg]22[min]19.195[sec] N, longitude 149[deg]43[min]20.730[sec] W to 
a point of Fort Richardson land located at latitude 
61[deg]19[min]39.168[sec] N, longitude 149[deg]46[min]32.204[sec] W.
    (b) The regulations. To ensure public safety, the restricted area 
shall be closed to all watercraft navigation and persons at all times, 
except for vessels and individuals engaged in operational and 
maintenance activities authorized by the Commander, U.S. Army Garrison 
Alaska.
    (c) Enforcement. This regulation shall be enforced by the 
Commander, U.S. Army Garrison Alaska or other such agencies as the 
Commander may designate.

    Dated: August 13, 2010.
Michael G. Ensch,
Chief, Operations, Directorate of Civil Works.
[FR Doc. 2010-21735 Filed 8-30-10; 8:45 am]
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