[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 222 (Friday, November 16, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 68718-68721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27814]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 165

[Docket Number USCG-2012-0969]
RIN 1625-AA00


Safety Zone for Fireworks Display, Upper Potomac River, 
Alexandria Channel; Washington, DC

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to establish a temporary safety zone 
encompassing certain waters of the Upper Potomac River. This action is 
necessary to provide for the safety of life on navigable waters during 
a fireworks display launched from a barge located within the Alexandria 
Channel at Washington, DC. This safety zone is intended to protect the 
maritime public in a portion of the Upper Potomac River.

DATES: Comments and related material must be received by the Coast 
Guard on or before December 17, 2012. If finalized, this rule would be 
effective from 10:30 p.m. on December 31, 2012 through 9 p.m. on 
January 1, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number using 
any one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail or Delivery: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. 
Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Deliveries 
accepted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.
    See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion 
of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for further instructions 
on submitting comments. To avoid duplication, please use only one of 
these three methods.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this rule, 
call or email Mr. Ronald L. Houck, Sector Baltimore, Waterways 
Management Division, U.S. Coast Guard; telephone (410) 576-2674, email 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket 
Operations, telephone (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Acronyms

DHS Department of Homeland Security
FR Federal Register
NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

A. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting 
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided.

1. Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
rulemaking, indicate the specific section of this document to which 
each comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or 
recommendation. You may submit your comments and material online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but 
please use only one of these means. If you submit a comment online, it 
will be considered received by the Coast Guard when you successfully 
transmit the comment. If you fax, hand deliver, or mail your comment, 
it will be considered as having been received by the Coast Guard when 
it is received at the Docket Management Facility. We recommend that you 
include your name and a mailing address, an email address, or a 
telephone number in the body of your document so that we can contact 
you if we have questions regarding your submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
type the docket number USCG-2012-0969 in the ``SEARCH'' box and click 
``SEARCH.'' Click on ``Submit a Comment'' on the line associated with 
this rulemaking.
    If you submit your comments 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 comments 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 and may change the rule 
based on your comments.

2. Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble 
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
type the docket number (USCG-2012-0969) in the ``SEARCH'' box and click 
``SEARCH.'' Click on Open Docket Folder on the line associated with 
this rulemaking. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in 
Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the Department of Transportation 
West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

3. Privacy Act

    Anyone can search the electronic form of 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 a Privacy Act notice 
regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the 
Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

[[Page 68719]]

4. Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a 
request for one, using one of the methods specified under ADDRESSES. 
Please explain why you believe a public meeting would be beneficial. If 
we determine that one would aid this rulemaking, we will hold one at a 
time and place announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.

B. Regulatory History and Information

    This rule involves a New Years Eve fireworks display, an event that 
takes place in Alexandria, Virginia each year on December 31st and 
attracts thousands of spectators. This year, the launch site for the 
annual fireworks display is being moved from land to a discharge barge 
located on the Upper Potomac River. The permanent safety zone listed as 
Number 21 in the Table to 33 CFR 165.506 does not apply to this event.

C. Basis and Purpose

    First Night Alexandria, of Alexandria, Virginia, will conduct a 
fireworks display launched from a barge located on the Upper Potomac 
River, near Alexandria, Virginia, scheduled on December 31, 2012 at 
approximately 12 a.m. Midnight. If necessary, due to inclement weather, 
the fireworks display may be re-scheduled to take place on January 1, 
2013 at approximately 8 p.m.
    Fireworks displays are frequently held from locations on or near 
the navigable waters of the United States. The potential hazards 
associated with fireworks displays are a safety concern during such 
events. The purpose of this rule is to promote public and maritime 
safety during a fireworks display, and to protect mariners transiting 
the area from the potential hazards associated with a fireworks 
display, such as the accidental discharge of fireworks, dangerous 
projectiles, and falling hot embers or other debris. This rule is 
needed to ensure safety on the waterway before, during and after the 
scheduled event.

D. Discussion of Proposed Rule

    Through this regulation, the Coast Guard proposes to establish a 
temporary safety zone. The proposed zone would encompass all waters of 
the Upper Potomac River, Alexandria Channel, within a 200 yards radius 
of a fireworks discharge barge in approximate position latitude 
38[deg]48'40'' N, longitude 077[deg]02'07'' W, located near the 
waterfront of Alexandria, Virginia. The temporary safety zone would be 
enforced from 10:30 p.m. on December 31, 2012 through 1 a.m. on January 
1, 2013 and, if necessary due to inclement weather, from 6:30 p.m. 
through 9 p.m. on January 1, 2013.
    The effect of this temporary safety zone would be to restrict 
navigation in the regulated area during, as well as the set up and take 
down of, the fireworks display. Vessels would be allowed to transit the 
waters of the Upper Potomac River outside the safety zone.
    This rule would require that entry into or remaining in this safety 
zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Coast Guard Captain of the 
Port Baltimore. Vessels already at berth, mooring, or anchor in the 
safety zone at the time the safety zone is implemented would not have 
to depart the zone. All vessels underway within this safety zone at the 
time it is implemented would have to depart the zone. To seek 
permission to transit the area of the safety zone, the Captain of the 
Port Baltimore can be contacted at telephone number 410-576-2693 or on 
Marine Band Radio VHF-FM channel 16 (156.8 MHz). Coast Guard vessels 
enforcing the safety zone can be contacted on Marine Band Radio VHF-FM 
channel 16 (156.8 MHz). Federal, state, and local agencies may assist 
the Coast Guard in the enforcement of the safety zone. The Coast Guard 
will issue notices to the maritime community to further publicize the 
safety zone and notify the public of changes in the status of the zone. 
Such notices will continue until the event is complete.

E. Regulatory Analyses

    We developed this proposed rule after considering numerous statutes 
and executive orders related to rulemaking. Below we summarize our 
analyses based on a number of these statutes or executive orders.

1. Regulatory Planning and Review

    This proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action under 
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 
as supplemented by Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and 
Regulatory Review, and does not require an assessment of potential 
costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of Executive Order 12866 or 
under section 1 of Executive Order 13563. The Office of Management and 
Budget has not reviewed it under those Orders. There is no vessel 
traffic associated with recreational boating and commercial fishing 
expected during the effective period.

2. Impact on Small Entities

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), we have 
considered the impact of this proposed rule on small entities. The 
Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this proposed rule 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. This proposed rule would affect the following entities, 
some of which might be small entities: the owners or operators of 
vessels intending to operate or transit through or within the safety 
zone during the enforcement period. Before the effective period, 
maritime advisories will be widely available to the maritime community.
    If you think that your business, organization, or governmental 
jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity and that this rule would have 
a significant economic impact on it, please submit a comment (see 
ADDRESSES) explaining why you think it qualifies and how and to what 
degree this rule would economically affect it.

3. Assistance for Small Entities

    Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we want to assist small 
entities in understanding this proposed rule. If the rule would affect 
your small business, organization, or governmental jurisdiction and you 
have questions concerning its provisions or options for compliance, 
please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT, above. The Coast Guard will not retaliate against small 
entities that question or complain about this proposed rule or any 
policy or action of the Coast Guard.

4. Collection of Information

    This proposed rule will not call for a new collection of 
information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520.).

5. Federalism

    A rule has implications for federalism under Executive Order 13132, 
Federalism, if it has a substantial direct effect on the States, on the 
relationship between the national government and the States, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 
government. We have analyzed this proposed rule under that Order and 
determined that this rule does not have implications for federalism.

6. Protest Activities

    The Coast Guard respects the First Amendment rights of protesters. 
Protesters are asked to contact the person listed in the ``For Further 
Information Contact'' section to coordinate protest activities so that 
your

[[Page 68720]]

message can be received without jeopardizing the safety or security of 
people, places or vessels.

7. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538) 
requires Federal agencies to assess the effects of their discretionary 
regulatory actions. In particular, the Act addresses actions that may 
result in the expenditure by a State, local, or tribal government, in 
the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100,000,000 (adjusted for 
inflation) or more in any one year. Though this proposed rule would not 
result in such an expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this rule 
elsewhere in this preamble.

8. Taking of Private Property

    This proposed rule would not cause a taking of private property or 
otherwise have taking implications under Executive Order 12630, 
Governmental Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected 
Property Rights.

9. Civil Justice Reform

    This proposed rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 
3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize 
litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.

10. Protection of Children From Environmental Health Risks

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13045, 
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks. This rule is not an economically significant rule and would not 
create an environmental risk to health or risk to safety that might 
disproportionately affect children.

11. Indian Tribal Governments

    This proposed rule does not have tribal implications under 
Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal 
Governments, because it would not have a substantial direct effect on 
one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal 
Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.

12. Energy Effects

    This proposed rule is not a ``significant energy action'' under 
Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use.

13. Technical Standards

    This proposed rule does not use technical standards. Therefore, we 
did not consider the use of voluntary consensus standards.

14. Environment

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Department of Homeland 
Security Management Directive 023-01 and Commandant Instruction 
M16475.lD, which guide the Coast Guard in complying with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f), and 
have made a preliminary determination that this action is one of a 
category of actions that do not individually or cumulatively have a 
significant effect on the human environment. This proposed rule 
involves establishing a temporary safety zone. This rule is 
categorically excluded from further review under paragraph 34(g) of 
Figure 2-1 of the Commandant Instruction. A preliminary environmental 
analysis checklist supporting this determination and a Categorical 
Exclusion Determination are available in the docket where indicated 
under ADDRESSES. We seek any comments or information that may lead to 
the discovery of a significant environmental impact from this proposed 
rule.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 165

    Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation (water), Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Waterways.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes 
to amend 33 CFR part 165 as follows:

PART 165--REGULATED NAVIGATION AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS

    1. The authority citation for part 165 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  33 U.S.C. 1231; 46 U.S.C. Chapter 701, 3306, 3703; 
50 U.S.C. 191, 195; 33 CFR 1.05-1, 6.04-1, 6.04-6, and 160.5; Pub. 
L. 107-295, 116 Stat. 2064; Department of Homeland Security 
Delegation No. 0170.1.

    2. Add Sec.  165.T05-0969 to read as follows:


Sec.  165.0969  Safety Zone, Upper Potomac River, Alexandria Channel; 
Washington, DC.

    (a) Location. The following area is a safety zone: All waters of 
the Upper Potomac River, Alexandria Channel, within a 200 yards radius 
of a fireworks discharge barge in approximate position latitude 
38[deg]48'40'' N, longitude 077[deg]02'07'' W, located near the 
waterfront of Alexandria, Virginia. All coordinates refer to datum NAD 
1983.
    (b) Regulations. The general safety zone regulations found in 33 
CFR 165.23 apply to the safety zone created by this temporary section, 
Sec.  165.T05.0969.
    (1) All persons are required to comply with the general regulations 
governing safety zones found in 33 CFR 165.23.
    (2) Entry into or remaining in this zone is prohibited unless 
authorized by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port Baltimore. Vessels 
already at berth, mooring, or anchor at the time the safety zone is 
implemented do not have to depart the safety zone. All vessels underway 
within this safety zone at the time it is implemented are to depart the 
zone.
    (3) Persons desiring to transit the area of the safety zone must 
first obtain authorization from the Captain of the Port Baltimore or 
his designated representative. To seek permission to transit the area, 
the Captain of the Port Baltimore and his designated representatives 
can be contacted at telephone number 410-576-2693 or on Marine Band 
Radio VHF-FM channel 16 (156.8 MHz). The Coast Guard vessels enforcing 
this section can be contacted on Marine Band Radio VHF-FM channel 16 
(156.8 MHz). Upon being hailed by a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, or other 
Federal, State, or local agency vessel, by siren, radio, flashing 
light, or other means, the operator of a vessel shall proceed as 
directed. If permission is granted, all persons and vessels must comply 
with the instructions of the Captain of the Port Baltimore or his 
designated representative and proceed at the minimum speed necessary to 
maintain a safe course while within the zone.
    (4) Enforcement. The U.S. Coast Guard may be assisted in the patrol 
and enforcement of the zone by Federal, State, and local agencies.
    (c) Definitions. As used in this section:
    Captain of the Port Baltimore means the Commander, U.S. Coast Guard 
Sector Baltimore, Maryland.
    Designated representative means any Coast Guard commissioned, 
warrant, or petty officer who has been authorized by the Captain of the 
Port Baltimore to assist in enforcing the safety zone described in 
paragraph (a) of this section.
    (d) Effective period. This section will be enforced from 10:30 p.m. 
on December 31, 2012 through 1 a.m. on January 1, 2013 and, if 
necessary due to inclement weather, from 6:30 p.m. through 9 p.m. on 
January 1, 2013.


[[Page 68721]]


    Dated: November 2, 2012.
Kevin C. Kiefer,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the Port Baltimore.
[FR Doc. 2012-27814 Filed 11-15-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P