[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6817-6819]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02441]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 147

[Docket Number USCG-2013-0070]
RIN 1625-AA00


Safety Zone; Olympus Tension Leg Platform

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is establishing a safety zone around the 
Olympus Tension Leg Platform, Mississippi Canyon Block 807 on the OCS. 
The purpose of the safety zone is to promote the safety of life and 
property on the facilities, their appurtenances and attending vessels, 
and on the adjacent waters within the safety zone. Placing a safety 
zone around the facility will significantly reduce the threat of 
allisions, oil spills, and releases of natural gas, and thereby protect 
the safety of life, property, and the environment.

DATES: This rule is effective March 7, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Documents mentioned in this preamble are part of docket 
[USCG-2013-0070]. To view documents mentioned in this preamble as being 
available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov, type the 
docket number 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this rule, 
call or email Mr. Rusty Wright, U.S. Coast Guard, District Eight 
Waterways Management Branch; telephone 504-671-2138, 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, call Cheryl Collins, Program Manager, Docket 
Operations, telephone (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Acronyms

DHS Department of Homeland Security
USCG United States Coast Guard
FR Federal Register
NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
OCS Outer Continental Shelf

A. Regulatory History and Information

    On July 18, 2013, the Coast Guard published an NPRM entitled, 
``Safety Zone; Olympus Tension Leg Platform on the Outer Continental 
Shelf Platform in the Gulf of Mexico'' in the Federal Register [78 FR 
42902] and requested comments on the proposed rule. The Coast Guard 
received no comments, no public meetings were requested and none were 
held.

B. Basis and Purpose

    Coast Guard regulations permit the establishment of safety zones 
for facilities located on the OCS for the purpose of protecting life, 
property and the marine environment (33 CFR 147.1). Placing a safety 
zone around the facility will significantly reduce the threat of 
allisions, oil spills, and releases of natural gas, and thereby protect 
the safety of life, property, and the environment. The authority for 
this rule is 14 U.S.C. 85, 43 U.S.C. 1333, and Department of Homeland 
Security Delegation No. 0170.1.
    Shell Exploration and Production Company requested that the Coast 
Guard establish a safety zone around the Olympus Tension Leg Platform 
facility. The request for the safety zone was made due to safety 
concerns for vessels operating in the area and the environment. Shell 
Exploration and Production Company indicated that it is highly likely 
that any allision with the facility would result in a catastrophic 
event. In evaluating this request, the Coast Guard explored relevant 
safety factors and considered several criteria, including but not 
limited to, (1) the level of shipping activity around the facility, (2) 
safety concerns for personnel aboard vessels operating in the area and 
onboard the facility, (3) concerns for the environment, (4) the 
possibility that an allision would result in a catastrophic event based 
on proximity to shipping fairways, offloading operations, production 
levels, and size of the crew, (5) the volume of traffic in the vicinity 
of the safety zone area, (6) the types of vessels navigating in the 
vicinity of the safety zone area, and (7) the structural configuration 
of the facility.
    The safety zone established by this rulemaking is in the deepwater 
area of the Gulf of Mexico, located at 28[deg]

[[Page 6818]]

9'35.59' N, 89[deg]14'20.86'' W in Mississippi Canyon Block 807. For 
the purposes of this regulation, the deepwater area is considered to be 
waters of 304.8 meters (1,000 feet) or greater depth extending to the 
limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is contiguous to the 
territorial sea of the United States, and extends up to 200 nautical 
miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea 
is measured. Navigation in the area of the safety zone consists of 
large commercial shipping vessels, fishing vessels, cruise ships, tugs 
with tows and the occasional recreational vessel. The deepwater area 
also includes an extensive system of fairways.

C. Discussion of Comments and Changes

    The Coast Guard received no comments in response to the NPRM and 
there are no changes to the safety zone regulation as proposed by the 
NPRM. One technical amendment is being made in this final rule to 
correct the section number. The section number is changed from Sec.  
147.848 to Sec.  147.849 to be consistent with the numbering of OCS 
safety zones in the Coast Guard's Eighth District.

D. Regulatory Analyses

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

1. Regulatory Planning and Review

    This 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. This rule is not a 
significant regulatory action due to the location of the Olympus 
Tension Leg Platform on the OCS and its distance from both land and 
safety fairways. Vessels traversing waters near the safety zone will be 
able to safely travel around the zone without incurring additional 
costs.

2. Impact on Small Entities

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601-612, as 
amended, requires federal agencies to consider the potential impact of 
regulations on small entities during rulemaking. The term ``small 
entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations 
that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their 
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than 
50,000. The Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this rule 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. This rule will affect the following entities, some of 
which may be small entities: The owners or operators of vessels 
intending to transit or anchor in Mississippi Canyon Block 807. This 
safety zone will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities for the following reasons: (1) 
This rule will enforce a safety zone around a production platform that 
is in an area of the Gulf of Mexico not typically frequented by vessel 
traffic; (2) this rule will enforce a safety zone that is not in close 
proximity to a safety fairway; and (3) vessel traffic can pass safely 
around the safety zone without incurring additional costs.

3. Collection of Information

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

4. 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 rule under that Order and determined 
that this rule does not have implications for federalism.

5. 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 rule will not result in 
such an expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this rule elsewhere 
in this preamble.

6. Taking of Private Property

    This rule will 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.

7. Civil Justice Reform

    This 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.

8. Protection of Children

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

9. Indian Tribal Governments

    This rule does not have tribal implications under Executive Order 
13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, 
because it does 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.

10. Energy Effects

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

11. Technical Standards

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

12. Environment

    We have analyzed this 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 determined 
that this action is one of a category of actions that do not 
individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human 
environment. Safety zones are established around OCS facilities being 
constructed, maintained, or operated on the OCS to promote the safety 
of life and property on the facilities, their appurtenances and 
attending vessels, and on the adjacent waters within the safety zones. 
A safety zone may extend to a maximum distance of 500 meters around the 
OCS facility measured from

[[Page 6819]]

each point on its outer edge or from its construction site, but may not 
interfere with the use of recognized sea lanes essential to navigation. 
This rule is categorically excluded from further review under paragraph 
34(g) of Figure 2-1 of the Commandant Instruction. An environmental 
analysis checklist supporting this determination and a Categorical 
Exclusion Determination are available in the docket where indicated 
under ADDRESSES.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 147

    Continental shelf, Marine safety, Navigation (water).

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard amends 
33 CFR part 147 as follows:

PART 147--SAFETY ZONES

0
1. The authority citation for part 147 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  14 U.S.C. 85; 43 U.S.C. 1333; Department of Homeland 
Security Delegation No. 0170.1.


0
2. Add Sec.  147.849 to read as follows:


Sec.  147.849  Safety Zone; Olympus Tension Leg Platform.

    (a) Description. The Olympus Tension Leg Platform is in the 
deepwater area of the Gulf of Mexico in Mississippi Canyon Block 807B. 
The facility is located at 28[deg] 9'35.59'' N, 89[deg]14'20.86'' W. 
The area within 500 meters (1640.4 feet) from each point on the 
structure's outer edge and the area within 500 meters (1640.4 feet) of 
each of the supply boat mooring buoys is a safety zone.
    (b) Regulation. No vessel may enter or remain in this safety zone 
except the following:
    (1) An attending vessel;
    (2) A vessel under 100 feet in length overall not engaged in 
towing; or
    (3) A vessel authorized by the Commander, Eighth Coast Guard 
District or a designated representative.

    Dated: January 10, 2014.
Kevin S. Cook,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 2014-02441 Filed 2-4-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P