[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 53 (Wednesday, March 18, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15487-15489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05653]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2020-0093]


Port Access Route Study: Seacoast of North Carolina Including 
Offshore Approaches to the Cape Fear River and Beaufort Inlet, North 
Carolina

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of study; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is conducting a Port Access Route Study (PARS) 
to determine whether existing or additional vessel routing measures are 
necessary along the seacoast of North Carolina and in the approaches to 
the Cape Fear River and Beaufort Inlet (hereinafter, ``NCPARS''). The 
study is focused on routes between port approaches and international 
entry and departure transit areas affecting North Carolina ports. The 
NCPARS will consider whether existing or additional routing measures 
are necessary to improve navigation safety due to factors such as 
planned or potential offshore development, current port capabilities 
and planned improvements, increased vessel traffic, existing and 
potential anchorage areas, changing vessel traffic patterns, weather 
conditions, or navigational difficulty. The aim of vessel routing 
measures are to reduce the risk of casualties. Examples of potential 
measures include traffic separation schemes, two-way routes, 
recommended tracks, deep-water routes, precautionary areas, and areas 
to be avoided. The recommendations of the study may lead to future 
rulemakings or appropriate international agreements.

DATES: Comments and related material must be received on or before May 
18, 2020. Requests for a public meeting must be submitted on or before 
April 17, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2020-0093 using the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. See the ``Public Participation and Request for 
Comments'' portion of the SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION section for further 
instructions on submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about this 
notice or study, call or email Mr. Jerry Barnes, Fifth Coast Guard 
District (dpw), U.S. Coast Guard; telephone (757) 398-6230, email 
[email protected]; or Mr. Matt Creelman, Fifth Coast Guard 
District (dpw), U.S. Coast Guard; telephone (757) 398-6225, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Table of Abbreviations

ACPARS Atlantic Coast Port Access Route Study
AIS Automatic Identification System
COMDTINST Commandant Instruction
DHS Department of Homeland Security
EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone
MTS Marine Transportation System
NCPARS North Carolina Port Access Route Study
PARS Port Access Route Study
TSS Traffic Separation Scheme
USCG United States Coast Guard

II. 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://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided.
    A. Submitting Comments: If you submit comments to the online public 
docket, please include the docket number for this a notice (USCG-2020-
0093), indicate the specific section of this document to which each 
comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or 
recommendation. We accept anonymous comments.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
and insert ``USCG-2020-0093'' in the ``search box.'' Click ``Search'' 
and then click ``Comment Now.'' We will consider all comments and 
material received during the comment period.
    B. Public Meetings: The Coast Guard may hold public meeting(s) if 
there is sufficient public interest. You must submit a request for one 
on or before April 17, 2020. You may submit your request for a public 
meeting online via http://www.regulations.gov. Please explain why you 
believe a public meeting would be beneficial. If we determine that a 
public meeting would aid in the study, we will hold a meeting at a time 
and place announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.
    C. Viewing Comments and Documents: To view the comments and 
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
go to http://www.regulations.gov, click on the ``read comments'' box, 
which will then become highlighted in blue. In the ``Keyword'' box 
insert ``USCG-2020-0093'' and click ``Search.'' Click the ``Open Docket 
Folder'' in the ``Actions'' column.
    D. Privacy Act: We accept anonymous comments. All comments received 
will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov and will 
include any personal information you have provided. For more about 
privacy and submissions in response to this document, see DHS's 
Correspondence System of Records notice (84 FR 48645, September 26, 
2018). Documents mentioned in this notice as being available in the 
docket, and all public comments, will be in our online docket at 
https://www.regulations.gov and can be viewed by following that 
website's instructions. Additionally, if you go to the online docket 
and sign up for email alerts, you will be notified when comments are 
posted or a final rule is published.

III. Background and Purpose

    A. Requirements for Port Access Route Studies: Under Section 70003 
of Title 46 of the United States Code, the Commandant of the Coast 
Guard may designate necessary fairways and traffic separation schemes 
(TSSs) to provide safe access routes for vessels proceeding to and from 
U.S. ports. The designation of fairways and TSSs recognizes the 
paramount right of navigation over all other uses in the designated 
areas.

[[Page 15488]]

    Before establishing or adjusting fairways or TSSs, the Coast Guard 
must conduct a PARS, i.e., a study of potential traffic density and the 
need for safe access routes for vessels. Through the study process, the 
Coast Guard 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. The primary purpose of this coordination is, to the 
extent practicable, to reconcile the need for safe access routes with 
other reasonable waterway uses such as construction and operation of 
renewable energy facilities and other uses.
    In addition to aiding the Coast Guard in establishing new or 
adjusting fairways or TSSs, the NCPARS may recommend establishing or 
amending other vessel routing measures. Examples of other routing 
measures, among others, include two-way routes, recommended tracks, 
deep-water routes (for the benefit primarily of ships whose ability to 
maneuver is constrained by their draft), precautionary areas (where 
ships must navigate with particular caution), and areas to be avoided 
(for reasons of exceptional danger or especially sensitive ecological 
and environmental factors).
    B. Previous Port Access Route Studies: The Coast Guard last studied 
the approaches to the Cape Fear River and Beaufort Inlet in 2002, and 
published the final results in 2004 (69 FR 18476, April 8, 2004). The 
study was conducted in response to an increase in vessel size, traffic 
density and channel depth and width since the initial 1981 PARS. Study 
available at https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/PARS/CAPE_FEAR_RIVER_PARS.pdf.
    In 2016, the Coast Guard published a notice of its Atlantic Coast 
Port Access Route Study (ACPARS) (81 FR 13307, March 14, 2016) that 
analyzed the Atlantic Coast waters seaward of existing port approaches 
within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and announced the report 
as final in 2017 (82 FR 16510, April 5, 2017). This multiyear study 
began in 2011, included public participation, and identified the 
navigation routes customarily followed by ships engaged in commerce 
between international and domestic U.S. ports. Study available at 
https://navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=PARSReports. The ACPARS analyzed 
waters located seaward of existing port approaches within the EEZ along 
the entire Atlantic Coast. Automatic Identification System (AIS) data 
and information from stakeholders were used to identify and verify deep 
draft and coastwise navigation routes that are typically followed by 
ships engaged in commerce between international and domestic U.S. 
ports. Additional analysis of sea space for vessels to maneuver in 
compliance with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions 
at Sea led to development of marine planning guidelines and 
recommendations for shipping safety fairways.
    C. Need for a New Port Access Route Study: In 2019, the Coast Guard 
announced a new study of routes used by ships to access ports on the 
Atlantic Coast of the United States (84 FR 9541, March 15, 2019). This 
new study of routes supplements and builds on the ACPARS. As part of 
the study, the Coast Guard will conduct several PARS, including the 
NCPARS, to examine ports along the Atlantic coast that are economically 
significant, support military operations or critical national defense 
and related international entry and departure transit areas that are 
integral to the safe and efficient and unimpeded flow of commerce to/
from major international shipping lanes.
    Vessel size, traffic density, and cargo volume have increased 
significantly since the 2002 study. Major channel depth, width and 
alignment changes are anticipated to occur in the Cape Fear River and 
Port of Wilmington, NC. Potential federal navigation project 
improvements under consideration by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
include deepening the existing federal navigation channel to the Port 
of Wilmington, extending the ocean entrance channel farther offshore, 
and widening channels in the Cape Fear River where needed.\1\
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    \1\ 84 FR 48132, Sept. 12, 2019 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
``Notice of Intent to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) for the Wilmington Harbor Navigation Improvement Project 
Integrated Feasibility Study and Environmental Report, New Hanover 
and Brunswick Counties, NC'').
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    The purpose of this notice is to announce commencement of the 
NCPARS to examine the seacoast of North Carolina and the offshore 
approaches to the Cape Fear River and Beaufort Inlet, in conjunction 
with the implementation of recommendations of the ACPARS, and to 
solicit public comments. Similar to the ACPARS, the NCPARS will use 
automatic identification system (AIS) data and information from 
stakeholders to identify and verify customary navigation routes as well 
as potential conflicts involving alternative activities, such as wind 
energy generation and offshore mineral exploitation and exploration. We 
encourage you to participate in the study process by submitting 
comments in response to this notice. Comments should address impacts to 
navigation along the seacoast of North Carolina and the approaches to 
the Cape Fear River and Beaufort Inlet resulting from factors such as: 
Planned or potential offshore development including turbine placements 
and transmission corridors, current port capabilities and planned 
improvements, increased vessel traffic, changing vessel traffic 
patterns, weather conditions, potential conflicts or disruptions in 
uncharted or informal anchorage areas, or navigational difficulty.

IV. Cape Fear and Beaufort Inlet, NC PARS: Timeline, Study Area, and 
Process

    The Fifth Coast Guard District and Coast Guard Sector North 
Carolina will conduct this PARS. The study will commence upon 
publication of this notice and may take 12 months or more to complete.
    The study area is described as an area bounded by a line connecting 
the following geographic positions:

 75[deg]30' W, 35[deg]19' N;
 71[deg]16' W, 35[deg]19' N;
 74[deg] W, 32[deg] N;
 78[deg]40' W, 32[deg]52' N;
 79[deg]11' W, 33[deg]12' N;

thence along the coast line back to the origin.
    This area extends approximately 200 nautical miles seaward of Cape 
Fear including the offshore area of North Carolina and South Carolina 
used by commercial and public vessels transiting to and from these 
ports. An illustration showing the study area is available in the 
docket where indicated under ADDRESSES. Additionally, the study area is 
available for viewing on the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal at http://portal.midatlanticocean.org/visualize/. See the ``Maritime'' portion of 
the Data Layers section.
    The NCPARS will analyze navigation routes to/from the seacoast of 
North Carolina and the approaches to the Cape Fear River and Beaufort 
Inlet, to the proposed fairways outlined in the ACPARS including 
international routes to/from the United States. Current capabilities 
and planned improvements to handle maritime conveyances will be 
considered. Analyses will be conducted in accordance with COMDTINST 
16003.2B, Marine Planning to Operate and Maintain the Marine 
Transportation System (MTS) and Implement National Policy. Instruction 
available at https://media.defense.gov/2019/Jul/10/2002155400/-1/-1/0/CI_16003_2B.PDF.

[[Page 15489]]

    We will publish the results of the NCPARS in the Federal Register. 
It is possible that the study may validate the status quo (no 
additional fairways or routing measures) and conclude that no changes 
are necessary. It is also possible that the study may recommend one or 
more changes to address navigational safety and the efficiency of 
vessel traffic management. The recommendations may lead to future 
rulemakings or appropriate international agreements.
    This notice is published under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a).

Keith M. Smith,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 2020-05653 Filed 3-17-20; 8:45 am]
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