[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 193 (Friday, October 8, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56236-56238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21980]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

33 CFR Part 334

[COE-2021-0005]


Elizabeth River, Naval Station Norfolk Deperming Station, 
Norfolk, VA; Restricted Area

AGENCY: U.S. 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 (Corps) is proposing to 
establish a restricted area in the waters of the Elizabeth River 
surrounding the Naval Station Norfolk (NSN) Lambert's Point Deperming 
Station in Norfolk, Virginia. Naval Station Norfolk is the homeport of 
numerous ships and provides operational readiness support to the U.S. 
Atlantic Fleet with its facilities. The deperming station is located 
within the waters of the Elizabeth River and provides magnetic 
silencing services for military vessels. The proposed restricted area 
is in waters surrounding the existing facility immediately adjacent to 
the channel into Norfolk Harbor. The proposed restricted area is 
necessary to better protect underwater equipment, personnel, and 
vessels utilizing the facility by implementing a waterside security 
program.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 8, 
2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number COE-
2021-0005, by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Email: [email protected]. Include the docket number, 
COE-2021-0005, in the subject line of the message.
    Mail: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CECW-CO-R (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-2021-0005. 
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 
email. The regulations.gov website 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 email directly 
to the Corps without going through regulations.gov, your email 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 compact disk 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 comments received, go to 
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, U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, Operations and Regulatory Community of 
Practice, Washington, DC at 202-761-4922.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to its authorities in Section 7 of 
the Rivers and Harbors 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 of Engineers is proposing to amend its regulations 
at 33 CFR part 334 for the establishment of a new restricted area in 
the waters of the Elizabeth River at Naval Station Norfolk (NSN) in 
Norfolk, Virginia. In a memorandum dated February 14, 2020, the 
Department of the Navy requested that the Corps modify 33 CFR part 334 
to establish a permanent restricted area in the waters

[[Page 56237]]

of the Elizabeth River surrounding the NSN Lambert's Point Deperming 
Station in Norfolk, Virginia.
    NSN is the homeport of numerous ships and provides operational 
readiness support to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet with its facilities. The 
Department of the Navy's request is in response to the possible risks 
associated with the potential for unfettered access to the deperming 
station. The deperming station is located within the waters of the 
Elizabeth River and provides magnetic silencing services for military 
vessels. This deperming station is the only location capable of 
servicing an aircraft carrier and the only deperming facility on the 
east coast of the United States. The proposed restricted area is in 
waters surrounding the existing facility immediately adjacent to the 
channel into Norfolk Harbor. The proposed restricted area is necessary 
to better protect underwater equipment, personnel, and vessels 
utilizing the facility by implementing a waterside security program.

Procedural Requirements

    a. Regulatory Planning and Review. This proposed rule is not a 
``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 
51735, October 4, 1993) and it was not submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget for review.
    b. Regulatory Flexibility Act, as Amended by the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. This 
rule has been reviewed under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. L. 
96-354). The Regulatory Flexibility Act generally requires an agency to 
prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to 
notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative 
Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the 
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities (i.e., small businesses and small 
governments).
    The Corps certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this proposed rule 
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. The proposed restricted area is necessary for security 
of the deperming station. The restricted area is also necessary to 
protect underwater equipment, personnel, and vessels utilizing the 
facility by implementing a waterside security program. Small entities 
can utilize navigable waters outside of the restricted area. Small 
entities that need to transit the restricted area may do so as long as 
the vessel operator obtains permission from the Commanding Officer, 
U.S. Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia and/or other persons or agencies 
that he/she may designate. This determination is based on the proposed 
rule governing the restricted area, including the ability for vessel 
operators to obtain permission from the Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval 
Station, Norfolk, Virginia and/or other persons or agencies as he/she 
may designate, to transit the restricted area. Unless information is 
obtained to the contrary during the comment period, the Corps expects 
that the economic impact of the proposed restricted area would have 
practically no impact on the public, any anticipated navigational 
hazard, or interference with existing waterway traffic. After 
considering the economic impacts of this restricted area regulation on 
small entities, I certify that this proposed rule would not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of 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 will not be required. An environmental assessment will 
be prepared after the public notice period is closed and all comments 
have been received and considered.
    d. Unfunded Mandates Act. This proposed rule does not impose an 
enforceable duty among the private sector and, therefore, it is not a 
federal private sector mandate and it is not subject to the 
requirements of either Section 202 or Section 205 of the Unfunded 
Mandates Act. The Corps has also found under Section 203 of the Act 
that small governments will not be significantly and uniquely affected 
by this rulemaking.
    e. Congressional Review Act. The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 
801 et seq., generally provides that before a rule may take effect, the 
agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes 
a copy of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the 
Comptroller General of the United States. The Corps will submit a 
report containing the final rule and other required information to the 
U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller 
General of the United States. A major rule cannot take effect until 60 
days after it is published in the Federal Register. This proposed rule 
is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 334

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

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

PART 334--DANGER ZONE AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS

0
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).

0
2. Add Sec.  334.296 to read as follows:


Sec.  334.296  Elizabeth River, Deperming Station, Norfolk, VA, 
Restricted Area.

    (a) The area. The waters within an area beginning at a point 
latitude 36[deg]51'52'' N, longitude 76[deg]20'04'' W; thence easterly 
to a point at latitude 36[deg]51'52'' N, longitude 76[deg]19'49'' W, 
thence northerly to latitude 36[deg]52'06'' N, longitude 76[deg]19'48'' 
W; thence northwesterly to latitude 36[deg]52'12'' N, longitude 
76[deg]19'57'' W; thence northwesterly to a point at latitude 
36[deg]52'15'' N, longitude 76[deg]19'59'' W; thence westerly to 
latitude 36[deg]52'15'' N, longitude 76[deg]20'04'' W, thence to the 
point of origin. The datum for these coordinates is WGS-84.
    (b) The regulations. (1) No vessels other than vessels of the U.S. 
armed forces and other authorized vessels shall enter the restricted 
area. Other authorized vessels include vessels and personnel, including 
contactors and agents, acting on behalf of any federal or state agency 
or department performing specific work authorized as part of that 
agency or department's statutory missions or to enforce their 
respective laws. Authorized vessels may enter anywhere in the 
restricted area at any time in the furtherance of their authorized 
operations. This includes, but is not limited to, vessels that are 
engaged in the following operations: law enforcement; servicing aids to 
navigation; and/or surveying, maintenance, or improvement of the 
federal navigational channel.
    (2) There shall be no introduction of external magnetic field 
sources within the area.
    (3) No person or vessel shall at any time, under any circumstances, 
anchor or fish or tow a drag of any kind in the restricted area due to 
the risk of damage to mission essential underwater equipment, including 
an extensive cable system located therein.

[[Page 56238]]

    (4) Orders and instructions issued by U.S. Navy patrol craft or 
other authorized representatives of the enforcing agency shall be 
carried out promptly by persons or vessels in or in the vicinity of the 
restricted area.
    (c) Enforcement. The regulations in this section shall be enforced 
by the Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia and 
such agencies as he/she may designate.

Alvin B. Lee,
Director of Civil Works.
[FR Doc. 2021-21980 Filed 10-7-21; 8:45 am]
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