[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41637-41639]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14723]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

33 CFR Part 334

[COE-2022-0005]


Six Mile Munitions Storage Area on Joint Base Elmendorf-
Richardson, Alaska; Knik Arm; 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 
revise its regulations to establish a restricted area within the 
explosive arc of Six Mile Munitions Storage Area (MSA) on Joint Base 
Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER). The United States Air Force--Pacific Air 
Command (USAF PACAF) requested establishment of a restricted area which 
would be located within the navigable waters of Knik Arm which are a 
part of the Six Mile MSA explosive arc. The proposed restricted area 
would extend from the shoreline to the outward limits of the arc. 
Establishment of the restricted area would prohibit all watercraft 
navigations and individuals from entering the explosive arc area of the 
Six Mile MSA at all times except for authorized vessels and individuals 
in

[[Page 41638]]

support of military training and management activities. This restricted 
area is necessary to avoid inadvertent entry into the explosive arc 
during an inadvertent detonation, and exposure to hazardous noise and 
fragments from such a detonation.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 12, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number COE-
2022-0005, 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-2022-0005, 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-2022-0005. 
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, 
Operations and Regulatory Community of Practice, Washington, DC at 202-
761-4922.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    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 is 
proposing to amend its regulations at 33 CFR part 334 to establish a 
restricted area within the navigable waters of Knik Arm. The proposed 
amendment to this regulation would allow the USAF PACAF 673rd Air Base 
Wing to prevent all vessels, watercraft, and individuals from entering 
the explosive arc area of the Six Mile MSA at JBER at all times, except 
for authorized vessels and individuals engaged in support of military 
training and management activities. The proposed restricted area would 
be in place as a precautionary measure to protect the public from 
inadvertently entering or being within the explosive arc during an 
inadvertent detonation, and encountering hazardous noise and fragments 
from such a detonation. The proposed restricted area would allow USAF 
PACAF to maintain control and reduce access to this area of Knik Arm, 
and to maintain the Six Mile MSA's Net Explosive Weight (NEW) storage 
capabilities. Without designation of a restricted area, the NEW storage 
capabilities would be required to be reduced, which would have 
significant impact to USAF PACAF's current operations (i.e., mass re-
warehousing would be required) and could affect wartime capabilities.

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. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. This proposed 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 restricted area is necessary to protect public 
safety. This restricted regulation would prevent all vessels, 
watercraft and individuals from entering, or remaining in, an active 
military range munitions impact area at all times, unless they are 
authorized by the enforcing agency. Small entities can utilize 
navigable waters outside of 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 on 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 contain a 
Federal mandate that may result in expenditures of $100 million or more 
for state, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or the 
private sector in any one year. Therefore, this proposed rule is not 
subject to the requirements of Sections 202 and 205 of the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The proposed rule contains no regulatory 
requirements that might significantly or uniquely affect small 
governments. Therefore, the proposed rule is not subject to the 
requirements of Section 203 of the UMRA.

[[Page 41639]]

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 334

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

    For the reasons set forth above, 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 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.  334.1303 to read as follows:


Sec.  334.1303  Navigable waters of Knik Arm within the explosive arc 
of the Six Mile Munitions Storage Area off the northeastern side of 
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson; restricted area.

    (a) The area. The restricted area will consist of the waters with 
an area defined as beginning at a point on shore at latitude 
61[deg]17'35'' N, longitude 149[deg]50'3'' W; thence northward in an 
arc to the mid-arc point at latitude 61[deg]18'19'' N, longitude 
149[deg]50'6'' W; continuing northward in an arc to the end point on 
shore at latitude 61[deg]18'36'' N, longitude 149[deg]49'1'' W. The 
datum for these coordinates is NAD-83.
    (b) The regulation. The restricted area is permanently closed for 
public use at all times. No persons, watercraft, or vessels shall 
enter, or remain, in the area except for those authorized by the 
enforcing agency.
    (c) Enforcement. This regulation will be enforced by the United 
States Air Force Pacific Air Command 673rd Air Base Wing.

Thomas P. Smith,
Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division, Directorate of Civil Works.
[FR Doc. 2022-14723 Filed 7-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P