[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1532-1533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00380]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

33 CFR Part 334


Military Ocean Terminal Concord, California; 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 Military Surface Deployment and Distribution 
Command (SDDC) requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 
revise the restricted area boundaries for the Military Ocean Terminal 
Concord (MOTCO). The MOTCO restricted area is located along the south 
shore of Suisun Bay, north of the City of Concord, Contra Costa County, 
California. The request to revise the boundaries of the MOTCO 
restricted area is due to the need to provide a more sufficient 
security buffer distance in navigable waters next to critical MOTCO 
shoreline infrastructure.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 10, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number COE-
2022-0012, 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-
2022-0012 in the subject line of the message.
    Mail: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CECW-CO (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-2022-0012. 
All comments received will be included in the public docket without 
change and may be made available on-line at http://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 background documents or 
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.

[[Page 1533]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to this request by the SDDC, and 
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 334.1110(a) by revising 
the restricted area boundaries and making additional editorial changes 
to clarify the description of the new boundaries. The existing 
restricted area boundary at the western terminus would be shifted 
approximately 700 yards west along the shoreline so that it encompasses 
the mouth of Hastings Slough and eliminates a potential route of 
unauthorized encroachment into the MOTCO installment. Along the central 
and eastern parts of the restricted area, the existing restricted area 
boundary would be shifted bayward to the existing ship channel, in 
order to provide an adequate security buffer around MOTCO's piers. The 
revised eastern boundary of the restricted area would follow the 
southern edge of the ship channel, and would therefore not impact 
vessel traffic in the ship channel. The eastern shoreline terminus of 
the restricted area would remain at its current location.

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 Executive Order 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 
21, 2011) 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 proposed change to the restricted area boundaries is 
necessary to eliminate a potential route of unauthorized encroachment 
into the MOTCO installation. Small entities can utilize navigable 
waters outside of the restricted area. Unless information is obtained 
to the contrary during the public notice comment period, the Corps 
expects that the modification of the boundaries of this restricted area 
would have practically no economic impact on the public, no anticipated 
navigational hazard, or interference with existing waterway traffic. 
Unless information is obtained to the contrary during the comment 
period, the Corps certifies that the proposed rule would have no 
significant economic impact on the public.
    c. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Corps 
expects that the proposed rule 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. If no adverse 
comments are received, the environmental assessment will be prepared 
for the decision-making for the final rule. After the environmental 
assessment is prepared, it may be reviewed by contacting the Corps' San 
Francisco District office at 415-503-6795 or by email at [email protected].
    d. Unfunded Mandates Act. The proposed rule does not impose an 
enforceable duty among the private sector and, therefore, is not a 
federal private sector mandate and is not subject to the requirements 
of Section 202 or 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (Pub. L. 104-
4, 109 Stat. 48, 2 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.). The Corps has also found, 
under Section 203 of the Act, that small governments will not be 
significantly or 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, Navigation (water), Restricted areas, Waterways.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Corps is proposing 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. Amend Sec.  334.1110 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:


Sec.  334.1110  Military Ocean Terminal Concord; restricted area.

    (a) The area. Beginning at point A on the shore west of the mouth 
of a small slough (known as Hastings Slough) and passing east of buoy R 
``6'' bearing 60[deg]30' for 2,860 yards, through Point B on the 
eastern end of the two Seal Islands, to point C on the southern edge of 
the Roe Island Channel near buoy R ``16A''; thence in a generally 
easterly direction running along the southern edge of the Roe Island 
Channel, Port Chicago Reach and Middle Ground West Reach (points D and 
E) to point F directly north of the eastern shore boundary (point G); 
thence 180[deg] to point G on the shore line; thence following the high 
water shore line in a general westerly direction to the point of 
beginning.

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                                                   Latitude   Longitude
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Point A (shoreline)..............................   38.0513    -122.0576
Point B..........................................   38.0579     -122.043
Point C..........................................    38.063    -122.0307
Point D..........................................   38.0612    -122.0204
Point E..........................................   38.0594     -122.001
Point F..........................................   38.0594    -121.9882
Point G (shoreline)..............................   38.0521    -121.9882
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    The datum for these coordinates is North Atlantic Datum (NAD) 83.
* * * * *

Thomas P. Smith,
Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-00380 Filed 1-10-23; 8:45 am]
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