[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 57 (Friday, March 22, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 20318-20319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05890]


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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: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is amending its 
regulations to modify an existing permanent restricted area within 
waters along the shoreline of the Military Ocean Terminal Concord 
(MOTCO), on the south shore of Suisun Bay, north of the City of 
Concord, Contra Costa County, California. The amendment was requested 
by U.S. Army Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command 
(SDDC) to expand the boundaries of the MOTCO restricted area in order 
to provide an adequate security buffer for MOTCO shoreline 
infrastructure and operational needs.

DATES: Effective date: April 22, 2024.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CECW-CO (David Olson), 
441 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20314-1000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Mr. David Olson, Headquarters, 
Operations and Regulatory Community of Practice, Washington, DC at 202-
761-4922.

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 
amending paragraph (a) of 33 CFR 334.1110 to expand the boundaries of 
the existing MOTCO restricted area. The existing boundary at the 
western terminus is 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 installation. Along the central and eastern parts of the 
restricted area, the existing boundary is shifted bayward to the edge 
of an existing navigation channel (Roe Island Channel, Port Chicago 
Reach, and Middle Ground West Reach). The revised eastern boundary 
follows the southern edge of the navigation channel, and will not 
encroach into or impact vessel traffic in the navigation channel. The 
eastern shoreline terminus remains at its original location.
    The proposed rule to expand the existing MOTCO restricted area was 
published in the January 11, 2023, edition of the Federal Register (88 
FR 1532) and the regulations.gov docket number was COE-2022-0012. No 
comments were received in response to the proposed rule. The January 
11, 2023, proposed rule included coordinates of reference points A 
through G along the revised boundary. Minor adjustments to the 
coordinates of boundary points D and E have been made in this final 
rule to locate the points just outside the boundaries of the adjacent 
navigation channel, and ensure that the restricted area does not 
encroach on the navigation channel. Additional formatting changes were 
made to the coordinates of other points to ensure data consistency. All 
coordinates are now shown in decimal degrees to four decimal places, 
which did not alter the locations of the points that were not changed 
by this final rule.

Procedural Requirements

    a. Regulatory Planning and Review. This final 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 final 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 
expects that the changes to the boundaries of this restricted area will 
have no appreciable economic impact on the public, will result in no 
anticipated navigational hazards, and will not interfere with existing 
waterway traffic. Small entities can still utilize navigable waters 
outside of the restricted area. The Corps therefore certifies that this 
final rule would have no significant economic impact on small entities.
    c. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Corps 
has determined that this rule will not have a significant impact on the 
quality of the human environment and, therefore, preparation of an 
environmental impact statement is not required. An environmental 
assessment was prepared for the final rule and may be reviewed by 
contacting the Corps' San Francisco District office at [email protected].
    d. Unfunded Mandates Act. The final 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

[[Page 20319]]

Register. This final rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 
U.S.C. 804(2).

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 334

    Classified information, Marine safety, Navigation (water), Security 
measures, Transportation, Waterways.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Corps amends 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. (1) 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. The coordinates for the points in paragraph (a)(1) of this 
section are provided in Table 1.

                       Table 1 to Paragraph (a)(1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Latitude   Longitude
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Point A (shoreline).............................    38.0513    -122.0576
Point B.........................................    38.0579    -122.0430
Point C.........................................    38.0630    -122.0307
Point D.........................................    38.0611    -122.0205
Point E.........................................    38.0593    -122.0010
Point F.........................................    38.0594    -121.9882
Point G (shoreline).............................    38.0521    -121.9882
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (2) The datum for these coordinates is NAD-83.
* * * * *

Thomas P. Smith,
Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division, Directorate of Civil Works.
[FR Doc. 2024-05890 Filed 3-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P