Elizabeth River, Naval Station Norfolk Deperming Station, Norfolk, VA; Restricted Area
| Published date | 08 October 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 56236 |
| Record Number | 2021-21980 |
| Section | Proposed rules |
| Court | Army, Corps Of Engineers Department,Defense Department |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 193 (Friday, October 8, 2021)
[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]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
