Regulated Navigation Area--New Haven Harbor, Quinnipiac River, Mill River, New Haven, CT; Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge (Interstate 95) Construction |
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D.B. Abel
August 8, 2012
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 153 (Wednesday, August 8, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47331-47334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19378]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 165
[Docket No. USCG-2012-0343]
RIN 1625-AA11
Regulated Navigation Area--New Haven Harbor, Quinnipiac River,
Mill River, New Haven, CT; Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge (Interstate 95)
Construction
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is proposing changes to the existing regulated
navigation area in the navigable waters of New Haven Harbor, Quinnipiac
River and Mill River. The current RNA pertains only to the operation of
tugs and barges. The changes would allow periodic, temporary closure of
the area which will be needed during construction of the new Pearl
Harbor Memorial Bridge, and which could be needed at other times as
well. This proposed revision would allow the Coast Guard to suspend all
vessel traffic through the RNA during periods of temporary closure.
This rule is necessary to provide for the safety of life in the
regulated area.
DATES: Comments and related material must be received by the Coast
Guard on or before September 7, 2012.
Requests for public meetings must be received by the Coast Guard on
or before August 20, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2012-0343 using any one of the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
(3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods.
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on
submitting comments.
[[Page 47332]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this proposed
rule, call or email Petty Officer Joseph Graun, Prevention Department,
U. S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, (203) 468-4544,
Joseph.L.Graun@uscg.mil; or Lieutenant Isaac M. Slavitt, Waterways
Management Division, U.S. Coast Guard First District, (617) 223-8385.
If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket,
call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone
202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Acronyms
COTP Captain of the Port
DHS Department of Homeland Security
FR Federal Register
NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
A. Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted
without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any
personal information you have provided.
1. Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
rulemaking (USCG-2012-0343), indicate the specific section of this
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material
online (via http://www.regulations.gov) or by fax, mail, or hand
delivery, but please use only one of these means. If you submit a
comment online via www.regulations.gov, it will be considered received
by the Coast Guard when you successfully transmit the comment. If you
fax, hand deliver, or mail your comment, it will be considered as
having been received by the Coast Guard when it is received at the
Docket Management Facility. We recommend that you include your name and
a mailing address, an email address, or a telephone number in the body
of your document so that we can contact you if we have questions
regarding your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
type the docket number (USCG-2012-0343) in the ``SEARCH'' box and click
``SEARCH.'' Click on ``Submit a Comment'' on the line associated with
this rulemaking.
If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them
in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for
copying and electronic filing. If you submit comments by mail and would
like to know that they reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped,
self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and
material received during the comment period and may change the rule
based on your comments.
2. Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
type the docket number ``USCG-2012-0343'' in the ``SEARCH'' box and
click ``Search.'' Click and Open Docket Folder on the line associated
with this rulemaking. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility
in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the Department of Transportation
West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590,
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. We have an agreement with the Department of Transportation to
use the Docket Management Facility.
3. Privacy Act
Anyone can search the electronic form of comments received into any
of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or
signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association,
business, labor union, etc.). You may review a Privacy Act notice
regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the
Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
4. Public Meeting
We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a
request for one on or before August 20, 2012 using one of the methods
specified under ADDRESSES. Please explain why you believe a public
meeting would be beneficial. If we determine that one would aid this
rulemaking, we will hold one at a time and place announced by a later
notice in the Federal Register.
B. Basis and Purpose
Under the Ports and Waterways Safety Act, the Coast Guard has the
authority to establish RNAs in defined water areas that are hazardous
or in which hazardous conditions are determined to exist. See 33 U.S.C.
1231 and Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1.
The purpose of this proposed rulemaking is to provide for safety on
the navigable waters in the regulated area, and to update some of the
terminology used in describing the boundaries of the RNA.
C. Discussion of Proposed Rule
The Coast Guard proposes to amend 33 CFR 165.150, the regulation
that establishes the New Haven Harbor, Quinnipiac River, and Mill River
RNA. The proposed amendment would give the Captain of the Port Sector
Long Island Sound (COTP) the authority to temporarily close the RNA to
vessel traffic in any circumstance, whether currently planned or
unforeseen, that the COTP determines creates an imminent hazard to
waterway users in the RNA. Waterway closures would be made with as much
advance notice as possible and, when a closure is planned, at least ten
days in advance. During closures, mariners may request permission from
the COTP to transit through the RNA.
The proposed rule was prompted by (but is not limited to) the
navigation safety situation created by reconstruction of the Pearl
Harbor Memorial Bridge (sometimes referred to as the I-95 Bridge,
Quinnipiac Bridge, or ``Q'' Bridge). This bridge carries Interstate 95
(Connecticut Turnpike) over the Quinnipiac River in New Haven. The
present bridge was built in the 1950s and designed with a 50 year life
span. The bridge has surpassed its useable life span and the
Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT) has contracted H. W.
Lochner INC. (Lochner) to construct a replacement bridge. Lochner has
begun bridge construction and is scheduled to complete the project in
2015.
The Coast Guard has discussed this project at length with CDOT and
Lochner to determine whether the project can be completed without
channel closures and, if possible, what impact that would have on the
project timeline. Through these discussions, it became clear that while
the majority of construction activities during the span of this project
would not require waterway closures, there are certain tasks that can
only be completed in the channel and will require closing the waterway.
Specifically, this includes the demolition of steel support beams.
These large and extremely heavy steel support beams are suspended 60
feet above the water; to demolish them, they must be cut into small
sections and lowered on to a barge below. This process will be
extremely complex and presents many safety hazards including overhead
crane operations, overhead cutting operations, potential falling
debris, and barges positioned in the
[[Page 47333]]
channel with a restricted ability to maneuver.
In an email to the U.S. Coast Guard dated January 20, 2012, Lochner
outlined three phases of operations that require in-channel work, two
of which will require waterway closures. Lochner will notify the Coast
Guard as far in advance as possible if additional closures are needed.
The first planned closure period will be two days during the fall
of 2012. The purpose of this closure is to remove the steel support
beams of the existing Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge northbound span. The
two days will be weekdays and the closure will be in effect for the
full 48 hours.
The second planned closure period will be two days during the fall
of 2013. The purpose of this closure is to remove the steel support
beams of the existing Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge southbound span. The
two days will be weekdays and the closure will be in effect for the
full 48 hours.
In addition to the revisions discussed above, the Coast Guard is
proposing several wording updates in the description of the RNA. The
updates would reflect the current names of local landmarks to make them
more easily identifiable for mariners, but do not change the location
or dimensions of the RNA.
D. Regulatory Analyses
We developed this proposed rule after considering numerous statutes
and executive orders related to rulemaking. Below we summarize our
analyses based on 13 of these statutes or executive orders.
1. Regulatory Planning and Review
This proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action under
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review,
as supplemented by Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and
Regulatory Review, and does not require an assessment of potential
costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of that Order. The Office of
Management and Budget has not reviewed it under that Order.
The Coast Guard determined that this rulemaking would not be a
significant regulatory action for the following reasons: vessel traffic
would only be restricted from the RNA for limited durations and the RNA
covers only a small portion of the navigable waterways. Furthermore,
entry into this RNA during a closure may be authorized by the COTP
Sector Long Island Sound or designated representative.
Advanced public notifications will also be made to local mariners
through appropriate means, which will include but are not limited to
the Local Notice to Mariners and Broadcast Notice to Mariners.
2. Impact on Small Entities
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), we have
considered whether this proposed rule would have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The term ``small
entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations
that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than
50,000.
The Coast Guard 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. This rule will affect the following entities,
some of which may be small entities: the owners or operators of vessels
intending to enter, transit, anchor or moor within the regulated areas
during a vessel restriction period.
The RNA will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities for the following reasons: the RNA
will be of limited size and any waterway closures will be of short
duration, and entry into this RNA during a closure is possible if the
vessel has Coast Guard authorization. Additionally, before the
effective period of a waterway closure, notifications will be made to
local mariners through appropriate means.
If you think that your business, organization, or governmental
jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity and that this rule would have
a significant economic impact on it, please submit a comment (see
ADDRESSES) explaining why you think it qualifies and how and to what
degree this rule would economically affect it.
3. Assistance for Small Entities
Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we want to assist small
entities in understanding this proposed rule so that they can better
evaluate its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking. If the
rule would affect your small business, organization, or governmental
jurisdiction and you have questions concerning its provisions or
options for compliance, please contact Petty Officer Joseph Graun,
Prevention Department, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, (203)
468-4544, Joseph.L.Graun@uscg.mil. The Coast Guard will not retaliate
against small entities that question or complain about this proposed
rule or any policy or action of the Coast Guard.
4. Collection of Information
This proposed rule would call for no new collection of information
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).
5. Federalism
A rule has implications for federalism under Executive Order 13132,
Federalism, if it has a substantial direct effect on State or local
governments and would either preempt State law or impose a substantial
direct cost of compliance on them. We have analyzed this proposed rule
under that Order and have determined that it does not have implications
for federalism.
6. Protest Activities
The Coast Guard respects the First Amendment rights of protesters.
Protesters are asked to contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section to coordinate protest activities so that
your message can be received without jeopardizing the safety or
security of people, places or vessels.
7. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538)
requires Federal agencies to assess the effects of their discretionary
regulatory actions. In particular, the Act addresses actions that may
result in the expenditure by a State, local, or tribal government, in
the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100,000,000 (adjusted for
inflation) or more in any one year. Though this proposed rule would not
result in such an expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this rule
elsewhere in this preamble.
8. Taking of Private Property
This proposed rule would not cause a taking of private property or
otherwise have taking implications under Executive Order 12630,
Governmental Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected
Property Rights.
9. Civil Justice Reform
This proposed rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and
3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize
litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.
[[Page 47334]]
10. Protection of Children
We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13045,
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks. This rule is not an economically significant rule and would not
create an environmental risk to health or risk to safety that might
disproportionately affect children.
11. Indian Tribal Governments
This proposed rule does not have tribal implications under
Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal
Governments, because it would not have a substantial direct effect on
one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.
12. Energy Effects
This proposed rule is not a ``significant energy action'' under
Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use because it is
not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 and
is not likely to have a significant adverse effect on the supply,
distribution, or use of energy. The Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs has not designated it as a
significant energy action. Therefore, it does not require a Statement
of Energy Effects under Executive Order 13211.
13. Technical Standards
This proposed rule does not use technical standards. Therefore, we
did not consider the use of voluntary consensus standards.
14. Environment
We have analyzed this proposed rule under Department of Homeland
Security Management Directive 023-01 and Commandant Instruction
M16475.lD, which guide the Coast Guard in complying with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f), and
have made a preliminary determination that this action is one of a
category of actions that do not individually or cumulatively have a
significant effect on the human environment. This proposed rule
involves restricting vessel movement within a regulated navigation
area. This rule is categorically excluded from further review under
paragraph 34(g) of Figure 2-1 of the Commandant Instruction. A
preliminary environmental analysis checklist supporting this
determination is available in the docket where indicated under
ADDRESSES. We seek any comments or information that may lead to the
discovery of a significant environmental impact from this proposed
rule.
List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 165
Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation (water), Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Waterways.
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes
to revise 33 CFR part 165 as follows:
PART 165--REGULATED NAVIGATION AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS
1. The authority citation for part 165 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1231; 46 U.S.C. Chapter 701, 3306, 3703; 50
U.S.C. 191, 195; 33 CFR 1.05-1, 6.04-1, 6.04-6, and 160.5; Pub. L.
107-295, 116 Stat. 2064; Department of Homeland Security Delegation
No. 0170.1.
2. In Sec. 165.150 revise paragraphs (a) and (b)(8), and add new
paragraph (b)(9) to read as follows:
Sec. 165.150 New Haven Harbor, Quinnipiac River, Mill River.
(a) Boundaries. The following is a regulated navigation area: The
waters surrounding the Tomlinson Bridge and Pearl Harbor Memorial
Bridge (I-95 Bridge) located within a line extending from a point A at
41[deg]17'50'' N, 072[deg]54'36'' W (the southeast corner of the
Magellan Pink Tanks Terminal dock) thence along a line 126[deg]T to
point B at 41[deg]17'42'' N, 072[deg]54'21'' W (the southwest corner of
the Gulf facility) thence north along the shoreline to point C at
41[deg]17'57'' N, 072[deg]54'06'' W (the northwest corner of the R & H
Terminal dock) thence along a line 303[deg]T to point D at
41[deg]18'05'' N, 072[deg]54'23'' W (the west bank of the mouth of the
Mill River) thence south along the shoreline to point of origin.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(8) The Captain of the Port Sector Long Island Sound (COTP) may
issue an authorization to deviate from any regulation in paragraph (b)
of this section if the COTP determines that an alternate operation can
be done safely.
(9) The COTP may temporarily close the RNA for any situation the
COTP determines would create an imminent hazard to waterway users in
the RNA. Entry into the RNA during temporary closure is prohibited
unless authorized by the COTP or the COTP's designated representative.
The COTP or designated representative may order the removal of any
vessel or equipment within the RNA. To assure wide advance notice of
each closure among affected mariners, the COTP will use means
including, but not limited to, Broadcast Notice to Mariners and Local
Notice to Mariners. The COTP will announce the dates and times of the
closure and whether exceptions will be authorized for emergency or
other specific vessel traffic.
Dated: July 19, 2012.
D. B. Abel,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, First Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 2012-19378 Filed 8-7-12; 8:45 am]
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