[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3145-3147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-1200]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
[USCG-1999-4974]
Port Access Routes Study; Strait of Juan de Fuca and Adjacent
Waters
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is conducting a study of port-access routes to
evaluate the continued applicability of and the need for modifications
to current vessel routing measures in and around the Strait of Juan de
Fuca and adjacent waters, including Admiralty Inlet, Rosario Strait,
Haro Strait, Boundary Pass, and the Strait of Georgia. The goal of the
study is to help reduce the risk of marine casualties and increase
vessel traffic management efficiency in the study area. The
recommendations of the study may lead to future rulemaking action or
appropriate international agreements. The Coast Guard asks for comments
on the issues raised and questions listed in this document.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 20, 1999.
ADDRESSES: You may mail your comments to the Docket Management
Facility, (USCG-1999-4974), U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-
401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington DC 20590-0001, or deliver them
to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building at the same
address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket.
Comments, and documents as indicated in this preamble, will become part
of this docket and will be available for inspection or copying at room
PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building at the same address
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. You may also access this docket on the Internet at http://
dms.dot.gov.
A copy of the 1995 Waterways Analysis and Management System (WAMS)
report for the Strait of Juan de Fuca (1995) is available in the public
docket at the above addresses. You may also obtain a copy of the WAMS
report by calling Mr. John Mikesell at 206-220-7272.
A copy of the ``Puget Sound Additional Hazards Study,'' formally
titled ``Scoping Risk Assessment: Protection Against Oil Spills in the
Marine Waters of Northwest Washington State,'' is available in the
public docket at the above addresses. You may also obtain a copy of the
study from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), 5285 Port
Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161, telephone 800-553-6847, fax 703-321-
8547. Order the study as document PB97-205488 and the technical
appendices to the study as document PB97-205470.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this notice, contact
Mr. John Mikesell, Chief, Plans and Programs Section, Aids to
Navigation and Waterways Management Branch, Thirteenth Coast Guard
District, telephone 206-220-7272, or Ms. Barbara Marx, Office of Vessel
Traffic Management, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, telephone 202-267-
0574. For questions on viewing, or submitting material to, the docket,
contact Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation,
telephone 202-366-9329.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Comments
The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to respond to this
notice by submitting written data, views, or arguments. Persons
submitting comments should include their names and addresses, identify
this notice (USCG-1999-4974) and the specific section of this document
to which each comment applies, and give the reason for each comment.
Please submit all comments and attachments in an unbound format, no
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic
filing to the Docket Management Facility at the address under
ADDRESSES. Persons wanting acknowledgment of receipt of comments should
enclose stamped, self-addressed postcards or envelopes.
The Coast Guard will consider all comments received during the
comment period.
The Coast Guard will hold at least one public meeting. We will
announce the time, place, and agenda for the public meeting in a later
notice in the Federal Register.
Definition of Terms Used in this Notice
The following International Maritime Organization (IMO) definitions
should help you review this notice and provide comments.
1. Internationally recognized vessel routing system means any
system of one or more routes or routing measures aimed at reducing the
risk of casualties; it includes traffic separation schemes, two-way
routes, recommended tracks, areas to be avoided, inshore traffic zones,
roundabouts, precautionary areas, and deep-water routes.
2. Traffic Separation Scheme or TSS means a routing measure aimed
at the separation of opposing streams of traffic by appropriate means
and by the establishment of traffic lanes.
3. Two-way route means a route within defined limits inside which
two-way traffic is established, aimed at providing safe passage of
ships through waters where navigation is difficult or dangerous.
4. Recommended track means a route which has been specially
examined to ensure so far as possible that it is free of dangers and
along which ships are advised to navigate.
5. Area to be avoided means a routing measure comprising an area
within defined limits in which either navigation is particularly
hazardous or it is exceptionally important to avoid casualties and
which should be avoided by all ships, or certain classes of ships.
6. Inshore traffic zone means a routing measure comprising a
designated area between the landward boundary of a traffic separation
scheme and the adjacent coast, to be used in accordance with the
provisions of Rule 10(d), as amended, of the International Regulations
for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (Collision Regulations).
7. Roundabout means a routing measure comprising a separation point
or circular separation zone and a circular traffic lane within defined
limits. Traffic within the roundabout is separated by moving in a
counterclockwise direction around the separation point or zone.
8. Precautionary area means a routing measure comprising an area
within defined limits where ships must navigate with particular caution
and within which the direction of traffic flow may be recommended.
9. Deep-water route means a route within defined limits which has
been accurately surveyed for clearance of sea bottom and submerged
obstacles as indicated on the chart.
[[Page 3146]]
Background and Purpose
Port Access Route Study Requirements. Under the Ports and Waterways
Safety Act (PWSA) (33 U.S.C. 1223(c)), the Secretary of Transportation
may designate necessary fairways and Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS's)
to provide safe access routes for vessels proceeding to and from U.S.
ports. The Secretary's authority to make these designations was
delegated to the Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, in 49 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) 1.46. The designation of fairways and TSS's
recognizes the paramount right of navigation over all other uses in the
designated areas.
The PWSA requires the Coast Guard to conduct a study of port-access
routes before establishing or adjusting fairways or TSS's. Through the
study process, we must coordinate with Federal, State, and foreign
state agencies (as appropriate) and consider the views of maritime
community representatives, environmental groups, and other interested
stakeholders. A primary purpose of this coordination is, to the extent
practicable, to reconcile the need for safe access routes with other
reasonable waterway uses.
Initial port access route study. An initial port access route study
for the coasts of Oregon and Washington, including the entrance to the
Strait of Juan de Fuca, was announced on April 16, 1979, in the Federal
Register (44 FR 22543) and modified on January 31, 1980 (45 FR 7026).
Results of this study were published in the Federal Register (46 FR
59686) on December 7, 1981. For the entrance to the Strait of Juan de
Fuca, the study recommended to continue addressing port access routes
under a cooperative agreement between the United States and Canada.
The United States and Canada established an ``Agreement for a
Cooperative Vessel Traffic Management System for the Juan de Fuca
Region'' in 1979. This agreement included a protocol to develop a TSS
at the entrance to and within the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This TSS was
adopted by the Marine Safety Committee of the International
Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (now called
``International Maritime Organization'') and became effective on
January 1, 1982. Other than minor alignment changes, no modifications
have been made to the TSS in the study area since that date.
Why is a new port access route study necessary? The latest
Waterways Analysis and Management System (WAMS) report for the Strait
of Juan de Fuca, dated June 1995, identified potential measures to
improve navigational safety and traffic management efficiency. In 1997,
the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, on behalf of the
Coast Guard, conducted a broad assessment of the probabilities and
consequences of marine accidents in Puget Sound-area waters, including
Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, passages around and through
the San Juan Islands, and the offshore waters of the Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary. This assessment, formally titled ``Scoping
Risk Assessment: Protection Against Oil Spills in the Marine Waters of
Northwest Washington State'' but commonly called the ``Puget Sound
Additional Hazards Study,'' recommends several vessel routing measures
for further study, including changes to the offshore approaches to the
Strait of Juan de Fuca. You will find a listing of some specific
recommendations from these reports later in this document.
Timeline, area, and process of the new port access route study.
Based on the recommendations of the 1995 WAMS report and the Puget
Sound Additional Hazards Study, the Thirteenth Coast Guard District, in
close cooperation with Canadian counterparts, will conduct a port
access route study to determine the need to modify the existing vessel
routing measures and the effects of potential modifications in the
study area. The study will begin immediately and be completed by August
30, 1999.
The study area will encompass waters in and around the Strait of
Juan de Fuca, approximately between longitudes 126 deg.W and
122 deg.40'W, including Admiralty Inlet, Rosario Strait, Haro Strait,
Boundary Pass, and the Strait of Georgia. The study area includes both
U.S. and Canadian TSS's and an area to be avoided.
As part of the study, we will consider previous studies (i.e., the
1995 WAMS report, the Puget Sound Additional Hazards Study, etc.),
analyses of vessel traffic density, and agency and stakeholder
experience in vessel traffic management, navigation, ship-handling, and
affects of weather. We encourage you to participate in the study
process by submitting comments in response to this notice and by
attending public meetings.
We will publish the results of the port access route study in the
Federal Register. It is possible that the study may validate continued
applicability of existing vessel routing measures and conclude that no
changes are necessary. It is also possible that the study may recommend
one or more changes to enhance navigational safety and vessel traffic
management efficiency. Study recommendations may lead to future
rulemaking or appropriate international agreements.
Potential study topics. Based on the recommendations of the 1995
WAMS report and the Puget Sound Additional Hazards Study, as well as
related public comments, we plan to address the following potential
measures in the port access route study. We welcome your feedback on
these measures, as well as any additional measures you believe the
study should address under the broad category of vessel routing.
Require mandatory compliance with the International
Maritime Organization (IMO)-approved area to be avoided associated with
the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Establish in-shore traffic zones in the Strait of Juan de
Fuca.
Require mandatory compliance with the TSS in U.S. waters.
Remove the dogleg in the TSS west of Port Angeles.
Change the location of the pilot embarkation and
debarkation station near Port Angeles.
Modify the TSS convergence zone at the western entrance to
the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Modify the precautionary area located west of Port
Angeles.
Straighten the TSS approach to Rosario Strait.
Grant formal recognition to an offshore VTS zone as part
of the Cooperative Vessel Traffic Management System (CVTMS).
Questions
To help us conduct the port access route study, we request comments
on the following questions, although comments on other issues addressed
in this document are also welcome. In responding to a question, please
explain your reasons for each answer, and follow the instructions under
``Request for Comments'' above.
1. What navigational hazards do vessels operating in the study area
face? Please describe.
2. Are there strains on the current vessel routing system
(increasing traffic density, for example)? If so, please describe.
3. Are modifications to existing vessel routing measures needed to
address hazards and strains and improve traffic management efficiency
in the study area? Why or why not? If so, what measures should the
study of port-access routes address for potential implementation?
4. What costs and benefits are associated with the potential
measures
[[Page 3147]]
for study discussed in this document? What measures do you think are
most cost-effective?
5. What impacts, both positive and negative, would changes to
existing routing measures or new routing measures have on the study
area?
Dated: January 13, 1999.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Acting Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environmental
Protection.
[FR Doc. 99-1200 Filed 1-19-99; 8:45 am]
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