[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 104 (Monday, June 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29774-29776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14393]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
[USCG-1998-3880]
Vessel Traffic Management Measures in the Monterey Bay National
Marine Sanctuary; Public Workshop Notice
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public workshops; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will hold four Public Workshops
to obtain views and comments regarding the need for offshore vessel
management in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) for
the protection of the marine environment.
DATES: Public Workshops will be held on the following dates:
June 17, 1998, 7 p.m., Half Moon Bay, CA
June 18, 1998, 7 p.m., Oakland, CA
June 29, 1998, 7 p.m., Santa Cruz, CA
June 30, 1998, 7 p.m., Monterey, CA
Oral presentations are encouraged to promote an open forum with group
participation, however if interested parties are unable to attend the
workshop, written comments will be accepted and should reach the
Eleventh Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation and Waterways
Management Branch on or before July 14, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Public workshops will be held at the following locations:
Half Moon Bay, CA--Ted Adcock Community/Senior Center, 535 Kelly
Avenue, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Oakland, CA, Port of Oakland, 2nd Floor Board Room, 530 Water Street,
Oakland, CA 94607
Monterey, CA--Doubletree Hotel at the Intersection of Del Monte Avenue
and Alvarado Street, Monterey, CA 93940
Santa Cruz, CA--Cocoanut Grove Hotel, 400 Beach Street, Santa Cruz, CA
95060
You may mail your comments to the Docket Management Facility,
(USCG-1998-3880), 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 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.
You may also deliver comments or other written materials for
inclusion in the public docket to Commander (Pow), Eleventh Coast Guard
District, Building 50-6, Coast Guard Island, Alameda, CA 94501; Attn:
MBNMS Public Comment, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal Holidays. The telephone number is (510) 437-2982.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for
these workshops. Comments and other submitted documents 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 10 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
LTJG Kati Sylvester, Waterways Management Officer, Eleventh Coast Guard
District, Building 50-6, Coast Guard Island, Alameda, CA 94501. The
telephone number is (510) 437-2982.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Workshop
Public Workshops to discuss the need for Vessel Traffic Management
Measures in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary will be held in
the following locations:
Half Moon Bay, 7 p.m., Wednesday June 17, 1998, Ted Adcock
Community/Senior Center, 535 Kelly Avenue, Half Moon Bay, CA.
Oakland, 7 p.m., Thursday, June 18, 1998, Port of Oakland,
2nd Floor Board Room, 530 Water Street, Oakland, CA.
Santa Cruz, 7 p.m., Monday, June 29, 1998, Cocoanut Grove
Hotel, 400 Beach Street, Santa Cruz, CA.
Monterey, 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 30, 1998, Doubletree
Hotel, intersection of Del Monte Avenue & Alvarado Street, Monterey,
CA.
The doors for the public workshops will open at 6:30 p.m. for
registration. The workshops will begin at 7 p.m. with a brief
presentation. The presentation will cover the steps leading to the
workshops, a description of the vessel activity in and near the
Sanctuary, an overview of the sensitive Sanctuary resources and their
value to the coastal culture and economy, a description of a work group
process used by the Coast Guard and NOAA to shape the analysis, and
lastly a set of management measures believed to increase Sanctuary
resource protection while preserving the economic viability of
California ports. Meeting attendees will then be invited to present
comments or direct questions to a panel of representatives from a work
group assembled by NOAA and the Coast Guard to help frame the issues.
We are particularly interested in comments relating to:
Distance Off Shore--Identification of a distance off shore
for tankers, tank barges, vessels carrying hazardous materials, and
large commercial vessels that would provide adequate protection to the
sensitive marine resources of the Sanctuary without imposing undue
economic stress to the shipping industry.
Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS)--Implementation of pre-
approved adjustments to existing TSSs, including a western rotation of
the southern leg of the San Francisco TSS to provide a true north/north
alignment and an eighteen miles extension on the western end of the
Santa Barbara Channel TSS.
Rescue--Identification of vessels of opportunity available
to assist vessels which become disabled during coastal transit.
Implementation Mechanisms--To include Industry Agreements
and Recommended Routes approved by the International Maritime
Organization (IMO).
Reporting Systems:--Voluntary Reporting System, approved
by the IMO, to monitor vessel transits along the California coastline
via radio call-in points and/or Automated Information System (AIS).
[[Page 29775]]
A detailed Information Packet concerning these issues is available
for review and copying in the public docket at the address under
ADDRESSES or on the internet at http://dms.dot.gov, or may be obtained
from the Coast Guard Internet Home Page at www.uscg.mil/pacarea/pm/
graphic/mbnms.htm or by calling (408) 647-4201 in Monterey, CA or (510)
437-2982 in Oakland, CA.
Purpose of Workshop
In January of 1997 the USCG and NOAA submitted a Report to Congress
on Regulating Vessel Traffic in the Monterey Bay National Marine
Sanctuary, which was mandated by the National Marine Sanctuaries
Program Amendments Act of 1992. In this report, the USCG and NOAA made
a commitment to hold public workshops to help formulate a policy
concerning the need for vessel management measures in the Sanctuary.
These public workshops are designed to realize this goal.
Sanctuary Background
In September of 1992 the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
(MBNMS) was established in recognition of its dramatic underwater
geology and topography, its floral and fauna diversity, its abundant
commercial fishery, and its standing as an important research site. The
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the largest of its kind in
the country, and includes over 5,000 square miles of water off the
central California Coast. It spans over 350 miles of coastline from
Cambria to Rocky Point, and extends as much as fifty-three miles
offshore. The Sanctuary supports diverse bird species and several
threatened and endangered marine mammals.
Formation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Vessel
Traffic Management Work Group
To better prepare for the public workshops, the Coast Guard and
NOAA invited members from industry, conservation, and government groups
to participate in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Vessel
Management work group. Formed as a Panel under the Navigation Safety
Advisory Committee (NAVSAC), its purpose was to frame the issues in
such a way as to facilitate productive public workshops. The work group
will help NOAA and the Coast Guard incorporate the views obtained from
the public workships into a report to NAVSAC containing suggested
strategies for increasing Sanctuary protection at reasonable cost to
the shipping industry. NAVSAC will in turn make recommendations to the
Coast Guard and NOAA on implementation.
Sanctuary Resources and Potential Threats
The MBNMS is characterized by a combination of oceanic conditions
and undersea topography that provides for a rich and highly productive
ecosystem. Six distinct marine habitats can be described in the MBNMS:
(1) A submarine canyon habitat (2) a near-shore sublittoral habitat (3)
a rocky intertidal habitat (4) a sandy beach intertidal habitat (5) a
kelp forest habitat (6) estuaries and sloughs.
Living resources found in the MBNMS include twenty-seven different
types of marine mammals including several endangered species,
approximately ninety-four bird species, approximately 345 fish species
and one of the most diverse populations of invertebrate marine fauna in
the world. The proximity of the Monterey submarine canyon to shore
allows scientists a unique opportunity to study the land-deep sea
interface.
Current Vessel Traffic Management Procedures
Shipping activity in the Sanctuary includes both U.S. and foreign
registered vessels of the following types: Tankers, container ships,
bulk carriers, chemical carriers, military vessels, research vessels,
cruise ships, tugboats, registered fishing vessels and other types of
vessels used for commercial purposes. Altogether, these total about
4,000 vessel transits through the Sanctuary per year. There are no
formal vessel routes along the central California coast. However, there
are a variety of preventative measures in place to reduce the
likelihood of marine accidents. These include an Industry Agreement
between tankers carrying Alaskan crude oil and the State of California
to transit at least fifty nautical miles offshore; Vessel Traffic
Services in San Francisco and Los Angeles/Long Beach; TSS's in the
approach to San Francisco Bay and the Santa Barbara Channel; regulatory
initiatives relating to vessel construction, equipment, and operating
procedures; and the Coast Guard's Prevention Through People and vessel
inspection programs.
Vessel Traffic Work Group Processes and Evaluations
The goal of the Vessel Traffic Management work group was to
identify, evaluate, and prioritize strategies for vessel traffic
management in the MBNMS. Using public comment from past studies, key
components of vessel traffic management were categorized as Traffic
Separation Schemes (TSS), Distance From Shore, Implementation
Mechanisms for routing, Reporting, and Response to Disabled Vessels.
Each potential strategy was listed under one of the above categories
and was individually evaluated by the group in terms of its
environmental effectiveness, socio-economic impacts, and institutional
feasibility.
Through the systematic evaluation process, a set of vessel routing
and management measures emerged as increasing Sanctuary protection
without unreasonable cost to industry. These measures are discussed
below to help facilitate discussion at the workshops.
Distance From Shore
One of the work group's challenges was to identify a distance off
shore for the implementation of routing measures that would provide
adequate protection to the sensitive marine resources of the Sanctuary
without imposing undue economic stress to the shipping industry. The
following recommended transit distances off shore were derived based on
current practice and threat level:
Tankers--Fifty nautical miles
Barges--Twenty-five nautical miles
Hazmat Vessels--Twenty-five nautical miles
LCVs--Off Pigeon Point:
Twelve decimal seven nautical miles (northbound)
Sixteen nautical miles (southbound)
Off Point Sur:
Fifteen nautical miles (northbound)
Twenty nautical miles (southbound)
A Vessel Drift Rate Analysis was used to help determine a suitable
protection level for the Sanctuary by identifying a line along the
central coast where a response vessel from a nearby port could arrest
the drift of a disabled vessel prior to shore impact during a worst
case wind event.
Implementation Mechanisms for Routing
The minimum transit distances from shore listed above would be
implemented by establishing IMO approved Recommended Routes for LCV's.
The Recommended Routes would be depicted on National Oceanic Service
nautical charts. This system would reduce risk by adding order and
predictability to coastwise traffic flow and by virtually eliminating
the threat of grounding by a disabled vessel. Tankers would be
encouraged to continue their participation in Industry Agreements with
Western States Petroleum Association. The Industry Agreements would be
strengthened with
[[Page 29776]]
Coast Guard involvement. Tank barges would be encouraged to remain 25
nautical miles offshore, in compliance with the Responsible Carriers
Program, and standard developed by the American Waterway Operators.
Reporting
An effective way to monitor vessel transits along the California
coastline is through the use of radio call-in points at two key
geographical points: Point Sur and Point Arguello.
The work group also supports the implementation of the Automatic
Identification System (AIS) for ships currently being developed by the
IMO. AIS is an automated electronic vessel position reporting system
that transmits a real-time positional information packet to a shore
based station such as the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS).
A Near-Miss Reporting system is currently under development at the
National level and will help to identify causes of marine accidents and
rectify problem areas before accidents occur.
Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS)
To provide alignment with the recommended routing measures, the
Santa Barbara Channel Traffic Separation Scheme will be extended
approximately eighteen nautical miles to Point Arguello. The southern
leg of the San Francisco TSS would be shifted slightly to the west to
provide a true north-south alignment for vessels entering and departing
the TSS. These recommended changes to the TSS have been approved by the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) and are ready for
implementation.
Response to Disabled Vessels
There is a low but existing risk to the resources of the Sanctuary
from a disabled vessel grounding on the rocky shoreline. Timely
response from one or more appropriate vessels could make the difference
between an environmental disaster and an insignificant event. The work
group recommended the development of a vessel response network to
enable a shoreside authority to identify and locate vessels willing and
able to provide immediate emergency assistance to a disabled vessel.
Informaiton on Services for Individuals With Disabilities: For
information on facilities or services for individuals with disabilities
or to request special assistance at the meetings, contact the person
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT as soon as possible.
Dated: May 22, 1998.
R. C. North,
Rear Admiral, Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine, Safety and
Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 98-14393 Filed 5-29-98; 8:45 am]
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