83 FR 64053 - Pacific Ocean at Naval Base Guam Telecommunication Site, Finegayan Small Arms Range, on the Northwestern Coast of Guam; Danger Zone

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 239 (December 13, 2018)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is proposing to revise the existing regulations to establish a danger zone at the U.S. Naval Base Guam Telecommunication Site in the Pacific Ocean, Guam. The Navy requested establishment of a danger zone extending over the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Finegayan Small Arms Range. Establishment of a danger zone would intermittently restrict commercial, public, and private vessels from entering or lingering in the restricted safety zone to ensure public safety during small arms training activities. This danger zone is necessary to minimize potential conflicts between local populace activities and ongoing military training in the subject area.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 239 (Thursday, December 13, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64053-64055]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27028]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

33 CFR Part 334

[COE-2018-0005]


Pacific Ocean at Naval Base Guam Telecommunication Site, 
Finegayan Small Arms Range, on the Northwestern Coast of Guam; Danger 
Zone

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is proposing to 
revise the existing regulations to establish a danger zone at the U.S. 
Naval Base Guam Telecommunication Site in the Pacific Ocean, Guam. The 
Navy requested establishment of a danger zone extending over the 
Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Finegayan Small Arms Range. Establishment 
of a danger zone would intermittently restrict commercial, public, and 
private vessels from entering or lingering in the restricted safety 
zone to ensure public safety during small arms training activities. 
This danger zone is necessary to minimize potential conflicts between 
local populace activities and ongoing military training in the subject 
area.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before January 14, 
2019.

[[Page 64054]]


ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number COE-
2018-0005, 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-2018-0005, 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-2018-0005. 
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 disc you may 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 background documents or 
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, 
Operations and Regulatory Community of Practice, Washington, DC at 202-
761-4922 or Ms. Karen Urelius, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu 
District, Regulatory Branch at 671-339-2108.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    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 
proposing to revise the regulations at 33 CFR part 334 by establishing 
a danger zone in the Pacific Ocean. The amendment to this regulation 
will allow the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Naval Base Guam to 
restrict passage of persons, watercraft, and vessels in the waters 
within the danger zone during use of the Finegayan Small Arms Range. 
The establishment of a danger zone would intermittently restrict 
commercial, public, and private vessels from entering or lingering in 
the restricted safety zone to ensure public safety during small arms 
training activities at the Finegayan Small Arms Range. This danger zone 
will be in place as a precautionary measure to protect the public from 
any potential impacts in firing small arms to the west.
    The proposed establishment of this danger zone was considered in 
the Final Mariana Islands Training and Testing/Overseas Environmental 
Impact Statement prepared by the Navy. This location is an existing 
range and meets all of the landside requirements of a small arms range. 
With limited land on the island, it is not feasible to have the firing 
range and safety zone completely on land.
    Military and Government of Guam law enforcement agencies are 
required to qualify with their assigned weapon prior to executing their 
duties. Additionally, other military forces (ships, submarines, 
expeditionary forces and other combat forces) are required to qualify 
and maintain their qualifications on the weapons needed to further the 
execution of their assigned mission. These ranges are not only used by 
forces assigned to the island, but also deployable military forces 
(Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines). The Department of Defense 
requires frequent firing of assigned weapons to ensure proficiency in 
the use and operations of assigned weapons.
    Currently there are two other ranges on Naval Base Guam that are 
being used to support weapons qualifications. However, due to the 
number of units required to maintain weapon qualifications, the two 
ranges are insufficient. Both ranges are fully booked with commands 
having to be placed on a waiting list for range availability.

Procedural Requirements

    a. Review Under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563. Executive Orders 
12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess the costs and benefits of 
available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to 
select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits. Executive 
Order 13771 directs agencies to control regulatory costs through a 
budgeting process. This proposed rule has not been designated a 
``significant regulatory action,'' under Executive Order 12866. 
Accordingly, this proposed rule has not been reviewed by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), and pursuant to OMB guidance it is exempt 
from the requirements of Executive Order 13771.
    The Corps determined this proposed rule is not a significant 
regulatory action. This regulatory action determination is based on the 
proposed rule governing the danger zone, which allow any vessel that 
needs to transit the danger zone to expeditiously transit through the 
danger zone when the small arms range is in use. When the range is not 
in use, the danger zone will be open to normal maritime traffic and to 
all activities, include anchoring and loitering. The proposed rule is 
issued with respect to a military function of the Department of Defense 
and the provisions of Executive Order 12866 do not apply.
    b. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. This proposed 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 danger zone is necessary to protect public safety 
during use of the small arms range. Unless information is obtained to 
the contrary during the comment period, the Corps certifies that the 
proposed rule would have no significant economic impact on the public. 
After considering the economic impacts of this proposed danger zone

[[Page 64055]]

regulation on small entities, I certify that this action will 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 on 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 contain a 
Federal mandate that may result in expenditures of $100 million or more 
for State, local, and Tribal governments, in the aggregate, or the 
private sector in any one year. Therefore, this proposed rule is not 
subject to the requirements of Sections 202 and 205 of the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The proposed rule contains no regulatory 
requirements that might significantly or uniquely affect small 
governments. Therefore, the proposed rule is not subject to the 
requirements of Section 203 of UMRA.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 334

    Danger zones, Navigation (water), Restricted areas, Waterways.

    For the reasons set forth in the summary above, 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 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.  334.1415 to read as follows:


Sec.  334.1415   Pacific Ocean, adjacent to the Finegayan Small Arms 
Range at Naval Base Guam Telecommunication Site, on the northwestern 
coast of Guam; danger zone.

    (a) The area. Coordinates are bounded by the following four points: 
Point A (13[deg]34'57'' N; 144[deg]49'53'' E) following the high tide 
line to Point B (13[deg]35'49'' N; 144[deg]47'59'' E), Point C 
(13[deg]34'57'' N; 144[deg]47'45'' E), and Point D (13[deg]34'48'' N; 
144[deg]49'50'' E). The datum for these coordinates is NAD-83.
    (b) The regulation. (1) Vessels or persons shall expeditiously 
transit through the danger zone when the small arms range is in use. 
Vessels shall not be permitted to anchor or loiter within the danger 
zone while the range is in use. Range activities shall be halted until 
all vessels are cleared from the danger zone. When the range is not in 
use, the danger zone shall be open to normal maritime traffic and all 
activities to include anchoring and loitering.
    (2) When the range is in use, the person(s) or officer(s) in charge 
shall display a red flag from a conspicuous and easily-seen location 
along the nearby shore to signify that the range is in use and will 
post lookouts to ensure the safety of all vessels transiting through 
the area. If the range is in use at night, a strobe light shall be 
displayed from the same conspicuous and easily-seen location in lieu of 
flags. The range shall not be used when visibility is equal to or less 
than the maximum range of the weapons being used at the facility.
    (c) Enforcement. The restrictions on public access in this section 
shall be enforced by the Commander, Joint Region Marianas, and such 
agencies as the Commander may designate in writing.

    Dated: December 6, 2018.
Thomas P. Smith,
Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division, Directorate of Civil Works.
[FR Doc. 2018-27028 Filed 12-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3720-58-P