PN 19-79 NAB-2016-01389 (US Coast Guard Yard/Restricted Area) Anne Arundel County

USACE
Published Nov. 26, 2019

              Public Notice

U.S. Army Corps       In Reply to Application Number:
of Engineers              CENAB‑OPR-MN (UNITED STATES COAST GUARD YARD/CURTIS Baltimore District          
                                      CREEK & ARUNDEL COVE-RESTRICTED AREA) 2016-01389-M12

PN19-79                     

 

THE PURPOSE OF THIS SPECIAL PUBLIC NOTICE IS TO NOTIFY THE PUBLIC THAT THE ACTION DESCRIBED BELOW HAS BEEN FINALIZED.

The Baltimore District has granted a request from the United States Coast Guard, Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore for the establishment of a permanent restricted area as described below:

APPLICANT:                        Matthew Lake, Captain, Commanding Officer
                                               United States Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore
                                               2401 Hawkins Point Road
                                               Baltimore, Maryland  21226-1797

LOCATION:  Curtis Creek and Arundel Cove, in the vicinity of Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore, Maryland.

ACTION:  The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has been granted the establishment of a permanent restricted area in the waters of Curtis Creek and Arundel Cove, in the vicinity of Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore, Maryland.  The establishment of the restricted area is necessary to address the current security and safety needs at U.S. Coast Guard Yard (CG Yard), Baltimore, Maryland, including the protection of Coast Guard-wide military assets as the CG Yard is the Coast Guard’s only shipyard and largest industrial facility; performing major ship, electronics and heavy weapons overhaul, repair and manufacture.  The CG Yard is also the host command for various Coast Guard commands supporting local and nationwide Coast Guard missions.  The restricted area would extend approximately 120 meters from the shoreline of the yard into Curtis Creek and would include Arundel Cove.

§334.145 Curtis Creek and Arundel Cove, U.S. Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore; restricted area.

(a) The area. All of the navigable waters of Curtis Creek extending approximately 120 meters from the high-water mark of the USCG facility, bounded by these coordinates (including the Arundel Cove):

Commencing from the shoreline at latitude 39°12'05.8" N, longitude 076°34'28.4" W; thence to latitude 39°12'04.8" N, longitude 076’34'32" W; thence to latitude 39°11'59" N, longitude 076°34'28" W;  thence to latitude 39°11'44.8" N, longitude 076°34'25" W;  thence to latitude 39°11'44.5" N, longitude 076°34'07" W; and thence along the shoreline to the point of origin.  See attached depiction.

(b) The regulations. (1) The restricted area as described in paragraph (a) of this section is only open to government vessels.  Government vessels include, but are not limited to, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Department of Defense, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, state and local law enforcement, emergency services and vessels under contract with the U.S. Government.  Vessels transiting the restricted area shall proceed across the area by the most direct route and without unnecessary delay.  Fishing, crabbing, trawling, net-fishing and other aquatic activities are prohibited without prior approval from the Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Yard or his/her designated representative.  The Coast Guard will install warning signs along the shoreline notifying individuals of the restricted area and prohibiting all unauthorized entry into the area along the property boundary.  (2) All persons, vessels and other craft are prohibited from entering, transiting, drifting, dredging or anchoring within the restricted area as described in paragraph (a) of this section without prior approval from the Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Yard or his/her designated representative.  (3) The restrictions described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section are in effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

(c) Enforcement. The regulations in this section shall be enforced by the Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Yard or such persons or agencies he/she may designate.

The decision to establish the requested restricted area was be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest.  That decision reflected the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources.  The benefit which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal was balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments.  All factors which may be relevant to the proposal were considered including the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people.

Comments were solicited from the public; Federal, State, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity.  All received comments were considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to grant, modify, condition or deny authorization for this proposal.  To make this decision, comments were used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above.

Comments were used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.  Comments were also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

It is requested that you communicate the foregoing information concerning the action to any persons known by you to be interested and not being known to this office, who did not receive a copy of this notice.

The final rulemaking has also been posted in the Federal Register dated November 21, 2019, Docket Number COE-2017-24888.