PN17-51 (United States Coast Guard Yard/Curtis Creek & Arundel Cove-Restricted Area) - 2016-01389 - Baltimore

Published Nov. 16, 2017
Expiration date: 12/16/2017

              Public Notice

U.S. Army Corps         In Reply to Application Number: CENAB‑OPR-MN (UNITED STATES      

of Engineers               COAST GUARD YARD/CURTIS CREEK & ARUNDEL COVE-                           

Baltimore District       RESTRICTED AREA) 2016-01389-M12

                                                                                                                                     

PN17-51                        Comment Period:  November 16, 2017 to December 16, 2017

                                     

THE PURPOSE OF THIS SPECIAL PUBLIC NOTICE IS TO SOLICIT COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE ACTION DESCRIBED BELOW.  AT THIS TIME, NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THE ACTION WILL BE GRANTED.

 

The Baltimore District has received 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 requested 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 proposed restricted area is necessary to reflect 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 119 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. The restricted area shall encompass all navigable waters of the United States as defined at 33 CFR Part 329, within the area bounded by a line connecting the following coordinates: 

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 076’34'31" W; thence to latitude 39°11'5.91" N, longitude 076°34'28" W;  thence to latitude 39°11'4.48" N, longitude 076°34'25" W;  thence to latitude 39°11'3.36" N, longitude 076°34'06.9" W; and thence along the shoreline to the point of origin.  The datum for these coordinates is NAD-83.

 

(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 U.S. Coast Guard will install marker buoys along some or all of the referenced coordinates to demarcate the limits of the restricted area.  The Coast Guard will also install warning signs 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 whether to establish the requested restricted area will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest.  That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources.  The benefit which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments.  All factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be 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 are being 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.  Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to grant, modify, condition or deny authorization for this proposal.  To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above.

 

Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.  Comments are 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 proposed work 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.

 

Written comments concerning the action described above may be submitted directly to the District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, Attn: Mr. Steve Elinsky, Regulatory Branch, CENAB‑OPR-MN, 10 South Howard Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, within the comment period as specified above to receive consideration.  If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact Mr. Steve Elinsky at 410.962.4503.

 

The proposed rulemaking has also been posted in the Federal Register for public comments for 30 days beginning November 15, 2017, Docket Number COE-2017-24888.

 

FOR THE DISTRICT ENGINEER:

 

 

 

 

Wade B. Chandler

Acting Chief, Regulatory Branch