Proposed Rule2022-14723
Six Mile Munitions Storage Area on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; Knik Arm; Restricted Area
Primary source
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Published
July 13, 2022
Issuing agencies
Defense DepartmentEngineers Corps
Abstract
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is proposing to revise its regulations to establish a restricted area within the explosive arc of Six Mile Munitions Storage Area (MSA) on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER). The United States Air Force--Pacific Air Command (USAF PACAF) requested establishment of a restricted area which would be located within the navigable waters of Knik Arm which are a part of the Six Mile MSA explosive arc. The proposed restricted area would extend from the shoreline to the outward limits of the arc. Establishment of the restricted area would prohibit all watercraft navigations and individuals from entering the explosive arc area of the Six Mile MSA at all times except for authorized vessels and individuals in support of military training and management activities. This restricted area is necessary to avoid inadvertent entry into the explosive arc during an inadvertent detonation, and exposure to hazardous noise and fragments from such a detonation.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41637-41639]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14723]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
33 CFR Part 334
[COE-2022-0005]
Six Mile Munitions Storage Area on Joint Base Elmendorf-
Richardson, Alaska; Knik Arm; Restricted Area
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 its regulations to establish a restricted area within the
explosive arc of Six Mile Munitions Storage Area (MSA) on Joint Base
Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER). The United States Air Force--Pacific Air
Command (USAF PACAF) requested establishment of a restricted area which
would be located within the navigable waters of Knik Arm which are a
part of the Six Mile MSA explosive arc. The proposed restricted area
would extend from the shoreline to the outward limits of the arc.
Establishment of the restricted area would prohibit all watercraft
navigations and individuals from entering the explosive arc area of the
Six Mile MSA at all times except for authorized vessels and individuals
in
[[Page 41638]]
support of military training and management activities. This restricted
area is necessary to avoid inadvertent entry into the explosive arc
during an inadvertent detonation, and exposure to hazardous noise and
fragments from such a detonation.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 12, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number COE-
2022-0005, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#781c190e111c561a5617140b1716380d0b191b1d56190a150156151114"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="640005120d004a064a0b08170b0a2411170507014a0516091d4a090d08">[email protected]</span></a>. Include the docket number,
COE-2022-0005, 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-2022-0005.
All comments received will be included in the public docket without
change and may be made available on-line at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>,
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 <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> or
email. The <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> 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 <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>, 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 disk you 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 comments received, go to
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. 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.
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 amend its regulations at 33 CFR part 334 to establish a
restricted area within the navigable waters of Knik Arm. The proposed
amendment to this regulation would allow the USAF PACAF 673rd Air Base
Wing to prevent all vessels, watercraft, and individuals from entering
the explosive arc area of the Six Mile MSA at JBER at all times, except
for authorized vessels and individuals engaged in support of military
training and management activities. The proposed restricted area would
be in place as a precautionary measure to protect the public from
inadvertently entering or being within the explosive arc during an
inadvertent detonation, and encountering hazardous noise and fragments
from such a detonation. The proposed restricted area would allow USAF
PACAF to maintain control and reduce access to this area of Knik Arm,
and to maintain the Six Mile MSA's Net Explosive Weight (NEW) storage
capabilities. Without designation of a restricted area, the NEW storage
capabilities would be required to be reduced, which would have
significant impact to USAF PACAF's current operations (i.e., mass re-
warehousing would be required) and could affect wartime capabilities.
Procedural Requirements
a. Regulatory Planning and Review. This proposed rule is not a
``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR
51735, October 4, 1993) and it was not submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget for review.
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 Corps certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this proposed rule
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities. The restricted area is necessary to protect public
safety. This restricted regulation would prevent all vessels,
watercraft and individuals from entering, or remaining in, an active
military range munitions impact area at all times, unless they are
authorized by the enforcing agency. Small entities can utilize
navigable waters outside of the restricted area. Unless information is
obtained to the contrary during the comment period, the Corps expects
that the economic impact of the proposed restricted area would have
practically no impact on the public, any anticipated navigational
hazard or interference with existing waterway traffic. After
considering the economic impacts of this restricted area regulation on
small entities, I certify that this proposed rule would 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 the UMRA.
[[Page 41639]]
List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 334
Danger zones, Navigation (water), Restricted areas, Waterways.
For the reasons set forth 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. 334.1303 to read as follows:
Sec. 334.1303 Navigable waters of Knik Arm within the explosive arc
of the Six Mile Munitions Storage Area off the northeastern side of
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson; restricted area.
(a) The area. The restricted area will consist of the waters with
an area defined as beginning at a point on shore at latitude
61[deg]17'35'' N, longitude 149[deg]50'3'' W; thence northward in an
arc to the mid-arc point at latitude 61[deg]18'19'' N, longitude
149[deg]50'6'' W; continuing northward in an arc to the end point on
shore at latitude 61[deg]18'36'' N, longitude 149[deg]49'1'' W. The
datum for these coordinates is NAD-83.
(b) The regulation. The restricted area is permanently closed for
public use at all times. No persons, watercraft, or vessels shall
enter, or remain, in the area except for those authorized by the
enforcing agency.
(c) Enforcement. This regulation will be enforced by the United
States Air Force Pacific Air Command 673rd Air Base Wing.
Thomas P. Smith,
Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division, Directorate of Civil Works.
[FR Doc. 2022-14723 Filed 7-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
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