Proposed Rule2023-26793
Danger Zone; Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Island of Oahu, Hawaii
Primary source
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Published
December 7, 2023
Issuing agencies
Defense DepartmentEngineers Corps
Abstract
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to amend the regulations for the existing danger zone at the U.S. Marine Corps Ulupau Crater Weapons Training Range in the vicinity of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The U.S. Marine Corps requested a change to the hours that weapons firing may occur. These regulations are necessary to protect the public from potentially hazardous conditions which may exist as a result from use of the areas by the U.S. Marine Corps.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 234 (Thursday, December 7, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 234 (Thursday, December 7, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 85155-85157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26793]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
33 CFR Part 334
[COE-2023-0010]
Danger Zone; Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Island of
Oahu, Hawaii
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 is proposing to amend the
regulations for the existing danger zone at the U.S. Marine Corps
Ulupau Crater Weapons Training Range in the vicinity of Kaneohe Bay,
Hawaii. The U.S. Marine Corps requested a change to the hours that
weapons firing may occur. These regulations are necessary to protect
the public from potentially hazardous conditions which may exist as a
result from use of the areas by the U.S. Marine Corps.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before January 8, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number COE-
2023-0010, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2044415649440e420e4f4c534f4e6055534143450e41524d590e4d494c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="721613041b165c105c1d1e011d1c3207011311175c13001f0b5c1f1b1e">[email protected]</span></a>. Include the docket number,
COE-2023-0010, 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-2023-0010.
All comments received will be included in the public docket without
change and may be made available on-line at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://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 with
your comment. If we
[[Page 85156]]
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 <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: 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 the danger zone regulations
at 33 CFR 334.1380 to change the hours that weapons firing may occur at
the Ulupau Crater Weapons Training Range, Marine Corps Base Hawaii
(MCBH), Kaneohe Bay, Island of Oahu, Hawaii.
The danger zone represents a public safety buffer beyond the
physical boundaries of the training range to further reduce the safety
threat to the boating public. The geographical nature of the crater
combined with the use of man-made measures makes the crater secure from
unintended projectiles exiting its confines, although a very slight
possibility exists that a projectile could ricochet or otherwise be
inadvertently fired beyond the confines of the crater. Under current
conditions, sensitive wildlife areas, including designated protected
areas, are encompassed within the existing boundaries of the danger
zone. Since munitions are not intentionally fired into waters
surrounding Ulupau Crater and the probability of an unintended
projectile exiting the crater is negligible, an extension in the time
that weapons may be fired will not incrementally change, modify or
otherwise adversely impact sensitive marine species and organisms that
inhabit or are supported by the waters and protected areas occurring
within the danger zone. Marine resources, including endangered species,
migratory shorebirds, and other seabirds that occupy designated
protected areas will remain adequately protected by the MCBH under
obligations of pre-existing agreements. For similar reasons, submerged
lands will not be directly or indirectly adversely affected by the
expanded danger zone.
The current regulations state that weapons firing at the Ulupau
Crater Weapons Training Range may occur at any time between 6 a.m. and
11 p.m., Monday through Sunday. In the proposed rule, the time period
for weapons firing is extended three hours so that weapons may be fired
at any time between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m., Monday through Sunday.
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 Executive Order 13563 (76 FR 3821, January
21, 2011) 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 danger zone is necessary to protect public safety
during use of the weapons firing range. The danger zone regulation
allows any vessel that needs to transit the danger zone to
expeditiously transit through the danger zone whenever weapons firing
is scheduled. The proposed amendment to this regulation would only
change the hours when the danger zone is activated; it would not change
the geographic extent of the existing danger zone. 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. When the danger
zone is activated, small entities can utilize navigable waters outside
of the danger zone. 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.
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
received have been 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.
e. Congressional Review Act. The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C.
801 et seq., generally provides that before a rule may take effect, the
agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes
a copy of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the
Comptroller General of the United States. The Corps will submit a
report containing the final rule and other required information to the
U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller
General of the United States. A major rule cannot take effect until 60
days after it is published in the Federal Register. This proposed rule
is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 334
Danger zones, Navigation (water), Restricted areas, Waterways.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, 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 33 CFR 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. Amend Sec. 334.1380, by revising the first sentence of paragraph
(b)(1) to read as follows:
[[Page 85157]]
Sec. 334.1380 Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), Kaneohe Bay, Island of
Oahu, Hawaii--Ulupau Crater Weapons Training Range; danger zone.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) Weapons firing at the Ulupau Crater Weapons Training Range may
occur at any time between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m., Monday through Sunday. * *
*
* * * * *
Thomas P. Smith,
Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-26793 Filed 12-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
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