Notice2026-08701
Shipping Safety Fairways Along the Atlantic Coast; Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Overseas Environmental Impact Statement
Primary source
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Published
May 5, 2026
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentCoast Guard
Abstract
The Coast Guard, as the lead agency, announces the availability of the draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/ Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (draft PEIS/OEIS) for Establishing Shipping Safety Fairways and Associated Vessel Routing Measures Along the Atlantic Coast. The Proposed Action for purposes of this draft PEIS/OEIS would establish vessel routing measures along the Atlantic Coast, from the United States-Canada maritime border in the Gulf of Maine to Miami, Florida, including the establishment of one fairway anchorage near Delaware Bay. This notice of availability announces the start of the public review and comment period on this draft PEIS/OEIS. After the Coast Guard considers the comments provided, the Coast Guard will publish a final PEIS/OEIS.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24259-24262]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08701]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2023-0928]
Shipping Safety Fairways Along the Atlantic Coast; Draft
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Overseas Environmental
Impact Statement
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Draft Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement for
Establishing Shipping Safety Fairways and Associated Vessel Routing
Measures Along the Atlantic Coast; and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard, as the lead agency, announces the
availability of the draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/
Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (draft PEIS/OEIS) for
Establishing Shipping Safety Fairways and Associated Vessel Routing
Measures Along the Atlantic Coast. The Proposed Action for purposes of
this draft PEIS/OEIS would establish vessel routing measures along the
Atlantic Coast, from the United States-Canada maritime border in the
Gulf of Maine to Miami, Florida, including the establishment of one
fairway anchorage near Delaware Bay. This notice of availability
announces the start of the public review and comment period on this
draft PEIS/OEIS. After the Coast Guard considers the comments provided,
the Coast Guard will publish a final PEIS/OEIS.
DATES: Comments must be postmarked or received by the Coast Guard on or
before June 22, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2023-0928 at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. See the ``Public Participation and
Request for Comments'' portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
for further instructions on submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this document,
call or email either Maureen Kallgren, Coast Guard (telephone 571-608-
5384, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#92dff3e7e0f7f7fcbcc0bcd9f3fefef5e0f7fca0d2e7e1f1f5bcfffbfe"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d29fb3a7a0b7b7bcfc80fc99b3bebeb5a0b7bce092a7a1b1b5fcbfbbbe">[email protected]</span></a>) or Kevin Lind, Coast Guard
(telephone 571-607-2734, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8fc4eaf9e6e1a1caa1c3e6e1ebcffafcece8a1e2e6e3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="08436d7e6166264d264461666c487d7b6b6f26656164">[email protected]</span></a>).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents for Preamble
I. Abbreviations
II. Background
III. Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
IV. Scope of the Action
V. Alternatives
VI. Findings of the Draft PEIS
VII. Anticipated Permits and Authorizations
VIII. Associated Notices of Proposed Rulemakings
IX. Public Participation and Request for Comments
I. Abbreviations
ANPRM Advance notice of proposed rulemaking
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
DHS Department of Homeland Security
EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone
EIS Environmental Impact Statement
FR Federal Register
NEPA National Environmental Policy Act
NM Nautical mile
NOI Notice of intent
NPRM Notice of proposed rulemaking
OEIS Overseas Environmental Impact Statement
PEIS Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
U.S.C. United States Code
II. Background
This notice of availability briefly summarizes the Proposed Action
evaluated in the draft PEIS/OEIS. With it, the Coast Guard would
establish vessel routing measures along the Atlantic Coast from the
U.S.-Canada maritime border in the Gulf of Maine to Miami, FL,
including one fairway anchorage near Delaware Bay. This Proposed Action
encompasses three areas. First, the fairways and other vessel routing
measures from Long
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Island, New York to St. Lucie, Florida and one fairway anchorage near
Delaware Bay as proposed in the January 19, 2024 notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM) titled ``Shipping Safety Fairways Along the Atlantic
Coast'' (89 FR 3587). Second, potential fairways and other vessel
routing measures in the Gulf of Maine described in the advance notice
of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) titled ``Shipping Safety Fairways in the
Gulf of Maine'' (89 FR 91296). Third, a zone in which the Coast Guard
may, in the future, consider establishing additional routing measures
off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida (the ``Southeast
Zone''). The draft EPIS/OEIS also evaluates the purpose and need for
the Proposed Action, potential impacts, and a reasonable range of
alternatives and will inform the Coast Guard's decision-making,
including any related future rulemaking actions arising from the NPRM
and ANPRM referenced in the analysis (89 FR 3587; 89 FR 91296).
As required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a
Federal agency must prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) if
it is proposing a major Federal action that has a reasonably
foreseeable significant effect on the quality of the human environment
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). For this action, the Coast Guard has
determined that a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) is
the most appropriate type of environmental review because of the large
geographic footprint of the proposed routing measures, and the
potential for future similar projects in the action area. The Coast
Guard published a notice of intent (NOI) to prepare a PEIS on January
23, 2024 (89 FR 4320). The NOI formally announced a 45-day scoping
period to receive comments. The Coast Guard hosted three in-person
meetings and one virtual public meeting during the scoping period. The
Coast Guard received a total of eight comments and posted all to the
docket. The Coast Guard considered these comments to develop the draft
PEIS and to revise alternatives within the PEIS.
The area potentially impacted by the Action Alternatives (the
Proposed Action and Alternative 2, see Section V. Alternatives)
includes marine waters along the U.S. Atlantic Coast within the Coast
Guard's Northeast District (previously District One), East District
(previously District Five), and Southeast District (previously District
Seven).
III. Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to preserve safe and reliable
transit of vessels along historic critical shipping routes essential
for U.S. economic prosperity and national security. Facilitating safe
and efficient commercial shipping traffic through various vessel
routing measures along the U.S. Atlantic Coast ensures consistent and
secure access to major ports of the U.S. Marine Transportation System,
which includes Federal channels, internal waterways, marine terminals,
and naval facilities. The Coast Guard recognizes that increasing
interest in new and innovative uses of the outer continental shelf
creates a need to establish a resilient system of access to the major
ports of the U.S. Atlantic Coast to ensure the Nation's economic
prosperity. The Coast Guard believes this need is best served by
establishing consistent and well-defined vessel routing measures and a
fairway anchorage.
IV. Scope of the Action
The area considered as part of the scope of the action (the Study
Area) includes coastal and offshore waters along the U.S. Atlantic
Coast, inclusive of the territorial sea, and extending offshore to the
eastward limit of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). NEPA is
applicable to actions with effects located within the jurisdiction of
the United States (42 U.S.C. 4336e (10)(B)(vi)). The Coast Guard
prescribes jurisdictional limits in 33 CFR part 2, delineating
``territorial sea'' to mean the waters, 12 nautical miles (NM) wide,
adjacent to the coast of the United States (33 CFR 2.22(a)(1)).
Executive Order 12114 (Environmental Effects Abroad of Major
Federal Actions) (44 FR 1957, January 9, 1979) requires an Overseas
Environmental Impact Statement (OEIS) for proposed Federal actions
significantly affecting the environment outside the geographical
boundaries of the United States (that is, beyond the 12 NM U.S.
territorial sea) to the borders of the EEZ. However, Executive Order
12114 limits the evaluation to the natural and physical environment. In
other words, it excludes social, economic, and other environments. This
draft PEIS/OEIS assesses the potential physical, biological, economic,
historic, and cultural effects that could result from implementation of
the Coast Guard's proposed establishment of vessel routing measures and
one fairway anchorage along the U.S. Atlantic Coast.
This PEIS/OEIS was done with cooperating agencies, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Air Force, the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, the Maritime Administration, and the Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement.
V. Alternatives
This draft PEIS/OEIS evaluates three alternatives:
No Action, under which the Coast Guard would not establish any new
fairways, traffic separation scheme extensions, new or modified
precautionary areas, or fairway anchorages along the U.S. Atlantic
Coast;
Alternative 1 (the Proposed Action), under which the Coast Guard
would establish the vessel routing measures along the Atlantic Coast
from the United States-Canada maritime border in the Gulf of Maine to
Miami, Florida, including the Delaware Bay Fairway Anchorage. These
routing measures are described in the NPRM titled ``Shipping Safety
Fairways Along the Atlantic Coast'' (89 FR 3587 Jan. 19, 2024); and
potential vessel routing measures in the Gulf of Maine described in the
separate ANPRM, ``Shipping Safety Fairways in the Gulf of Maine'' (89
FR 91296). The draft PEIS/OEIS also evaluates, for programmatic NEPA
purposes, a zone in which the Coast Guard may, in the future, establish
additional routing measures off the coast of South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida (termed the ``Southeast Zone''); and
Alternative 2, under which the Coast Guard would establish the
vessel routing measures and the one fairway anchorage proposed in
Alternative 1 (the Proposed Action) and would also include several
extensions of selected east-west port-approach fairways out to the
limit of the EEZ. The northernmost extension would begin at Portland,
Maine, and the southernmost extension would begin at Cape Fear, North
Carolina.
VI. Findings of the Draft PEIS
The draft PEIS analyzes the potential impacts associated with the
No Action Alternative, the Proposed Action, and Alternative 2. Effects
include ecological impacts (such as the effects on natural resources
and on the components, structures, and functioning of affected
ecosystems (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)), as well as aesthetic, historic,
cultural, economic, social, or health effects within the 12 NM U.S.
territorial sea. Executive Order 12114 requires the identification and
evaluation of impacts
[[Page 24261]]
outside the geographical boundaries of the United States (that is,
beyond the 12 NM U.S. territorial sea) to the borders of the EEZ.
Unlike NEPA, Executive Order 12114 applies only to the natural and
physical environment--it excludes social, economic, and other
environments. Under the Proposed Action (Alternative 1), 11 percent of
the proposed areas would be located within the 12 NM U.S. territorial
sea, while 89 percent would be located beyond the 12 NM U.S.
territorial sea but within the EEZ.
Under the No Action Alternative, ongoing activities would continue
to adversely impact physical, biological, economic, cultural, and
historic resources. These ongoing activities are expected to include,
but would not be limited to, coastal development including port
development and dredging, offshore energy and infrastructure
development, maritime transportation activities, mineral extraction,
commercial fishing, and recreation. Under the No Action Alternative,
the Coast Guard does not expect any additional environmental impacts
beyond those resulting from ongoing and future activities.
Neither of the Action Alternatives is expected to change the total
number of vessels or vessel trips in the Study Area. Under both
Alternative 1 (the Proposed Action) and Alternative 2, the Coast Guard
anticipates that vessels shifting into the proposed routing measure
areas from adjacent areas would cause modest localized increases in
both vessel nautical mileage and use intensity within the proposed
routing measure areas, with corresponding decreases in adjacent areas.
The Coast Guard also anticipates that the area of the proposed Delaware
Bay Fairway Anchorage would experience a localized increase in
anchorage use, with a corresponding decrease in anchoring in adjacent
areas.
In this draft PEIS/OEIS, the Coast Guard analyzes the potential
impacts of the Action Alternatives relative to the No Action
Alternative, on physical, biological, economic, cultural, and historic
resources. Resources evaluated in detail under NEPA include geology and
substrates, air quality, water quality, biological resources, maritime
commerce, public health and safety, commercial fisheries, ocean
aquaculture, offshore energy development, marine minerals, recreation
and tourism, coastal communities and economies, and cultural and
historic resources. Based on its analyses, the Coast Guard does not
anticipate that either Action Alternative would cause any significant
permanent or long-term impacts to these resources under NEPA.
Resources evaluated in detail under Executive Order 12114 include
geology and substrates, air quality, water quality, and biological
resources. Based on its analysis, the Coast Guard does not anticipate
that either Action Alternative would cause any significant harm to
these resources under Executive Order 12114.
VII. Anticipated Permits and Authorizations
The Coast Guard is pursuing applicable environmental compliance
actions concurrently with this draft PEIS/OEIS, including coordinating
and consulting with multiple Federal and State agencies to avoid,
minimize, or mitigate the potential impacts of the Proposed Action. The
Coast Guard is coordinating with agencies and, when required, is
preparing consultations in accordance with the Endangered Species Act,
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Marine Mammal
Protection Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act
of 1918, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, Bald and Golden Eagle
Protection Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Clean Water Act,
Rivers and Harbors Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and Clean Air
Act, as applicable to the Proposed Action and alternatives.
VIII. Associated Notices of Proposed Rulemakings
The Coast Guard published the NPRM titled ``Shipping Safety
Fairways Along the Atlantic Coast'' on January 19, 2024 (89 FR 3587)
and the ANPRM, ``Shipping Safety Fairways in the Gulf of Maine'' on
November 19, 2024 (89 FR 91296). In the NPRM, the Coast Guard indicated
its intent to prepare a draft EIS. We committed to reopening the public
comment period, allowing the public to comment on the alternatives,
contents, recommendations, and impact of the analysis in the proposed
rule. Please refer to docket number USCG-2019-0279 for the notice that
reopens the NPRM comment period concurrently with this comment period
for the draft PEIS/OEIS. You may submit comments related to the NPRM at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> using the docket number USCG-2019-0279. Please do
not resubmit comments. Any comments submitted during the original
comment period of the NPRM will still be considered.
IX. Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to submit comments or related material on the NEPA
process. We will consider all relevant submissions and may adjust our
final action based on your comments. If you submit a comment, please
include the docket number for this notice, indicate the specific
section of this document to which each comment applies, and provide a
reason for each suggestion or recommendation.
Submitting comments. We encourage you to submit comments at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. To do so, go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, type USCG-
2023-0928 in the search box and click ``Search.'' Next, look for this
document in the Search Results column, and click on it. Then click on
the Comment option. If your material cannot be submitted using
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, contact the person in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document for alternate instructions.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so. For more about privacy and submissions in response to
this document, see DHS's eRulemaking System of Records notice (85 FR
14226, March 11, 2020).
Viewing material in docket. To view documents mentioned in this
notice as being available in the docket, find the docket as described
in the previous paragraph, and then select ``Supporting & Related
Material'' in the Document Type column. Public comments will also be
placed in our online docket and can be viewed by following instructions
on the Frequently Asked Questions web page, available at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov/faq">www.regulations.gov/faq</a>. The draft PEIS/OEIS is also available for
viewing at the Coast Guard Office of Environmental Management web page
at <a href="https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Engineering-Logistics-CG-4-/Program-Offices/Environmental-Management/Environmental-Planning-and-Historic-Preservation/">https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Engineering-Logistics-CG-4-/Program-Offices/Environmental-Management/Environmental-Planning-and-Historic-Preservation/</a>.
Personal information. We accept anonymous comments. Comments we
post to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> will include any personal information you
have provided. For more about privacy and submissions in response to
this
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document, see DHS's eRulemaking System of Records notice (85 FR 14226,
March 11, 2020).
Public meeting. We do not plan to hold a public meeting but we will
consider doing so if we determine from public comments that a meeting
would be helpful. We would issue a separate Federal Register notice to
announce the date, time, and location of such a meeting.
Kevin E. Lunday,
Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commandant.
[FR Doc. 2026-08701 Filed 5-4-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P
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