Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Proposed Rules 63039 

1The CTA is Title LXIV of the William M. (Mac) 

Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 

Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116–283 (Jan. 1, 2021) 

(the NDAA). Division F of the NDAA is the AntiMoney Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act), which 

includes the CTA. 

2See CTA, section 6402(6), (7). 

3FinCEN, Beneficial Ownership Information 

Reporting Requirements, 87 FR 59498 (Sept. 30, 

2022), available at https://www.federalregister.gov/ 

documents/2022/09/30/2022-21020/beneficialownership-information-reporting-requirements. 

4The term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the United 

States, the District of Columbia, or any 

Continued 

using the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. 

In accordance with 14 CFR 39.19, send your 

request to your principal inspector or 

responsible Flight Standards Office, as 

appropriate. If sending information directly 

to the International Validation Branch, send 

it to the attention of the person identified in 

paragraph (j) of this AD. Information may be 

emailed to: 9-AVS-AIR-730-AMOC@faa.gov. 

Before using any approved AMOC, notify 

your appropriate principal inspector, or 

lacking a principal inspector, the manager of 

the responsible Flight Standards Office. 

(2) Contacting the Manufacturer: For any 

requirement in this AD to obtain instructions 

from a manufacturer, the instructions must 

be accomplished using a method approved 

by the Manager, International Validation 

Branch, FAA; or EASA; or Deutsche Aircraft 

GmbH’s EASA DOA. If approved by the 

DOA, the approval must include the DOAauthorized signature. 

(j) Additional Information 

For more information about this AD, 

contact Todd Thompson, Aviation Safety 

Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 

410, Westbury, NY 11590; telephone 206– 

231–3228; email todd.thompson@faa.gov. 

(k) Material Incorporated by Reference 

(1) The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

(IBR) of the service information listed in this 

paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR 

part 51. 

(2) You must use this service information 

as applicable to do the actions required by 

this AD, unless this AD specifies otherwise. 

(i) European Union Aviation Safety Agency 

(EASA) AD 2023–0065, dated March 20, 

2023. 

(ii) [Reserved] 

(3) For EASA AD 2023–0065, contact 

EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 

Cologne, Germany; telephone +49 221 8999 

000; email: ADs@easa.europa.eu; website: 

easa.europa.eu. You may find this EASA AD 

on the EASA website: ad.easa.europa.eu. 

(4) You may view this service information 

at the FAA, Airworthiness Products Section, 

Operational Safety Branch, 2200 South 216th 

Street, Des Moines, WA. For information on 

the availability of this material at the FAA, 

call 206–231–3195. 

(5) You may view this service information 

that is incorporated by reference at the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). For information on 

the availability of this material at NARA, 

email fr.inspection@nara.gov, or go to: 

www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibrlocations.html. 

Issued on September 8, 2023. 

Ross Landes, 

Deputy Director for Regulatory Operations, 

Compliance & Airworthiness Division, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19862 Filed 9–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Secretary 

31 CFR Part 1 

RIN: 1506–AB63 

Privacy Act of 1974; Proposed Rule 

Exempting a System of Records From 

Certain Provisions of the Privacy Act 

of 1974 

AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement 

Network (FinCEN), Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, 

as amended, FinCEN gives notice of a 

proposed amendment to exempt a new 

system of records, entitled ‘‘FinCEN 

.004—Beneficial Ownership Information 

System,’’ from certain provisions of the 

Privacy Act. The Beneficial Ownership 

Information (BOI) System is being 

established to implement the beneficial 

ownership information reporting and 

access requirements set out in the 

Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), 

which was enacted on January 1, 2021, 

as part of the Anti-Money Laundering 

Act of 2020. The exemptions are 

intended to increase the value of the 

system for law enforcement purposes 

and to comply with the CTA’s 

prohibitions against unauthorized 

disclosure of certain information. Public 

comments are invited. 

DATES: Comments on this document 

must be received by October 16, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this 

document may be submitted 

electronically through the Federal 

Government eRulemaking portal at 

https://www.regulations.gov. Electronic 

submission of comments allows the 

commenter maximum time to prepare 

and submit a comment, ensures timely 

receipt, and enables the Department of 

the Treasury (Treasury) to make the 

comments available to the public. Please 

note that comments submitted through 

https://www.regulations.gov will be 

public and can be viewed by members 

of the public. 

In general, Treasury will post all 

comments to https://

www.regulations.gov without change, 

including any business or personal 

information provided, such as names, 

addresses, email addresses, or telephone 

numbers. All comments received, 

including attachments and other 

supporting material, will be part of the 

public record and subject to public 

disclosure. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

publicly available. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions about this document and 

privacy issues, contact: Deputy 

Assistant Secretary for Privacy, 

Transparency, and Records at U.S. 

Department of the Treasury, 1500 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20220; telephone: (202) 622–5710. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In a separate notice published on 

September 14, 2023, FinCEN is 

proposing to establish a system of 

records for information that the bureau 

will collect pursuant to the CTA, which 

was enacted into law as part of the AntiMoney Laundering Act of 2020.1 The 

CTA requires ‘‘reporting companies’’— 

certain corporations, limited liability 

companies, and other entities created in 

or registered to do business in the 

United States—to report to FinCEN 

identifying information associated with 

the entities themselves, their beneficial 

owners, and their company applicants 

(together, beneficial ownership 

information or BOI). The CTA 

establishes that beneficial ownership 

information (BOI) is ‘‘sensitive 

information’’ and imposes strict 

confidentiality and security restrictions 

on the storage, access, and use of that 

information.2

On September 30, 2022, FinCEN 

issued the final rule establishing BOI 

reporting requirements (the Reporting 

Rule).3 The Reporting Rule requires 

reporting companies to report BOI to 

FinCEN. Reporting companies will 

provide this information to FinCEN by 

submitting a Beneficial Ownership 

Information Report (BOIR). An initial 

BOIR must include the following BOI 

about the reporting company’s 

beneficial owners and company 

applicants (if the reporting company is 

required to report company applicant 

information): full legal name; date of 

birth; complete current address; and 

unique identifying number and issuing 

jurisdiction from an acceptable nonexpired identification document (i.e., a 

passport issued by the U.S. government, 

a document issued by a State,4 local 


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commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

United States. See 31 U.S.C. 5336(a)(12). 

5See CTA, section 6402(8)(C). 

6Compare 5 U.S.C. 552a(d) with CTA, section 

6402(c)(2). 7 31 U.S.C. 5337(c)(2). 

government, or Indian tribe for the 

purposes of identifying the individual, a 

driver’s license issued by a State, or a 

passport issued by a foreign government 

if the individual does not possess any of 

the other documents described). 

Additionally, an image of the 

identification document must be 

included in the BOIR. Reporting 

companies must file an updated BOIR to 

reflect any changes to required 

information previously submitted to 

FinCEN. 

An individual or a reporting company 

may obtain a FinCEN identifier (FinCEN 

ID) by providing certain information to 

FinCEN. A FinCEN ID is unique to each 

such individual or reporting company. 

The FinCEN ID associated with an 

individual can be used in lieu of the 

information required to be reported 

about that individual. An individual 

may request and obtain a FinCEN ID by 

submitting an application containing 

the information described above in 

connection with a reporting company’s 

beneficial owner or company applicant. 

Information provided to FinCEN to 

obtain a FinCEN ID will be disclosed to 

authorized recipients for authorized 

purposes—in the same way and to the 

same extent as BOI. The effective date 

of the Reporting Rule is January 1, 2024. 

In addition to imposing reporting 

requirements, the CTA also authorizes 

FinCEN to disclose BOI to five 

categories of authorized recipients, 

subject to strict security, confidentiality, 

and use protocols. Those categories 

include foreign and domestic law 

enforcement agencies, but do not 

include disclosures to beneficial 

owners, company applicants, or 

individuals who have obtained FinCEN 

IDs. 

To collect, maintain, and provide 

access to BOI, FinCEN is developing the 

Beneficial Ownership Information 

System (the BOI System). The CTA 

dictates that the BOI System should be 

‘‘highly useful’’ to its authorized users, 

including law enforcement agencies.5

Indeed, the information to be collected 

by FinCEN is intended to assist law 

enforcement in: anti-money laundering, 

tax, and other financial investigations; 

advance counterterrorism, counterproliferation, and broader national 

security and intelligence interests; help 

prevent evasion of financial sanctions; 

and facilitate tax compliance. 

Privacy Act 

The Privacy Act contains certain 

requirements regarding the maintenance 

and disclosure of a system of records. 

Those requirements may differ from, or 

conflict with, the comprehensive 

requirements for maintaining and 

disclosing BOI specified in the CTA. For 

example, while the Privacy Act provides 

for access to records by certain 

individuals upon request, the CTA 

prohibits disclosure of BOI except as 

authorized in five enumerated 

categories, none of which include 

disclosure to such individuals under the 

Privacy Act.6 The CTA, therefore, 

expressly prohibits certain disclosures 

that would otherwise be required under 

the more general provisions of the 

Privacy Act. In this and any other case 

where the CTA conflicts with the 

Privacy Act, FinCEN believes that the 

more detailed, specific provisions of the 

CTA supersede any contrary provisions 

in the Privacy Act. Nevertheless, to the 

extent certain provisions of the Privacy 

Act were to apply, and without 

conceding that they do, FinCEN is 

publishing this proposed rule pursuant 

to 5 U.S.C. 552(j) and (k), to exempt 

FinCEN .004—Beneficial Ownership 

Information System from those 

provisions. 

Under 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2), the head of 

a Federal agency may promulgate rules 

to exempt a system of records from 

certain provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a if the 

system of records is ‘‘maintained by an 

agency or component thereof which 

performs as its principal function any 

activity pertaining to the enforcement of 

criminal laws, including police efforts 

to prevent, control, or reduce crime or 

to apprehend criminals, and the 

activities of prosecutors, courts, 

correctional, probation, pardon or 

parole authorities, and which consists of 

(A) information compiled for the 

purpose of identifying individual 

criminal offenders and alleged offenders 

and consisting only of identifying data 

and notations of arrests, the nature and 

disposition of criminal charges, 

sentencing, confinement, release, and 

parole and probation status; (B) 

information compiled for the purpose of 

a criminal investigation, including 

reports of informants and investigators, 

and associated with an identifiable 

individual; or (C) reports identifiable to 

an individual compiled at any stage of 

the process of enforcement of the 

criminal laws from arrest or indictment 

through release from supervision.’’ 

Under 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), the head of 

a Federal agency may promulgate rules 

to exempt a system of records from 

certain provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a if the 

system of records is ‘‘investigatory 

material compiled for law enforcement 

purposes, other than material within the 

scope of subsection (j)(2) of this 

section.’’ 

FinCEN is hereby giving notice of a 

proposed rule to exempt the BOI System 

from certain provisions of the Privacy 

Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2) and 

(k)(2) and the authority vested in the 

Secretary of the Treasury by 31 CFR 

1.23(c). The reasons for exempting the 

system of records from sections (c)(3), 

(c)(4), (d)(1), (d)(2), (d)(3), (d)(4), (e)(1), 

(e)(2), (e)(4)(G), (e)(4)(H), (e)(5), (e)(8), (f) 

and (g) of the Privacy Act are as follows: 

(1) 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(1), (e)(4)(H) and 

(f)(2), (f)(3) and (f)(5) grant individuals 

access to records containing information 

about them. An exemption from these 

provisions is appropriate because the 

CTA prohibits FinCEN from disclosing 

BOI except to five categories of 

authorized recipients; 7 these categories 

do not include beneficial owners, 

company applicants, or individuals who 

have obtained FinCEN IDs. Because 

individuals who are the subject of the 

records in the BOI System are not 

included in any of those categories, the 

application of 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(1), 

(e)(4)(H) and (f)(2), (f)(3) and (f)(5) to the 

BOI System would contravene the 

CTA’s disclosure restrictions. 

(2) 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)(G) and (f)(1) 

enable individuals to inquire whether a 

system of records contains records about 

them. An exemption from these 

provisions is appropriate because 

allowing individuals involved in illegal 

activity to learn that FinCEN has 

information concerning those 

individuals that could lead to them 

being identified for investigation could 

undercut the CTA mandate that the BOI 

System be ‘‘highly useful’’ to law 

enforcement agencies. For instance, 

such notice could prompt individuals 

engaged in illegal activity to: (a) take 

steps to avoid detection; (b) begin, 

continue, or resume illegal conduct 

upon learning that they are not 

identified in the system of records; or (c) 

destroy evidence needed to prove the 

violation. 

(3) 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(2), (d)(3) and 

(d)(4), (e)(4)(H) and (f)(4) permit 

individuals to request amendment of a 

record pertaining to them and require 

the agency either to amend the record or 

note the disputed portion of the record 

and, if the agency refuses to amend the 

record, to provide a copy of the 

individual’s statement of disagreement 

with the agency’s refusal, to persons or 

other agencies to whom the record is 

thereafter disclosed. Because these 

provisions depend on individuals 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Proposed Rules 63041 

having access to their records, and since 

this rule proposes to exempt the BOI 

System from the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 

552a relating to access to records for the 

reasons set forth above, these provisions 

would not apply to the BOI System. 

Furthermore, an exemption from this 

requirement is appropriate because 

allowing individuals to amend certain 

records that pertain to them would 

conflict with the mechanism for 

reporting and updating beneficial 

ownership information provided for in 

the CTA. 

(4) 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(4) requires an 

agency to inform any person or other 

agency about any correction or notation 

of dispute that the agency made in 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(d) to any 

record that the agency disclosed to the 

person or agency, if an accounting of the 

disclosure was made. Because this 

provision depends on individuals 

having access to and an opportunity to 

request amendment of records 

pertaining to them, and because this 

rule proposes to exempt the BOI System 

from the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a 

relating to access to and amendment of 

records for the reasons set forth above, 

this provision would not apply to the 

BOI System. 

(5) 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3) requires an 

agency to make any accounting of 

disclosures of records required by 5 

U.S.C. 552a(c)(1) available to the 

individual named in the record upon 

his or her request. Any such accounting 

must state the date, nature, and purpose 

of each disclosure of the record and the 

name and address of the recipient. 

Applying this provision would impair 

the effective use of information 

collected in the BOI System. Making an 

accounting of disclosures available to 

the subject of an investigation would 

alert them that another agency is 

investigating their criminal activities 

and could reveal the geographic location 

of the other agency’s investigation, the 

nature and purpose of that investigation, 

and the dates on which that 

investigation was active. Violators 

possessing such knowledge would be 

able to take measures to avoid detection 

or apprehension by: (a) altering their 

operations; (b) transferring their 

criminal activities to other geographical 

areas, legal entities, or ostensible 

beneficial owners; or (c) destroying or 

concealing evidence that would form 

the basis for arrest. Moreover, providing 

an accounting to the subjects of 

investigations would alert them to the 

fact that FinCEN has information 

relevant to their suspected criminal 

activities. Access to such information, 

together with other available 

information, could reveal the operation 

of the information-gathering and 

analysis systems of FinCEN and other 

BOI System users, and permit violators 

to take steps to avoid detection or 

apprehension. 

(6) 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(1) requires an 

agency to maintain in its records only 

such information about an individual as 

is relevant and necessary to accomplish 

a purpose of the agency required to be 

accomplished by statute or executive 

order. Maintenance of information, as 

defined in 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(3), includes 

the collection and dissemination of 

information. An exemption from this 

provision is therefore appropriate 

because its application would require 

FinCEN to make determinations at the 

time of collection about the relevance 

and necessity of collected information. 

Speculative determinations about the 

relevance and necessity of collected 

information could negatively impact the 

quality of information available to law 

enforcement in future investigations, 

which would undermine the mandate in 

the CTA that the BOI System be ‘‘highly 

useful’’ to law enforcement. 

(7) 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(2) requires an 

agency to collect information to the 

greatest extent practicable directly from 

the subject individual when the 

information may result in adverse 

determinations about an individual’s 

rights, benefits, and privileges under 

Federal programs. To the extent 

information in the BOI System might 

result in such an adverse determination, 

applying this provision would 

contravene the requirement in the CTA 

that FinCEN collect BOI from reporting 

companies. 

(8) 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(5) requires an 

agency to maintain all records it uses in 

making any determination about any 

individual with such accuracy, 

relevance, timeliness, and completeness 

as is reasonably necessary to assure 

fairness to the individual in the 

determination. Because 5 U.S.C. 

552a(a)(3) defines ‘‘maintain’’ as 

including ‘‘collect’’ and ‘‘disseminate,’’ 

applying this provision to the BOI 

System would hinder timely 

dissemination of BOI, and by extension 

hinder law enforcement efforts 

dependent upon such information. 

Information in the BOI System is filed 

by reporting companies and individual 

FinCEN ID applicants, and it is not 

possible at the time of collection to 

determine whether the information in 

such records is accurate, relevant, 

timely, and complete. 

(9) 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(8) requires an 

agency to make reasonable efforts to 

serve notice on an individual when the 

agency makes any record on the 

individual available to any person 

under compulsory legal process when 

such process becomes a matter of public 

record. Exemption from this 

requirement is appropriate because 

applying the requirement to the BOI 

System could reveal to the subject of a 

law enforcement investigation or action 

that a law enforcement agency used BOI 

in the investigation or action, thereby 

revealing the agency’s investigative 

techniques and procedures. 

(10) 5 U.S.C. 552a(g) provides an 

individual with civil remedies when: (a) 

an agency wrongfully refuses to amend 

a record or to review a request for 

amendment; (b) an agency wrongfully 

refuses to grant access to a record; (c) 

any determination relating to an 

individual is based on records that are 

not accurate, relevant, timely and 

complete; and (d) an agency fails to 

comply with any other provision of 5 

U.S.C. 552a so as to adversely affect the 

individual. The BOI System should be 

exempted from this provision to the 

extent that the civil remedies relate to 

the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a from 

which the prior paragraphs of this 

section exempt the BOI System. There 

should be no civil remedies for failure 

to comply with provisions from which 

this system of records is exempted. 

Exemption from this provision will also 

protect FinCEN from baseless civil court 

actions that might hamper its ability to 

collate, analyze and disseminate data. 

Any information from a system of 

records for which an exemption is 

claimed under 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2) or 

(k)(2) which is also included in another 

system of records retains the same 

exempt status such information has in 

the system of records for which such 

exemption is claimed. 

Regulatory Analysis 

This proposed rule is not a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Pursuant to the requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq., it is hereby certified 

that this proposed rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The proposed regulation, issued under 

sections (j)(2) and (k)(2) of the Privacy 

Act, is to exempt certain information 

maintained by Treasury in the abovereferenced systems of records from 

certain provisions of the Privacy Act. 

Small entities, as defined in the RFA, 

are not provided rights under the 

Privacy Act and are outside the scope of 

this regulation. 

In accordance with the provisions of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., FinCEN has 

determined that this proposed rule will 


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63042 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

not impose new record keeping, 

reporting, or other types of information 

collection requirements. 

Lists of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 1 

Privacy. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, part 1 of title 31 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations is proposed to be 

amended as follows: 

PART 1—DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 552, 552a, 553; 31 

U.S.C. 301, 321; 31 U.S.C. 3717. 

■ 2. Amend § 1.36 by adding, in 

alphanumeric order, an entry for 

‘‘FinCEN .004’’ in table 7 to paragraph 

(c)(1)(vii) and table 17 to paragraph 

(g)(1)(ix) to read as follows: 

§ 1.36 Systems exempt in whole or in part 

from provisions of the Privacy Act and this 

part. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(vii) * * * 

TABLE 7 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(1)(vii) 

No. Name of system 

*******

FinCEN .004 .......... Beneficial Ownership Information System (not exempt from 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(3) and 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)(I)). 

* * * * * 

(g) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(ix) * * * 

TABLE 17 TO PARAGRAPH (g)(1)(ix) 

No. Name of system 

*******

FinCEN .004 .......... Beneficial Ownership Information System (not exempt from 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(3) and 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)(I)). 

* * * * * 

Ryan Law, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary Privacy, 

Transparency, and Records, U.S. Department 

of the Treasury. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19815 Filed 9–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 165 

[USCG–2023–0366] 

RIN 1625–AA00 

Safety Zone; Hurricanes, Tropical 

Storms, and Other Storms With High 

Winds; Captain of the Port Zone 

Virginia 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is proposing 

to establish a safety zone for the 

navigable waters of the Sector Virginia 

Captain of the Port (COTP) Zone, to be 

enforced in the event of hurricanes, 

tropical storms, and other storms with 

high winds. This action is necessary to 

ensure the safety of the waters of the 

Sector Virginia COTP Zone. This 

proposed rulemaking would establish 

actions to be completed by industry and 

vessels within the COTP Zone before 

hurricanes, tropical storms, and other 

storms with high winds threatening the 

State of Virginia make landfall, and 

afterwards as well. We invite your 

comments on this proposed rulemaking. 

DATES: Comments and related material 

must be received by the Coast Guard on 

or before October 16, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by docket number USCG– 

2023–0366 using the Federal DecisionMaking Portal at https://

www.regulations.gov. See the ‘‘Public 

Participation and Request for 

Comments’’ portion of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 

further instructions on submitting 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions about this proposed 

rulemaking, call or email LCDR Ashley 

Holm, Chief Waterways Management 

Division U.S. Coast Guard; 757–617– 

7986, Ashley.E.Holm@uscg.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Table of Abbreviations 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

FR Federal Register 

MTS Marine Transportation System 

NPRM Notice of proposed rulemaking 

§ Section 

U.S.C. United States Code 

II. Background, Purpose, and Legal 

Basis 

Virginia has the potential to be 

affected by hurricanes and tropical 

storms on a yearly basis, especially 

between the months of June and 

November. Additionally, severe storms 

generating high winds and rough seas 

are also common in the winter months. 

The Sector Virginia COTP proposes 

establishing a safety zone to protect 

mariners, port infrastructure, and the 

environment during and after these 

severe weather events. The Coast Guard 

is proposing this rulemaking under 

authority in 46 U.S.C. 70034. 

III. Discussion of Proposed Rule 

The Coast Guard proposes to establish 

a safety zone on the navigable waters of 

the Sector Virginia COTP Zone during 

hurricanes, tropical storms, and other 

storms with high winds. This safety 

zone would establish actions to be 

completed by local industry and vessels 

in the COTP zone prior to landfall of 

hurricanes, tropical storms, and other 

storms with high winds threatening 

Virginia and in the aftermath of landfall. 

Port Conditions (WHISKEY, X–RAY, 

YANKEE, ZULU, and RECOVERY) are 

standardized terms for states of 

operation instituted by the COTP which 

are clearly communicated to port 


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