29774 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 104 / Monday, June 1, 1998 / Notices

District of Florida 95–118–CR–

UNGARO–BENAGES

8. Wayne P. Smith, 2333 Big Woods,

Edgerly Road, Vinton, LA 70668.

Conviction date: October 3, 1995, 22

U.S.C. § 2778 (violation of AECA),

U.S. v. Wayne P. Smith, U.S. District

Court for the Western District of

Louisiana, 2:95CR20069–001

9. Erickson Trouillot, 8840 N.W. 23rd

Street, Coral Springs, FL. Conviction

date: October 29, 1996, 22 U.S.C.

§ 2778 (violation of AECA), U.S. v.

Erickson Trouillot, U.S. District Court

for the Southern District of Florida,

95–6138–CR–GONZALES(s)

Specific case information may be

obtained from the Office of the Clerk for

each respective U.S. District Court.

This notice involves a foreign affairs

function of the United States

encompassed within the meaning of the

military and foreign affairs exclusion of

the Administrative Procedure Act.

Because the exercise of this foreign

affairs function is discretionary, it is

excluded from review under the

Administrative Procedure Act.

Dated: May 11, 1998.

William J. Lowell,

Director, Office of Defense Trade Controls,

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S.

Department of State.

[FR Doc. 98–14315 Filed 5–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–25–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG–1998–3880]

Vessel Traffic Management Measures

in the Monterey Bay National Marine

Sanctuary; Public Workshop Notice

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public workshops;

request for comments.

SUMMARY: The United States Coast

Guard (USCG) and the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA) will hold four Public

Workshops to obtain views and

comments regarding the need for

offshore vessel management in the

Monterey Bay National Marine

Sanctuary (MBNMS) for the protection

of the marine environment.

DATES: Public Workshops will be held

on the following dates:

June 17, 1998, 7 p.m., Half Moon Bay,

CA

June 18, 1998, 7 p.m., Oakland, CA

June 29, 1998, 7 p.m., Santa Cruz, CA

June 30, 1998, 7 p.m., Monterey, CA

Oral presentations are encouraged to

promote an open forum with group

participation, however if interested

parties are unable to attend the

workshop, written comments will be

accepted and should reach the Eleventh

Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation

and Waterways Management Branch on

or before July 14, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Public workshops will be

held at the following locations:

Half Moon Bay, CA—Ted Adcock

Community/Senior Center, 535 Kelly

Avenue, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 Oakland, CA, Port of Oakland, 2nd

Floor Board Room, 530 Water Street,

Oakland, CA 94607

Monterey, CA—Doubletree Hotel at the

Intersection of Del Monte Avenue and

Alvarado Street, Monterey, CA 93940 Santa Cruz, CA—Cocoanut Grove Hotel,

400 Beach Street, Santa Cruz, CA

95060

You may mail your comments to the

Docket Management Facility, (USCG–

1998–3880), U.S. Department of

Transportation, room PL–401, 400

Seventh Street SW., Washington DC

20590–0001, or deliver them to room

PL–401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif

Building at the same address between

10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through

Friday, except Federal holidays. The

telephone number is 202–366–9329. You may also deliver comments or

other written materials for inclusion in

the public docket to Commander (Pow),

Eleventh Coast Guard District, Building

50–6, Coast Guard Island, Alameda, CA

94501; Attn: MBNMS Public Comment,

between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday, except Federal

Holidays. The telephone number is

(510) 437–2982.

The Docket Management Facility

maintains the public docket for these

workshops. Comments and other

submitted documents will become part

of this docket and will be available for

inspection or copying at room PL–401

on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building

at the same address between 10 a.m. and

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays. You may also access

this docket on the Internet at http://

dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

LTJG Kati Sylvester, Waterways

Management Officer, Eleventh Coast

Guard District, Building 50–6, Coast

Guard Island, Alameda, CA 94501. The

telephone number is (510) 437–2982.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Workshop

Public Workshops to discuss the need

for Vessel Traffic Management Measures

in the Monterey Bay National Marine

Sanctuary will be held in the following

locations: • Half Moon Bay, 7 p.m., Wednesday

June 17, 1998, Ted Adcock Community/

Senior Center, 535 Kelly Avenue, Half

Moon Bay, CA.

• Oakland, 7 p.m., Thursday, June 18,

1998, Port of Oakland, 2nd Floor Board

Room, 530 Water Street, Oakland, CA.

• Santa Cruz, 7 p.m., Monday, June

29, 1998, Cocoanut Grove Hotel, 400

Beach Street, Santa Cruz, CA.

• Monterey, 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 30,

1998, Doubletree Hotel, intersection of

Del Monte Avenue & Alvarado Street,

Monterey, CA.

The doors for the public workshops

will open at 6:30 p.m. for registration.

The workshops will begin at 7 p.m. with

a brief presentation. The presentation

will cover the steps leading to the

workshops, a description of the vessel

activity in and near the Sanctuary, an

overview of the sensitive Sanctuary

resources and their value to the coastal

culture and economy, a description of a

work group process used by the Coast

Guard and NOAA to shape the analysis,

and lastly a set of management measures

believed to increase Sanctuary resource

protection while preserving the

economic viability of California ports.

Meeting attendees will then be invited

to present comments or direct questions

to a panel of representatives from a

work group assembled by NOAA and

the Coast Guard to help frame the

issues. We are particularly interested in

comments relating to:

• Distance Off Shore—Identification

of a distance off shore for tankers, tank

barges, vessels carrying hazardous

materials, and large commercial vessels

that would provide adequate protection

to the sensitive marine resources of the

Sanctuary without imposing undue

economic stress to the shipping

industry.

• Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS)—

Implementation of pre-approved

adjustments to existing TSSs, including

a western rotation of the southern leg of

the San Francisco TSS to provide a true

north/north alignment and an eighteen

miles extension on the western end of

the Santa Barbara Channel TSS.

• Rescue—Identification of vessels of

opportunity available to assist vessels

which become disabled during coastal

transit.

• Implementation Mechanisms—To

include Industry Agreements and

Recommended Routes approved by the

International Maritime Organization

(IMO).

• Reporting Systems:—Voluntary

Reporting System, approved by the

IMO, to monitor vessel transits along the

California coastline via radio call-in

points and/or Automated Information

System (AIS).
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 104 / Monday, June 1, 1998 / Notices 29775

A detailed Information Packet

concerning these issues is available for

review and copying in the public docket

at the address under ADDRESSES or on

the internet at http://dms.dot.gov, or

may be obtained from the Coast Guard

Internet Home Page at www.uscg.mil/

pacarea/pm/graphic/mbnms.htm or by

calling (408) 647–4201 in Monterey, CA

or (510) 437–2982 in Oakland, CA.

Purpose of Workshop

In January of 1997 the USCG and

NOAA submitted a Report to Congress

on Regulating Vessel Traffic in the

Monterey Bay National Marine

Sanctuary, which was mandated by the

National Marine Sanctuaries Program

Amendments Act of 1992. In this report,

the USCG and NOAA made a

commitment to hold public workshops

to help formulate a policy concerning

the need for vessel management

measures in the Sanctuary. These public

workshops are designed to realize this

goal.

Sanctuary Background

In September of 1992 the Monterey

Bay National Marine Sanctuary

(MBNMS) was established in

recognition of its dramatic underwater

geology and topography, its floral and

fauna diversity, its abundant

commercial fishery, and its standing as

an important research site. The

Monterey Bay National Marine

Sanctuary is the largest of its kind in the

country, and includes over 5,000 square

miles of water off the central California

Coast. It spans over 350 miles of

coastline from Cambria to Rocky Point,

and extends as much as fifty-three miles

offshore. The Sanctuary supports

diverse bird species and several

threatened and endangered marine

mammals.

Formation of the Monterey Bay

National Marine Sanctuary Vessel

Traffic Management Work Group

To better prepare for the public

workshops, the Coast Guard and NOAA

invited members from industry,

conservation, and government groups to

participate in the Monterey Bay

National Marine Sanctuary Vessel

Management work group. Formed as a

Panel under the Navigation Safety

Advisory Committee (NAVSAC), its

purpose was to frame the issues in such

a way as to facilitate productive public

workshops. The work group will help

NOAA and the Coast Guard incorporate

the views obtained from the public

workships into a report to NAVSAC

containing suggested strategies for

increasing Sanctuary protection at

reasonable cost to the shipping industry.

NAVSAC will in turn make

recommendations to the Coast Guard

and NOAA on implementation.

Sanctuary Resources and Potential

Threats

The MBNMS is characterized by a

combination of oceanic conditions and

undersea topography that provides for a

rich and highly productive ecosystem.

Six distinct marine habitats can be

described in the MBNMS: (1) A

submarine canyon habitat (2) a nearshore sublittoral habitat (3) a rocky

intertidal habitat (4) a sandy beach

intertidal habitat (5) a kelp forest habitat

(6) estuaries and sloughs.

Living resources found in the

MBNMS include twenty-seven different

types of marine mammals including

several endangered species,

approximately ninety-four bird species,

approximately 345 fish species and one

of the most diverse populations of

invertebrate marine fauna in the world.

The proximity of the Monterey

submarine canyon to shore allows

scientists a unique opportunity to study

the land-deep sea interface.

Current Vessel Traffic Management

Procedures

Shipping activity in the Sanctuary

includes both U.S. and foreign

registered vessels of the following types:

Tankers, container ships, bulk carriers,

chemical carriers, military vessels,

research vessels, cruise ships, tugboats,

registered fishing vessels and other

types of vessels used for commercial

purposes. Altogether, these total about

4,000 vessel transits through the

Sanctuary per year. There are no formal

vessel routes along the central California

coast. However, there are a variety of

preventative measures in place to

reduce the likelihood of marine

accidents. These include an Industry

Agreement between tankers carrying

Alaskan crude oil and the State of

California to transit at least fifty nautical

miles offshore; Vessel Traffic Services in

San Francisco and Los Angeles/Long

Beach; TSS’s in the approach to San

Francisco Bay and the Santa Barbara

Channel; regulatory initiatives relating

to vessel construction, equipment, and

operating procedures; and the Coast

Guard’s Prevention Through People and

vessel inspection programs.

Vessel Traffic Work Group Processes

and Evaluations

The goal of the Vessel Traffic

Management work group was to

identify, evaluate, and prioritize

strategies for vessel traffic management

in the MBNMS. Using public comment

from past studies, key components of

vessel traffic management were

categorized as Traffic Separation

Schemes (TSS), Distance From Shore,

Implementation Mechanisms for

routing, Reporting, and Response to

Disabled Vessels. Each potential strategy

was listed under one of the above

categories and was individually

evaluated by the group in terms of its

environmental effectiveness, socioeconomic impacts, and institutional

feasibility.

Through the systematic evaluation

process, a set of vessel routing and

management measures emerged as

increasing Sanctuary protection without

unreasonable cost to industry. These

measures are discussed below to help

facilitate discussion at the workshops.

Distance From Shore

One of the work group’s challenges

was to identify a distance off shore for

the implementation of routing measures

that would provide adequate protection

to the sensitive marine resources of the

Sanctuary without imposing undue

economic stress to the shipping

industry. The following recommended

transit distances off shore were derived

based on current practice and threat

level:

Tankers—Fifty nautical miles

Barges—Twenty-five nautical miles

Hazmat Vessels—Twenty-five nautical miles

LCVs—Off Pigeon Point:

Twelve decimal seven nautical miles

(northbound)

Sixteen nautical miles (southbound)

Off Point Sur:

Fifteen nautical miles (northbound)

Twenty nautical miles (southbound)

A Vessel Drift Rate Analysis was used

to help determine a suitable protection

level for the Sanctuary by identifying a

line along the central coast where a

response vessel from a nearby port

could arrest the drift of a disabled vessel

prior to shore impact during a worst

case wind event.

Implementation Mechanisms for

Routing

The minimum transit distances from

shore listed above would be

implemented by establishing IMO

approved Recommended Routes for

LCV’s. The Recommended Routes

would be depicted on National Oceanic

Service nautical charts. This system

would reduce risk by adding order and

predictability to coastwise traffic flow

and by virtually eliminating the threat

of grounding by a disabled vessel.

Tankers would be encouraged to

continue their participation in Industry

Agreements with Western States

Petroleum Association. The Industry

Agreements would be strengthened with
29776 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 104 / Monday, June 1, 1998 / Notices

Coast Guard involvement. Tank barges

would be encouraged to remain 25

nautical miles offshore, in compliance

with the Responsible Carriers Program,

and standard developed by the

American Waterway Operators.

Reporting

An effective way to monitor vessel

transits along the California coastline is

through the use of radio call-in points

at two key geographical points: Point

Sur and Point Arguello.

The work group also supports the

implementation of the Automatic

Identification System (AIS) for ships

currently being developed by the IMO.

AIS is an automated electronic vessel

position reporting system that transmits

a real-time positional information

packet to a shore based station such as

the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS).

A Near-Miss Reporting system is

currently under development at the

National level and will help to identify

causes of marine accidents and rectify

problem areas before accidents occur.

Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS)

To provide alignment with the

recommended routing measures, the

Santa Barbara Channel Traffic

Separation Scheme will be extended

approximately eighteen nautical miles

to Point Arguello. The southern leg of

the San Francisco TSS would be shifted

slightly to the west to provide a true

north-south alignment for vessels

entering and departing the TSS. These

recommended changes to the TSS have

been approved by the International

Maritime Organization (IMO) and are

ready for implementation.

Response to Disabled Vessels

There is a low but existing risk to the

resources of the Sanctuary from a

disabled vessel grounding on the rocky

shoreline. Timely response from one or

more appropriate vessels could make

the difference between an

environmental disaster and an

insignificant event. The work group

recommended the development of a

vessel response network to enable a

shoreside authority to identify and

locate vessels willing and able to

provide immediate emergency

assistance to a disabled vessel.

Informaiton on Services for

Individuals With Disabilities: For

information on facilities or services for

individuals with disabilities or to

request special assistance at the

meetings, contact the person under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT as soon

as possible.

Dated: May 22, 1998.

R. C. North,

Rear Admiral, Coast Guard, Assistant

Commandant for Marine, Safety and

Environmental Protection.

[FR Doc. 98–14393 Filed 5–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–15–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

FAA Approval of Noise Compatibility

Program and Determination on

Revised Noise Exposure Maps AkronCanton Regional Airport Akron, Ohio

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) announces its

findings on the noise compatibility

program submitted by Akron-Canton

Regional Airport Authority under the

provisions of Title I of the Aviation

Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979

(Pub. L. 96–193) and 14 CFR Part 150.

These findings are made in recognition

of the description of Federal and

nonfederal responsibilities in Senate

Report No. 96–52 (1980). On October 16,

1997, the FAA determined that the

noise exposure maps submitted by

Akron-Canton Regional Airport

Authority under Part 150 were in

compliance with applicable

requirements. On April 9, 1998, the

Associate Administrator for Airports

approved the Akron-Canton Regional

Airport noise compatibility program.

Most of the recommendations of the

program were approved. The AkronCanton Regional Airport Authority has

also requested under FAR Part 150,

section 150.35(f), that FAA determine

that revised noise exposure maps

submitted with the noise compatibility

program and showing noise contours as

a result of the implementation of the

noise compatibility program are in

compliance with applicable

requirements of FAR Part 150. The FAA

announces its determination that the

revised noise exposure maps for AkronCanton Regional Airport for the years

submitted with the noise compatibility

program, are in compliance with

applicable requirements of FAR Part 150

effective May 13, 1998.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The effective date of the

FAA’s approval of the Akron-canton

Regional Airport noise compatibility

program is April 9, 1998. The effective

date of the FAA’s determination on the

revised noise exposure maps is May 13,

1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lawrence C. King, program Manager,

Federal Aviation administration, Detroit

Airports District Office, Willow Run

Airport, East, 8820 Beck Road,

Belleville, Michigan 48111. Documents

reflecting this FAA action may be

reviewed at this same location.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

notice announces that the FAA has

given its overall approval to the noise

compatibility program for Akron-Canton

Regional Airport, effective April 9,

1998, and that revised noise exposure

maps for 1997–2002 for this same

airport are determined to be in

compliance with applicable

requirements of FAR Part 150.

Under section 104(a) of the Aviation

Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979

(hereinafter referred to as ‘‘the Act’’), an

airport operator who has previously

submitted a noise exposure map may

submit to the FAA a noise compatibility

program which sets forth the measures

taken or proposed by the airport

operator for the reduction of existing

noncompatible land uses and

prevention of additional noncompatible

land uses within the area covered by the

noise exposure maps. The Act requires

such programs to be developed in

consultation with interested and

affected parties including local

communities, government agencies,

airport users, and FAA personnel.

Each airport noise compatibility

program developed in accordance with

Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part

150 is a local program, not a Federal

program. The FAA does not substitute

its judgment for that of the airport

proprietor with respect to which

measures should be recommended for

action. The FAA’s approval or

disapproval of FAR Part 150 program

recommendations is measured

according to the standards expressed in

Part 150 and the Act, and is limited to

the following determinations:

a. The noise compatibility program

was developed in accordance with the

provisions and procedures of FAR Part

150;

b. Program measures are reasonably

consistent with achieving the goals of

reducing existing noncompatible land

uses around the airport and preventing

the introduction of additional

noncompatible land uses;

c. Program measures would not create

an undue burden on interstate or foreign

commerce, unjustly discriminate against

types or classes of aeronautical uses,

violate the terms of airport grant

agreements, or intrude into areas

preempted by the Federal Government;

and