Document ID: USCG-2014-0142-0001
Agency: uscg
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: NPRM:  Anchorage Regulations: Special Anchorage Areas, Marina del Rey Harbor, CA (Federal Register Publication)
Posted Date: 2014-05-28T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30509-30511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12178]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 110

[Docket No. USCG-2014-0142]
RIN 1625-AA01

Anchorage Regulations: Special Anchorage Areas, Marina del Rey 
Harbor, California

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to disestablish the special anchorage 
area at the north end of the main channel in Marina del Rey Harbor, 
California. Several marina expansion projects have encroached upon the 
anchorage. Vessels rarely use the anchorage due to a high volume of 
traffic moving through it as vessels transit in and out of the harbor. 
This proposed action will remove the anchorage area from the 
regulations. Vessels may anchor in the harbor during storms, stress, or 
other emergency situations.

DATES: Comments and related material must be received by the Coast 
Guard on or before June 27, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2014-0142 using any one of the following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
    (2) Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    (3) Mail or Delivery: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. 
Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Deliveries 
accepted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
federal holidays. The telephone number is (202) 366-9329.
    See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion 
of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for further instructions 
on submitting comments. To avoid duplication, please use only one of 
these three methods.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this proposed 
rule, call or email Lieutenant Junior Grade Zachary Bonheim, Waterways 
Management Division, U.S. Coast Guard District 11, telephone (510) 437-
2978, email Zachary.W.Bonheim@uscg.mil. If you have questions on 
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Cheryl Collins, 
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Acronyms

CFR Code of Federal Regulations
DHS Department of Homeland Security
FR Federal Register
NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

A. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting 
comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided.

1. Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
rulemaking, indicate the specific section of this document to which 
each comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or 
recommendation. You may submit your comments and material online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but 
please use only one of these means. If you submit a comment online, it 
will be considered received by the Coast Guard when you successfully 
transmit the comment. If you fax, hand deliver, or mail your comment, 
it will be considered as having been received by the Coast Guard when 
it is received at the Docket Management Facility. We recommend that you 
include your name and a mailing address, an email address, or a 
telephone number in the body of your document so that we can contact 
you if we have questions regarding your submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
type the docket number USCG-2014-0142 in the ``SEARCH'' box and click 
``SEARCH.'' Click on ``Submit a Comment'' on the line associated with 
this rulemaking.
    If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them 
in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing. If you submit comments by mail and would 
like to know that they reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, 
self-addressed

[[Page 30510]]

postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and material 
received during the comment period and may change the rule based on 
your comments.

2. Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble 
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
type the docket number USCG-2014-0142 in the ``SEARCH'' box and click 
``SEARCH.'' Click on Open Docket Folder on the line associated with 
this rulemaking. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in 
Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the Department of Transportation 
West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

3. Privacy Act

    Anyone can search the electronic form of comments received into any 
of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or 
signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.). You may review a Privacy Act notice 
regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the 
Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

4. Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a 
request for one, using one of the methods specified under ADDRESSES. 
Please explain why you believe a public meeting would be beneficial. If 
we determine that one would aid this rulemaking, we will hold one at a 
time and place announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.

B. Regulatory History and Information

    33 CFR 110.111 establishes a special anchorage area in the main 
channel of Marina del Rey Harbor. The anchorage has the following 
described boundaries: Beginning at the most northeasterly corner in 
position 33[deg]58'58'' N, 118[deg]26'46'' W; thence southerly to 
33[deg]58'53'' N, 118[deg]26'46'' W; thence southeasterly to 
33[deg]58'52'' N, 118[deg]26'45'' W; thence southerly to 33[deg]58'39'' 
N, 118[deg]26'45'' W; thence westerly to 33[deg]58'38'' N, 
118[deg]26'55'' W; thence northerly to 33[deg]59'00'' N, 
118[deg]26'55'' W; thence easterly to the point of beginning.
    The anchorage area is reserved for yachts and other recreational 
craft and for all types of small craft during storm, stress, or other 
emergency. Single and fore-and-aft moorings are allowed in the area as 
permitted by the director of the Department of Small Craft Harbors, Los 
Angeles County.

C. Basis and Purpose

    The legal basis for this proposed rule is: 33 U.S.C. 471, 1221 
through 1236, 2030, 2035, 2071; 33 CFR 1.05-1; and Department of 
Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1, which collectively authorize 
the Coast Guard to define anchorage grounds.
    The purpose of this proposed rule is to align the regulations with 
the current and future configuration of the main channel and docking 
facilities in Marina del Rey Harbor. Since this special anchorage area 
was established, several projects have expanded docking facilities at 
the north end of the channel. These docks now encroach on the anchorage 
area, and future projects are planned to continue this expansion. It 
has become necessary to either redefine the boundaries of the 
anchorage, or remove it from the regulations.
    Vessel and facility operators in the harbor have given feedback 
that the anchorage is very rarely used. Since the anchorage is in the 
center of the main channel, a high volume of recreational vessel 
traffic transits through the area on a consistent basis, making it both 
impractical and unsafe for vessels to anchor there.
    Due to its limited use, the Coast Guard proposes to disestablish 
the anchorage. This action will also reduce the regulatory burden on 
the public by eliminating an unnescessary section from the CFR.

D. Discussion of Proposed Rule

    The Coast Guard is proposing to disestablish the special anchorage 
area at the north end of the main channel in Marina del Rey Harbor, 
California in 33 CFR 110.111. This action will remove 33 CFR 110.111 
and reserve it for future use. The anchorage area will be removed from 
all charts, publications and other navigational references. This 
proposed rule will not prevent vessels from anchoring in the harbor 
during storms, stress, or other emergency situations.

E. Regulatory Analyses

    We developed this proposed rule after considering numerous statutes 
and executive orders related to rulemaking. Below we summarize our 
analyses based on a number of these statutes or executive orders.

1. Regulatory Planning and Review

    This proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action under 
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 
as supplemented by Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and 
Regulatory Review, and does not require an assessment of potential 
costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of Executive Order 12866 or 
under section 1 of Executive Order 13563. The Office of Management and 
Budget has not reviewed it under those Orders. We anticipate that this 
proposed rule will not have a significant impact on vessel owners and 
operators, as it removes an obsolete anchorage area that is very rarely 
used.

2. Impact on Small Entities

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601-612, as 
amended, requires federal agencies to consider the potential impact of 
regulations on small entities during rulemaking. The term ``small 
entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations 
that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their 
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than 
50,000. The Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this 
proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.
    This proposed rule would affect the following entities, some of 
which might be small entities: The owners or operators of recreational 
vessels intending to anchor in the affected area.
    The disestablishment of this anchorage would not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entitities for the 
following reasons: Due to the high volume of vessel traffic transiting 
through Marina del Rey's main channel, it is both impractical and 
unsafe to utilize this anchorage. For this reason, very few 
recreational vessels and other small craft anchor in the area. Vessels 
will not be prevented from anchoring in the harbor during storms, 
stress, or other emergency situations.
    If you think that your business, organization, or governmental 
jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity and that this rule would have 
a significant economic impact on it, please submit a comment (see 
ADDRESSES) explaining why you think it qualifies and how and to what 
degree this rule would economically affect it.

3. Assistance for Small Entities

    Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we want to assist small 
entities in understanding this proposed rule. If the rule would affect 
your small business, organization, or governmental jurisdiction and you 
have questions

[[Page 30511]]

concerning its provisions or options for compliance, please contact the 
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above. The Coast 
Guard will not retaliate against small entities that question or 
complain about this proposed rule or any policy or action of the Coast 
Guard.

4. Collection of Information

    This proposed rule will not call for a new collection of 
information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520).

5. Federalism

    A rule has implications for federalism under Executive Order 13132, 
Federalism, if it has a substantial direct effect on the States, on the 
relationship between the national government and the States, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 
government. We have analyzed this proposed rule under that Order and 
determined that this rule does not have implications for federalism.

6. Protest Activities

    The Coast Guard respects the First Amendment rights of protesters. 
Protesters are asked to contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section to coordinate protest activities so that 
your message can be received without jeopardizing the safety or 
security of people, places or vessels.

7. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538) 
requires Federal agencies to assess the effects of their discretionary 
regulatory actions. In particular, the Act addresses actions that may 
result in the expenditure by a State, local, or tribal government, in 
the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100,000,000 (adjusted for 
inflation) or more in any one year. Though this proposed rule would not 
result in such an expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this rule 
elsewhere in this preamble.

8. Taking of Private Property

    This proposed rule would not cause a taking of private property or 
otherwise have taking implications under Executive Order 12630, 
Governmental Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected 
Property Rights.

9. Civil Justice Reform

    This proposed rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 
3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize 
litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.

10. Protection of Children From Environmental Health Risks

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13045, 
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks. This rule is not an economically significant rule and would not 
create an environmental risk to health or risk to safety that might 
disproportionately affect children.

11. Indian Tribal Governments

    This proposed rule does not have tribal implications under 
Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal 
Governments, because it would not have a substantial direct effect on 
one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal 
Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.

12. Energy Effects

    This proposed rule is not a ``significant energy action'' under 
Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use.

13. Technical Standards

    This proposed rule does not use technical standards. Therefore, we 
did not consider the use of voluntary consensus standards.

14. Environment

    We have analyzed this proposed rule under Department of Homeland 
Security Management Directive 023-01 and Commandant Instruction 
M16475.lD, which guide the Coast Guard in complying with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f), and 
have made a preliminary determination that this action is one of a 
category of actions that do not individually or cumulatively have a 
significant effect on the human environment. This proposed rule 
involves disestablishing the special anchorage area at the north end of 
the main channel in Marina del Rey Harbor, California. The anchorage is 
rarely used and has been encroached upon by several docking facilities. 
This rule is categorically excluded from further review under paragraph 
34(f) of Figure 2-1 of the Commandant Instruction. A preliminary 
environmental analysis checklist supporting this determination and a 
Categorical Exclusion Determination are available in the docket where 
indicated under ADDRESSES. We seek any comments or information that may 
lead to the discovery of a significant environmental impact from this 
proposed rule.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 110

    Anchorage grounds.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes 
to amend 33 CFR part 110.111 as follows:

PART 110--ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 110 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  33 U.S.C. 471, 1221 through 1236, 2030, 2035, 2071; 
33 CFR 1.05-1; Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 
0170.1.

Sec.  110.111  [Removed and Reserved]

0
2. Remove and reserve Sec.  110.111.

    Dated: April 30, 2014.
K.L. Schultz,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard 
District.
[FR Doc. 2014-12178 Filed 5-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P