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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations used as an anchoring line; it would need to be continuously tended and removed before the dive boat left the area.
NOAA is postponing the effective date for this prohibition for October 1, 2023. The purpose of this postponement is to provide NOAA with adequate time to develop a shipwreck mooring program and plan, begin installing mooring buoys, seek input from the dive community about the mooring buoy plan, and develop best practices for accessing shipwrecks when mooring buoys are not present. During this period, NOAA will also work with stakeholders to explore the concept of permitting certain prohibited activities e.g., allowing divers to attach mooring lines directly to some shipwreck sites.
All other regulations would remain in effect during this postponement.
3. Interfering With Investigations The regulations for WSCNMS prohibit interfering with sanctuary enforcement activities. This regulation will assist in NOAAs enforcement of the sanctuary regulations and strengthen sanctuary management.

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4. Exemption for Emergencies and Law Enforcement The regulations for WSCNMS exempt from the three prohibitions described above activities that respond to emergencies that threaten lives, property, or the environment, or are necessary for law enforcement purposes.
G. Emergency Regulations As part of the designation, NOAA will have the authority to issue emergency regulations for this sanctuary.
Emergency regulations will be used in limited cases and under specific conditions when there is an imminent risk to sanctuary resources and a temporary prohibition would prevent the destruction or loss of those resources. NOAA will only issue emergency regulations that address an imminent risk for a fixed amount of time for a maximum of 6 months, which can be extended a single time for not more than an additional six months.
Emergency regulations will only be exempted from notice and comment requirements under Administrative Procedures Act when the agency for good cause finds and incorporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons therefor in the rules issued that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. A full rulemaking process must be undertaken, including a public comment period, to consider making an emergency regulation permanent. NOAA modifies
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the national regulations at 922.44 to include WSCNMS in the list of sanctuaries that have site-specific regulations related to emergency regulations, and adds detailed sitespecific emergency regulations to the WSCNMS regulations at 922.214.
H. General Permits, Certifications, Authorizations, and Special Use Permits 1. General Permits The regulations for WSCNMS include the authority for NOAA to issue permits to allow certain activities that would otherwise violate the prohibitions listed and described above. Similar to other national marine sanctuaries, NOAA
considers these permits for the purposes of education, research, or management.
To address the above additions to the ONMS general permit authority for WSCNMS, NOAA is amending regulatory text in the program-wide regulations in part 922, subpart E, to add references to subpart T, as appropriate. NOAA would also add a new 922.215 in subpart T titled Permit procedures and review criteria that would address site-specific permit procedures for WSCNMS.
2. Certifications The regulations for WSCNMS include language at section 922.216 describing the process by which NOAA may certify pre-existing authorizations or rights within the WSCNMS area. Here the term pre-existing authorizations or rights refers to any leases, permits, licenses, or rights of subsistence use or access in existence on the date of sanctuary designation see 16 U.S.C. 1434c; 15
CFR 922.47. Consistent with this definition, WSCNMS regulations at section 922.216 states that certification is the process by which these preexisting authorizations that violate sanctuary prohibitions may be allowed to continue, and the sanctuary may regulate the exercise of the pre-existing authorizations consistent with the purposes for which the sanctuary was designated. Applications for certifying pre-existing authorizations must be received by NOAA within 180 days of the Federal Register notice announcing the effective date of the designation.
3. Authorizations NOAA may also allow an otherwise prohibited activity to occur in the sanctuary, if such activity is specifically authorized by any valid Federal, state, or local lease, permit, license, approval, or other authorization issued after sanctuary designation. Authorization authority is intended to streamline regulatory requirements by reducing the
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need for multiple permits and would apply to all proposed prohibitions at 922.213. As such, NOAA is amending the regulatory text at 922.49 to add reference to subpart T.
4. Special Use Permits NOAA has the authority under the NMSA to issue special use permits SUPs at national marine sanctuaries as established by section 310 of the NMSA.
SUPs can be used to authorize specific activities in a sanctuary if such authorization is necessary to: 1
Establish conditions of access to and use of any sanctuary resource; or 2
promote public use and understanding of a sanctuary resource. The activities that qualify for a SUP are set forth in the Federal Register 82 FR 42298;
September 7, 2017. Categories of SUPs may be changed or added to through public notice and comment. NOAA
would not apply the SUP to activities in place at the time of the WSCNMS
designation.
SUP applications are reviewed to ensure that the activity is compatible with the purposes for which the sanctuary is designated and that the activities carried out under the SUP be conducted in a manner that do not destroy, cause the loss of, or injure sanctuary resources. NOAA also requires SUP permittees to purchase and maintain comprehensive general liability insurance, or post an equivalent bond, against claims arising out of activities conducted under the permit.
The NMSA allows NOAA to assess and collect fees for the conduct of any activity under a SUP. On November 19, 2015, NOAA published public notice 80 FR 72415 of the methods, formulas and rationale for the calculations it will use in order to assess fees associated with SUPs. The fees collected could be used to recover the administrative costs of issuing the permit, the cost of implementing the permit, monitoring costs associated with the conduct of the activity, and the fair market value of the use of sanctuary resources.
I. Other Conforming Amendments The general regulations in part 922, subpart A, and part 922, subpart E, for regulations of general applicability are amended by this action so that the regulations are accurate and up-to-date.
The following 10 sections are updated to reflect the increased number of sanctuaries or to add subpart T to the list of sanctuaries:
Section 922.1 Applicability of regulations Section 922.40 Purpose Section 922.41 Boundaries Section 922.42 Allowed activities
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