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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
been involved to ensure there is no negative impact to the county. The commenter noted it would be better to see first how the sanctuary impacts the counties in NOAAs preferred boundary alternative.
Response: Overall, public comments from Kewaunee County were in favor of including Kewaunee County.
Additionally, NOAA held one of its public comment meetings in Algoma located in Kewaunee County, and any member of the public could comment via online or mail. Based on an evaluation of public comments and discussions with the State of Wisconsin, NOAAs preferred boundary includes a small portion of Kewaunee County waters which contains the countys only known shipwreck schooner America.
14. Comment: NOAA received one comment stating that no formal comprehensive remote sensing surveys have been conducted within the proposed boundary, which suggests more shipwrecks will be found in Kewaunee County. Consequently, NOAA should consider adding the entire county to the sanctuary boundary.
Response: Based on historical research by the Wisconsin Historical Society, NOAA agrees that there is high potential for new historic sites to be discovered in the entirety of waters off Kewaunee County. Refer also to Comment 12.
NOAAs draft environmental impact statement published on January 9, 2017, includes a clarification that places the shipwreck Daniel Lyons in Door County rather than Kewaunee County, leaving only one known shipwreck in Kewaunee County schooner America.
This clarification was made by the Wisconsin Historical Society when more accurate GPS coordinates of the shipwreck became available.
15. Comment: NOAA received several comments supporting the addition of the waters of Door County to the sanctuary, now or in the future.
Response: Because the addition of Door County would have been well beyond the geographic scope of the originally nominated area, NOAA chose not to include it in the final boundary.
16. Comment: NOAA received several comments asking for clarification on why a large geographic area was required for the protection of 37
shipwreck sites. In particular, one commenter asked why NOAA did not propose creating a regulatory area around each individual shipwreck.
Response: Research by the Wisconsin Historical Society suggests that as many as 59 shipwrecks are yet to be discovered in the sanctuary.
Consequently, NOAA, in consultation
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with the State of Wisconsin, chose to propose a management area that would include these potential historic sites and facilitate resource management as these new sites are discovered. This would ensure that newly discovered sites are protected and managed under sanctuary regulations at the time of discovery.
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary has used this management approach successfully. The sanctuary area also reflects what the State of Wisconsin put forth in its nomination to NOAA.
17. Comment: NOAA received a few comments expressing concern that it would expand the boundaries at a later time without public input. One comment suggested that the boundary could be expanded inland via Lake Michigan watershed tributaries.
Response: If NOAA expanded the sanctuarys boundary in the future, including via Lake Michigan watershed tributaries, that would constitute a change in the sanctuarys terms of designation. Under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, a change in the terms of designation, including a boundary change, would require the same process that was undertaken for designation, including public notice and comment, public hearings, preparation of an environmental impact statement, and review periods for the governor and Congress. These statutory requirements also include Section 304b1, which provides the governor of Wisconsin authority to certify that a term of a designation, including a proposed boundary expansion, is unacceptable, and the expansion of the boundary will not take effect in state waters. The State of Wisconsin, as a co-manager, would be involved in all discussions about proposed changes. Additionally, NOAA
would follow the procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act, requiring that adequate public notice and opportunity for public comment be given for new regulations, including boundary changes.
18. Comment: NOAA received a few comments stating that the agency did not explain why the preferred boundary alternative was selected. One comment asked if cost was a factor in choosing the smaller of the two boundary alternatives.
Response: Chapter 3 of the DEIS and FEIS provide details regarding NOAAs analysis of boundary alternatives. Cost is not a primary factor in NOAAs selection of a boundary alternative.
Commercial Shipping Non-Boundary and Fishing 19. Comment: NOAA received several comments that the prohibition on anchoring could be problematic for
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commercial vessels, and that NOAA
should publish both the known and potential locations of shipwreck sites. A
related comment noted that if the noanchoring prohibition extends to undiscovered shipwrecks, shippers might not be able to avoid anchoring on a shipwreck if they do not know where it is, and as such, all locations, known or approximated, should be published by NOAA in a format accessible and useful to all mariners.
Response: Under the proposed regulations, anchoring within the sanctuary is not prohibited. However, grappling into or anchoring on a shipwreck site sanctuary resource is prohibited. This regulation is narrowly worded to protect historic shipwreck sites from anchor damage, while still allowing anchoring inside the sanctuary outside of these discrete areas. The prohibition does not apply to any activity necessary to respond to an emergency threatening life or the environment.
Existing state regulations already prohibit damaging historic shipwrecks sites within the area proposed as a sanctuary. To help vessels avoid inadvertently anchoring on known shipwrecks sites, NOAA will publish maps with coordinates of known and estimated shipwreck locations. It should be noted that historical research on shipwrecks yet to be found potential/
estimated shipwrecks only approximates a potential shipwreck location. This information is currently available via the UW Sea Grant and Wisconsin Historical Society maintained website www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org. NOAA
will work with the state to update and publish this information and share directly with stakeholders such as the Lake Carriers Association.
Additionally, NOAA will prioritize its sonar-based cultural resource surveys in areas where commercial shipping vessels are likely to anchor, such as off Manitowoc. This will help locate cultural resources and provide information useful to both the sanctuary and commercial shippers.
20. Comment: NOAA received a comment requesting that language be added to Section 922.213b that not only considers emergency situations but adds: . . . or anchoring to prevent unsafe conditions, as determined by the vessels master and recorded in the vessels official log book.
Response: The proposed regulations provide for an exemption from the prohibitions in unsafe conditions. The proposed regulations specify, at 15 CFR
922.213b: The prohibitions in paragraphs a1 through 3 of this
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