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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 193 / Friday, October 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers 33 CFR Part 334
COE20200015

Pacific Ocean at Marine Corps Base, Camp Blaz, Mason Live-Fire Training Range Complex, on the North Coast of Guam; Danger Zone U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense DoD.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

The Corps of Engineers Corps is amending its regulations to establish a danger zone in the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Mason Live-Fire Training Range Complex at Marine Corps Base, Camp Blaz on the north coast of Guam. The danger zone is located entirely within the Pacific Ocean, comprising 3,660 acres and extending approximately 2.8 miles into the ocean from the high tide line.
Establishment of the danger zone will intermittently prohibit vessels from lingering in the danger zone when the range is in active use in order to ensure public safety.
DATES: Effective date: November 8, 2021.
ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CECWCO David Olson, 441 G Street NW, Washington, DC 203141000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
David Olson, Headquarters, Operations and Regulatory Division, at David.B.Olson@usace.army.mil or 202
7614922.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to a request by the United States Marine Corps, and pursuant to its authorities in Section 7 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1917 40 Stat. 266;
33 U.S.C. 1 and Chapter XIX of the Army Appropriations Act of 1919 40
Stat. 892; 33 U.S.C. 3, the Corps of Engineers Corps is amending its danger zone regulations to establish a permanent danger zone in the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Mason Live-Fire Training Range Complex LFTRC on Guam. The danger zone regulation will be added at 33 CFR 334.1425. The danger zone is needed for the Department of Defense to meet its mission under 10 U.S.C. 5063, which is to maintain, train, and equip combatready military forces, deter aggression, and maintain freedom of the seas. Due to the strategic location of Guam and the Department of Defenses relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam, there
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will be an increased need for training and testing areas on Guam. The construction of the Mason LFTRC and its associated danger zone are designed to meet this increased need. The danger zone is necessary to protect the public from hazards associated with small arms training.
The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2020 85 FR 68507. The regulations.gov docket number is COE20200015.
Concurrently, a local public notice for the proposed danger zone was sent out from the Corps Honolulu District. In response to the proposed rule, 89
comments were received. Two commenters were in support of establishing the danger zone. The remaining 87 comments are summarized below with the Corps responses to those comments.
Four commenters requested either a public hearing with the Corps or public meetings with representatives of the Navy and/or the Corps. The commenters requested these meetings to better understand the impacts of the Mason LFTRC and the proposed danger zone, and to have an open dialogue and discussion. Some commenters requested additional time to comment on the public notice and said that multiple comment periods should be conducted.
One commenter stated that a mailing list should be set up for people who wish to be sent public notices directly for similar proposals.
The Corps determined that 30 days was sufficient to provide comments on the proposed danger zone regulation.
The Corps reviewed all of the requests for a public hearing or public meetings as well as the comments received in response to the proposed rule. As stated in the Corps regulations at 33 CFR
327.3a, a public hearing is to be held for the purpose of acquiring information or evidence to be considered in the Corps decision for a proposed action. The Corps determined that the record for this rulemaking action, including the public comments received in response to the proposed rule, contains adequate information regarding public concerns about the proposed danger zone and that a public hearing was not necessary. Public hearing denial letters were sent by the Honolulu District to each requestor on January 14, 2021.
Many commenters stated that no map was available and that they could not provide substantive comments without knowing the geographic limits of the proposed danger zone. A few commenters requested clarification on the times the range would be used or recommended that the rule specify the
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exact times the range would be in use and danger zone activated. One person said that the Corps had incorrectly calculated the amount of time the area of the danger zone would be closed to navigation.
The Corps provided a map with the district public notice, which was posted on the Corps website, the Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz MCBCB website, and by multiple news outlets in print and on their respective websites. Additionally, the proposed rule that was published in the Federal Register and the district public notice both contained coordinates for the proposed danger zone, as well as a narrative location description suitable to inform public comments. Upon review of the map provided with its public notice, the Corps discovered an error in mapping.
The map showed the danger zone extending shoreward of the mean high water line. This is incorrect. As stated in the aforementioned narrative description, the danger zone would follow the mean high water line of the Pacific Ocean and would not extend shoreward of this line. A new map has been made which corrects this and shows that the danger zone extends seaward of the mean high water line.
The times proposed for the danger zone to be active were provided in the proposed rule. The exact days of the week during which live fire exercises would occur are at the discretion of the Marines in accordance with their training requirements. Those training requirements may change over time.
The Marines will have a strategic communication plan COMMSTRAT
for alerting the public to future range use. This plan includes posting the schedule on their website, having a public hotline for questions concerning range operations, and issuing Notices To Mariners NTM. Concerning the comment about miscalculating the total amount of closure times, the Corps did not provide a total amount of training days the danger zone would be activated because training sessions are to be scheduled in the future. Also, the total number of training days is not relevant to this rulemaking action because the Marines establish the training schedules and those training schedules fall outside of the Corps authority to issue regulations to establish danger zones.
Concerning the requests for extension of the comment period for the proposed rule, the Corps disagrees that additional time is necessary. The Corps provided sufficient time for interested parties to provide their comments on the proposed rule. For most proposed danger zone and restricted area regulations, the Corps provides a 30-day
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