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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 163 / Thursday, August 26, 2021 / Rules and Regulations The vessel traffic in the canal is entirely recreational. There are no commercial vessels that transit the canal. Moreover, the canal is quite shallow. The Coast Guards 27-foot vessels navigate the canal with difficulty because of the depth. Kayaks, canoes, and other manually powered watercraft are frequently used in the canal not counted in the daily vessel traffic estimates.
In addition to the daily traffic of recreational boaters wishing to transit the security zone, there are a number of boat slips located either within the security zone or that require transiting the security zone to access. There are also houses that border sections of the canal wholly inside the security zone.
We reviewed satellite images from Google Maps to identify the number of boat slips within the security zone or that require transiting the security zone to access. Based on these satellite images, we estimate that 17 private houses that lie entirely within the canal security zone contain either a boat slip or dock. The boat slips indicate that recreational vessel usage might be undertaken by the owners or occupiers of these properties. Because they lie fully inside the security zone, they will be impacted every time they take out their vessels.
Additionally, a small man-made canal branches off the main Lewes and Rehoboth Canal and leads into a small man-made lake. The southern edge of the safety zone continues just past the entrance to this second canal. Private houses and the North Shores Marina inhabit the land surrounding the second canal and its adjoining lake. Some of these houses contain docks or boat slips.
Recreational vessel operations will require transiting through the security zone to reach either the boat slips at these private homes or the North Shores Marina. Use of this canal and lake is primarily local and by small recreational vessels, as this second canal may only be 3 feet deep in certain places. Using Google Maps, we count 14
boat slips or docks connected to private houses and 30 spaces for recreational vessels at the North Shores Marina.

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2 Security Zone 2: Rehoboth Beach This rule will also impact any recreational boaters that transit the area 1 mile by 500 yards offshore of the North Shores section of Rehoboth Beach. Because of its proximity to the shore, the Coast Guard does not estimate any recreational boaters or commercial vessels routinely operate in this section of the ocean. Vessels operating this close to shore could face additional
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hazards due to the surf and other marine currents and would avoid this area.
Costs As above, we assess the costs of the two security zones separately.
1 Security Zone 1: Lewes and Rehoboth Canal In table 2, we present the Coast Guards estimate of the average vessel traffic. Under normal course of operations, the Coast Guard anticipates that recreational boaters transiting the canal would have a brief conversation with the Coast Guard official stationed at the entrance to the security zone.
Recreational boaters would then proceed through the security zone without stopping or loitering and exit the security zone. We anticipate that this conversation would last between 15
and 30 seconds per recreational boater.
Because we do not know how many recreational boaters are on the average boat and because of how small the amount of time per recreational boaters is likely to be, we do not estimate the total costs of these conversations.
Additionally, above we discussed that there are a number of houses and a marina that are contained within the security zone or would require transiting the security zone in order to access. Recreational vessel operators who reside or are visiting a location inside the security zone should be able to relay this information to the Coast Guard personnel stationed at the entrance of the security zone. When recreational boaters provide this additional information, it may increase the duration of the conversation.
However, there are only 17 houses with private docks or boat slips contained within the security zone. It is likely, therefore, that the Coast Guard personnel stationed at either end of the security zone would become aware of these vessels and their owners and operators. As a result, conversations may become more brief over time.
In order to access the private docks and boat slips of the 14 houses and the North Shores Marina, recreational vessel operators will need to transit through a small portion of the security zone. The Coast Guard will interpret the vessels seeking to access this second canal as innocent passage. As a result, the Coast Guard personnel do not intend to converse with recreational boaters intending to access the second canal unless they notice suspicious activity.
Instead, Coast Guard personnel will report vessels transiting the second canal to the USSS representatives.
Because Coast Guard personnel will not converse with the recreational vessel
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operators transiting this region, we estimate that there would be no costs on boaters who only pass through the lower stretch of the canal security zone in order to access the North Shores Marina or the private houses on the canal or lake.
The costs discussed above cover the normal operations when access to the canal is still permitted. However, when certain individuals protected by the USSS are transiting the area, the Coast Guard may shut down access to the canal. Such closures could last from 1
to 3 hours, or longer. If the security zone is closed to all traffic, recreational boaters will not be able to transit the length of the canal. Recreational boaters wishing to transit through the security zone will be unable to do so.
If this closure happens suddenly, recreational boaters could be stranded on either side of the canal. The distance through the canal is about 10 miles, but to avoid the canal by taking a more circuitous route around Rehoboth Beach would add 25 miles to the journey.
Additionally, a significant portion of this distance requires operating in the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is considerably rougher than the intracoastal waterways. As a result, many of the recreational watercraft unable to transit the security zone may be unable to take an alternate route, either because they may not have a vessel suitable to a coastwise route or may not have the time to add an additional 25 miles on to the journey.
Because we do not know the frequency or duration of full closures of the security zone, we are unable to quantitatively assess the costs to either temporarily stranded vessel operators or to vessel operators wishing to transit the closed waterway.
2 Security Zone 2: North Shores Section of Rehoboth Beach on the Atlantic Ocean We do not estimate that any vessels routinely operate in this section of Rehoboth Beach, as discussed in the Affected Population section above.
Additionally, were recreational vessel operators to transit this security zone, it is far easier to exit or avoid the security zone than in the canal. Recreational boaters merely will need to be greater than 500 yards from shore. As a result, we do not estimate any costs incurred by the second security zone.
Benefits Upon request by the USSS for the Coast Guard to implement security measures in certain sections of the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal and certain sections offshore from Rehoboth Beach,
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