Nationwide Use of High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency Active SONAR Technology; Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact, 81284-81286 [2010-32465]

Agencies

• Coast Guard
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 247 (Monday, December 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81284-81286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32465]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2009-0166]


Nationwide Use of High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency Active 
SONAR Technology; Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment and Draft 
Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announces the availability of the 
Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the Nationwide 
Use of High Frequency (HF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Sound 
Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) Technology and Draft Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI). The USCG is proposing the nationwide use of 
active SONAR technologies that operate at frequencies of 50 kiloHertz 
(kHz) and greater from mobile platforms. Active SONAR technology would 
be used in support of USCG missions to locate, image, and classify 
submerged/underwater targets of interest (TOI). The PEA is a program-
level document that will provide the USCG with management-level 
analysis of the potential impacts of each alternative on the human and 
natural environments.

DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our 
online docket via https://www.regulations.gov on or before January 31, 
2011, or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.

ADDRESSES: The Draft PEA and Draft FONSI have been published and can be 
downloaded at https://www.regulations.gov, docket number USCG-2009-0166. 
You may submit

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comments identified by docket number USCG-2009-0166 using any one of 
the following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
    (2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (3) Mail: 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.
    (4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on 
submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Kenneth McDaniel (CG-532), Deputy 
Division Chief, Maritime Security (Counterterrorism), Coast Guard, by 
telephone 202-372-2119 or e-mail Kenneth.L.McDaniel@uscg.mil for 
questions regarding the Proposed Action; or Ms. Kebby Kelley (CG-47), 
Program Manager, USCG National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)/Historic 
Resources, by telephone 202-475-5690 or e-mail Kebby.Kelley@uscg.mil 
regarding NEPA or to request a paper copy. If you have questions on 
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, 
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related materials on the 
draft PEA and draft FONSI. All comments received will be posted, 
without change, to https://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the 
docket number for this notice (USCG-2009-0166) and provide a reason for 
each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and 
material online, or by fax, mail or hand delivery, but please use only 
one of these means. We recommend that you include your name and a 
mailing address, an e-mail 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 https://www.regulations.gov, 
click on the ``submit a comment'' box, which will then become 
highlighted in blue. In the ``Document Type'' drop down menu select 
``Notices'' and insert ``USCG-2010-1104'' in the ``Keyword'' box. Click 
``Search'' then click on the balloon shape in the ``Actions'' column. 
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 them by mail and would 
like to know that they reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, 
self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and 
material received during the comment period.
    Viewing the comments: To view the comments, go to https://www.regulations.gov, click on the ``read comments'' box, which will 
then become highlighted in blue. In the ``Keyword'' box insert ``USCG-
2009-0166'' and click ``Search.'' Click the ``Open Docket Folder'' in 
the ``Actions'' column. If you do not have access to the Internet, you 
may view the docket online by visiting 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. We have an agreement with the Department of Transportation to 
use the Docket Management Facility.
    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, system of records notice regarding our public dockets in 
the January 17, 2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

Background and Purpose

Purpose of Proposed Action

    The purpose of the Proposed Action is to broaden the USCG's 
capability to locate and classify underwater threats and other TOIs, 
and to more safely and effectively accomplish the USCG's missions. TOIs 
could include combat swimmers/divers; explosives or other offensive 
devices that could be delivered to underwater hulls, piers, or other 
shore structures; and objects that have become submerged as a result of 
a natural or man-made disaster and have the potential to interrupt 
maritime transportation, trade, commerce, recreational boating, or 
other maritime activities. The use of HF (50 to 999 kHz) and UHF (1,000 
kHz and higher) active SONAR technology would provide USCG operational 
commanders with the ability to locate, image, and classify underwater 
threats and other TOIs. HF and UHF SONAR technology could be used in 
response to events such as: The attacks of September 11, 2001; natural 
disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005; established 
security areas around high-value vessels, infrastructure, and special 
security events; and maritime environmental response and search-and-
rescue activities.
    The USCG needs to broaden its capability to locate, image, and 
classify submerged/underwater TOIs to safely and efficiently accomplish 
mission activities. The USCG needs to detect targets in ranges of less 
than 2 kilometers and needs to operate in harbor, anchorage, channel, 
and wharf environments, including fresh, brackish, and salt waters, day 
or night regardless of visibility and in air and water temperatures and 
thermoclines normal for port/harbor and offshore environments 
throughout the United States. The USCG's current research of 
commercially available and reliable technology indicates that the 
nationwide employment of various HF and UHF active SONAR technology 
systems would provide the needed capability.

Proposed Use

    HF and UHF SONAR use would fall into one of three general 
categories: (1) Operational missions, (2) training and exercises, and 
(3) research and development. All SONAR use would be of relatively 
short-term duration (typically less than a week, unless otherwise 
required for an emergency or disaster). Regardless of the category, 
such use would only be for the amount of time necessary to complete the 
mission objectives. In no case is the USCG proposing long-term 
deployments of SONAR equipment in fixed positions (unless required by 
an emergency or disaster). In general, the duration of SONAR use would 
be from minutes to as long as several days. Typically, the duration of 
most deployments would be less than a week; however, for environmental 
disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, SONAR equipment 
could be used on-site until the emergency has ended. An example of a 
high-priority nonemergency operational mission is the anti-swimmer 
SONAR system that would provide security zone protection during a two-
day special event. Once the event has

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concluded, the system would be shut down and removed.
    The USCG proposes to use HF and UHF SONAR technology from mobile 
platforms nationwide. Mobile platforms include ships, boats, remotely 
operated vehicles (ROVs), and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). 
Additionally, SONAR could be towed by a boat (i.e., a torpedo-shaped 
``towfish''), lowered from a boat on a pole, or temporarily fixed to a 
pier or a pile. Impacts on the seafloor from ROV and AUV operations 
would not be significant. ROVs would be used pierside or at a location 
appropriate for conducting vessel inspections. An appropriate location 
for inspection would be at a water depth that would preclude seafloor 
disturbance. As such, ROVs and AUVs would usually be suspended in the 
water column and would rarely contact the seafloor. Typically, ROVs and 
AUVs would be used in open, navigable waterways or safe anchorages. 
However, an ROV or AUV might contact the seafloor if there is a 
suspected threat on the seafloor that needs to be investigated; such 
contact would be short-term and transient in nature.
    Although selected HF and UHF SONAR systems could be employed by any 
USCG unit to accomplish a mission, the USCG does not intend to 
permanently equip or outfit every USCG unit with SONAR capability. The 
HF and UHF SONAR systems selected could be powered using existing USCG 
power supplies such as public electrical distribution grids, shipboard 
electrical power, or portable generators (e.g., Honda 1,000-watt 
generator).

Scope of the Programmatic Environmental Assessment

    The scope of the PEA focuses on potential impacts associated with 
the anticipated use of the HF and UHF SONAR systems to accomplish USCG 
mission activities. The PEA addresses potential impacts on living 
marine resources based on these operating criteria. Supplemental, 
follow-on NEPA documentation or additional consultations with 
appropriate resource authorities would be required if site-specific, 
non-mobile operating scenarios or newly developed technologies fall 
outside of the scope of this assessment. The scope of the PEA 
encompasses geographic locations where the systems are expected to 
operate.
    The SONAR technology systems would be available for use by the USCG 
within all areas under USCG jurisdiction along the U.S. continental 
coastline, the Great Lakes, Hawaii, Alaska, United States territories, 
and inland operating areas. The inland operating areas would include 
existing harbor infrastructure and adjacent inland waters, including 
the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes, and western and inland river 
systems. The offshore operating areas would include areas up to 12 
nautical miles offshore and most areas shoreward. Normal locations for 
deployments would include the ports and waterways of the nation's top 
tiered militarily and economically significant ports. Emergency use of 
HF and UHF SONAR technology during times of extreme weather, such as 
hurricanes, could be required for onshore areas that become inundated 
by floodwater.
    Public input is important to the preparation of the Final PEA. Your 
concerns and comments regarding the nationwide use of HF and UHF active 
SONAR technology and the possible environmental impacts are important 
to the USCG, and we encourage you to share them with us.

    Authority: This notice is issued under authority of 42 U.S.C. 
4321, et seq., and 40 CFR 1508.22.

    Dated: December 14, 2010.
Michael Mohn,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Chief, Office of Terrorism and Defense 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-32465 Filed 12-23-10; 8:45 am]
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