Nationwide Use of High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency Active SONAR Technology; Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact, 70567-70569 [2013-28337]

Agencies

• Coast Guard
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70567-70569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28337]


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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; Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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[[Page 70568]]

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard (USCG) announces the availability of the Final 
Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the Nationwide Use of 
High Frequency (HF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Sound Navigation and 
Ranging (SONAR) Technology and 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 fixed and 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice 
or regarding the Proposed Action, contact Mr. Kenneth McDaniel, CT & 
WMD Senior Program Manager, Office of Counterterrorism & Defense 
Operations Policy, by telephone 202-372-2119 or email 
Kenneth.L.McDaniel@uscg.mil. For information on the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or to request paper copies of the PEA 
or FONSI contact Ms. Kebby Kelley (CG-47), Program Manager, USCG NEPA/
Historic Resources, by telephone 202-475-5690 or email 
Kebby.Kelley@uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, call Barbara Hairston, Program Manager, Docket 
Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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 two weeks, 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 two weeks; 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 concluded, the 
system would be shut down and removed.
    The USCG proposes to use HF and UHF SONAR technology from fixed and 
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

[[Page 70569]]

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.
    The Final PEA was prepared using input from public comment received 
on the Draft PEA, as well as input received from Federal agencies, most 
notably during the course of consultation completed, as required, under 
section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 to 1544).
    This notice is issued under authority of 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq., 
and 40 CFR 1506.6.

    Dated: November 21, 2013.
Ken Ward,
Office Chief, USCG Office of Counterterrorism & Defense Operations 
Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-28337 Filed 11-25-13; 8:45 am]
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