Coast Guard December 13, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this rule, the Coast Guard codifies traffic separation schemes in the approaches to Portland, ME; in the approaches to Boston, MA; in the approaches to Narragansett Bay, RI and Buzzards Bay, MA; and in the approaches to the Cape Fear River, NC. In addition, the Coast Guard updates the current regulations for the traffic separation scheme in the approaches to Chesapeake Bay, VA. The Coast Guard established these traffic separation schemes between 1978 and 2004 under authority of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act. The International Maritime Organization adopted these traffic separation schemes and describes them in their publication, ``Ships Routeing,'' Ninth Edition, 2008. In addition, these traffic separation schemes are already shown on nautical charts and in the United States Coast Pilot published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.