Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary: Petition to Ban the Use of Motorized Personal Watercraft Within the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

15 CFR Part 922

Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary: Petition to Ban

the Use of Motorized Personal Watercraft Within the Gulf of the

Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

AGENCY: Sanctuaries and Reserves Division (SRD), Office of Ocean and

Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), National Ocean Service (NOS),

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of

Commerce (DOC).

ACTION: Notice of receipt of a petition.

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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has

received a petition from the Environmental Action Committee of West

Marin County to ban the use of motorized personal watercraft within the

Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ed Ueber at 415-556-3509 or Elizabeth Moore at 301-713-3141.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine

Sanctuary (GFNMS) was designated in January 1981, and encompasses 948

square nautical miles of ocean and coastal waters off the coast of San

Francisco. The GFNMS presently has no regulations restricting the use

of motorized personal watercraft.

The Sanctuaries and Reserves Division within NOAA's National Ocean

Service (NOS) received a petition on April 18, 1996, from the

Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, California (EAC) to ban

the use of motorized personal watercraft in the GFNMS. EAC believes

that ``the use of motorized personal watercraft * * * is completely

incompatible with the existence of a marine sanctuary,'' and gives such

reasons as the danger of such craft to biological resources; danger to

other human users; noise, water, and air pollution; and incompatibility

with other Sanctuary uses such as mariculture and small non-motorized

watercraft. NOS is reviewing the petition and will notify the

petitioner of its decision whether or not to proceed with a rulemaking

to ban the use of motorized personal watercraft in the GFNMS. If NOS

decides to initiate rulemaking proceedings, then the public will be

provided with an opportunity to comment on the proposed rulemaking in

accordance with the procedures of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act

and the Administrative Procedures Act.

Dated: June 25, 1996.

David L. Evans,

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal

Zone Management.

[FR Doc. 96-16676 Filed 6-28-96; 8:45 am]

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