Special Local Regulations; Annual Air and Sea Show, Fort Lauderdale, FL

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 100

[CGD07-98-004]

RIN 2115-AE46

Special Local Regulations; Annual Air and Sea Show, Fort

Lauderdale, FL

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to establish permanent special local

regulations for the City of Fort Lauderdale Annual Air & Sea Show. This

event will be held annually on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday of

May, and will involve approximately 150 participating aircraft and

vessels, and 3,000 spectator craft. The resulting congestion will

create an extra or unusual hazard in the navigable waters. These

regulations are necessary to provide for the safety of life on

navigable waters during the event.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 19, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to U.S. Coast Guard Group Miami, 100

MacArthur Causeway Miami Beach, Florida 33139, or may be delivered to

the Operations Department at the same address between 7 a.m. and 3:30

p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. The telephone

number is (305) 535-4448. Comments will be a part of the public docket

and will be available for copying and inspection at the same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

LTJG J. Delgado Coast Guard Group Miami, Florida at (305) 535-4409.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: .

Request for Comments

The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to participate in

this rulemaking by submitting written views, data, or arguments.

Persons submitting comments should include their names, addresses,

identify this rulemaking (CGD07-98-004), and the specific section of

this proposal to which their comments apply, and give reasons for each

comment.

[[Page 7741]]

The Coast Guard will consider all comments received during the

comment period. It may change this proposed rule in view of the

comments received.

The Coast Guard plans no public hearing. Persons may request a

public hearing by writing to the address under ADDRESSES. The request

should include the reasons why a hearing would be beneficial. If it

determines that the opportunity for oral presentations will aid this

rulemaking, the Coast Guard will hold a public hearing at a time and

place announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.

Background and Purpose

The City of Fort Lauderdale Annual Air & Sea Show is a three day

event with approximately 130 aircraft and 18 ski boats, jet skis and

off shore racing power boats. In addition, various military aircraft,

including high performance aircraft, will be operating at high speeds

and low altitudes in the area directly above the regulated area. The

even will take place in the Atlantic Ocean from Fort Lauderdale beach

to one nautical mile offshore between Oakland Park Boulevard and the

17th Street Causeway.

The proposed regulations will prohibit non-participating vessels

from entering the regulated area, and directs participants to obey

instructions from the patrol commander.

Regulatory Evaluation

This proposal is not a significant regulatory action under section

3(f) of Executive Order 12866 and does not require an assessment of

potential costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of that Order. It

has been exempted from review by the Office of Management and Budget

under that order. It is not significant under the regulatory policies

and procedures of the Department of Transportation (DOT) (44 FR 11040;

February 26, 1979). The Coast Guard expects the economic impact of this

proposed rule to be so minimal that a full Regulatory Evaluation under

paragraph 10(e) of the regulatory policies and procedures of DOT is

unnecessary. Entry into the regulated area is prohibited for only 6.0

hours on Friday, and 8.0 hours on Saturday and Sunday on the day of the

event.

Small Entities

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.), the

Coast Guard must consider whether this proposed rule, if adopted, will

have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small

entities. ``Small entities'' include small businesses, not-for-profit

organizations that are independently owned and operated and are not

dominant in their fields, and governmental jurisdictions with

populations of less than 50,000.

Therefore, the Coast Guard certifies under U.S.C. 605 (b) that this

proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a significant economic impact

on a substantial number of small entities as the regulations would only

be in effect for approximately eight hours each day for three days each

year. If, however, you think that your business or organization

qualifies as a small entity and that this proposed rule will have a

significant economic impact on your business or organization, please

submit a comment (see ADDRESSES) explaining why you think it qualifies

and in what way and to what degree this proposed rule will economically

affect it.

Collection of Information

These proposed regulations contain no collection of information

requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et

seq.).

Federalism

This action has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and

criteria contained in Executive Order 12612, and it has been determined

that the rulemaking does not have sufficient federalism implications to

warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.

Environmental Assessment

The Coast Guard has considered the environmental impact of this

proposal consistent with Section 2.B.2 of Commandant Instruction

M16475.1B. In accordance with that section, this proposal has been

environmentally assessed (EA completed), and the Coast Guard has

concluded that it will not significantly affect the quality of the

human environment. An Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No

Significant Impact have been prepared and are available in the docket

for inspection or copying where indicated under ADDRESSES.

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 100

Marine safety, Navigation (water), Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Waterways.

Proposed Regulations

In consideration of the foregoing, the Coast Guard proposes to

amend Part 100 of Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 100--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 100 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1233, 49 CFR 1.46 and 33 CFR 100.35.

2. A new Sec. 100.731 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 100.731 Special Local Regulations; City of Ft. Lauderdale Air &

Sea Show, Ft. Lauderdale.

(a) Regulated area. The following is a regulated area: All waters

of the Atlantic Ocean west of a line drawn from 26-10.22 North, 080-

05.9 West to 26-06.22 North, 080-05.34 West. All coordinates referenced

use Datum: NAD 83.

(b) Special Local Regulations.

(1) All vessels, with the exception of event participants, are

prohibited from entering the regulated area without the specific

permission of the patrol commander.

(2) All vessels shall immediately follow any specific instructions

given by event patrol craft and exercise extreme caution while

operating in or near the regulated area. A succession of not fewer than

five short whistle or horn blasts from a patrol vessel will be the

signal for any non-participating vessel to stop immediately. The

display of an orange distress smoke signal from a patrol vessel will be

the signal for any and all vessels to stop immediately.

(3) After the termination of the Air and Sea Show event for each

respective day, all vessels may resume normal operations.

(c) Dates. These regulations become effective annually on the first

Friday, Saturday and Sunday of May, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (EDT) on

Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday and Sunday.

Dated: February 3, 1998.

Norman T. Saunders,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Seventh Coast Guard

District.

[FR Doc. 98-3912 Filed 2-13-98; 8:45 am]

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