CG Seeks Input on Interim Port Access Route Study Report for Atlantic Coast
The Coast Guard is seeking feedback by Oct. 11 on an interim report by the Atlantic Coast Port Access Route Study (ACPARS) workgroup, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for Sept. 11. The study updates the status of the work and the remaining requirements for completion. The data gathered may result in the establishment of one or more new vessel routing measures, changes to existing routing measures, or disestablishment of existing routing measures off the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida.
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The working group's goal is to maintain or boost navigational safety by looking at existing shipping routes and waterway uses, and, to the extent practicable, reconciling the paramount right of navigation within designated port access routes with other reasonable uses such as the leasing of outer continental shelf blocks for building and operating offshore renewable energy facilities. Study recommendations could lead to future rulemaking or international agreements, CG said. The report will be available on the Federal Register docket and the ACPARS website (here).
The workgroup was chartered in May 2011 to determine whether CG should begin actions to modify or create safety fairways, Traffic Separation Schemes or other routing measures; provide data, tools and/or methodology to assist in future determinations of waterway suitability for proposed projects; and develop Automated Identification System (AIS) products and other support as necessary to assist CG districts with all emerging coastal and offshore energy projects.
The panel faced challenges due to CG's lack of capability to fully analyze AIS data and in finding funding to perform modeling and analysis, the CG said. However, the group developed a method for initially classifying lease blocks as: not suitable (red); may be suitable with more study (yellow); or suitable (green) based on proximity to shipping routes. CG used this methodology to provide input to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on the potential impact to navigation of areas being proposed for wind energy development, it said.
The workgroup concluded that, given the lack of complete AIS data and basic analysis so far, recommending even preliminary routing measures isn't appropriate now, CG said. The panel concluded that modeling and analysis are critical for deciding if routing measures are appropriate and to assess the change in navigational safety risk arising from different siting and routing scenarios. CG is working with BOEM to develop a project to perform Phase 3 modeling and analysis which is slated to being in late summer 2012. CG has also contracted the service of a geographic information system analyst to better characterize vessel traffic and further explore possible initial proposals for routing measures independent of the Phase 3 modeling and analysis, it said.