§ 334.4 Establishment and amendment procedures.

(a) Application. Any request for the establishment, amendment or revocation of a danger zone or restricted area must contain sufficient information for the District Engineer to issue a public notice, and as a minimum must contain the following:

(1) Name, address and telephone number of requestor including the identity of the command and DoD facility and the identity of a point of contact with phone number.

(2) Name of waterway and if a small tributary, the name of a larger connecting waterbody.

(3) Name of closest city or town, county/parish and state.

(4) Location of proposed or existing danger zone or restricted area with a map showing the location, if possible.

(5) A brief statement of the need for the area, its intended use and detailed description of the times, dates and extent of restriction.

(b) Public notice.

(1) The Corps will normally publish public notices and Federal Register documents concurrently. Upon receipt of a request for the establishment, amendment or revocation of a danger zone or restricted area, the District Engineer should forward a copy of the request with his/her recommendation, a copy of the draft public notice and a draft Federal Register document to the Office of the Chief of Engineers, ATTN: CECW-OR. The Chief of Engineers will publish the proposal in the Federal Register concurrent with the public notice issued by the District Engineer.

(2) Content. The public notice and Federal Register documents must include sufficient information to give a clear understanding of the proposed action and should include the following items of information:

(i) Applicable statutory authority or authorities; (40 Stat. 266; 33 U.S.C. 1) and (40 Stat. 892; 33 U.S.C. 3)

(ii) A reasonable comment period. The public notice should fix a limiting date within which comments will be received, normally a period not less than 30 days after publication of the notice.

(iii) The address of the District Engineer as the recipient of any comments received.

(iv) The identity of the applicant/proponent;

(v) The name or title, address and telephone number of the Corps employee from whom additional information concerning the proposal may be obtained;

(vi) The location of the proposed activity accompanied by a map of sufficient detail to show the boundaries of the area(s) and its relationship to the surrounding area.

(3) Distribution. Public notice will be distributed in accordance with 33 CFR 325.3(d)(1). In addition to this general distribution, public notices will be sent to the following Agencies:

(i) The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) where the use of airspace is involved.

(ii) The Commander, Service Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, if a proposed action involves a danger zone off the U.S. Atlantic coast.

(iii) Proposed danger zones on the U.S. Pacific coast must be coordinated with the applicable commands as follows:

(c) Public hearing. The District Engineer may conduct a public hearing in accordance with 33 CFR part 327.

(d) Environmental documentation. The District Engineer shall prepare environmental documentation in accordance with appendix B to 33 CFR part 325.

(e) District Engineer's recommendation. After closure of the comment period, and upon completion of the District Engineer's review he/she shall forward the case through channels to the Office of the Chief of Engineers, ATTN: CECW-OR with a recommendation of whether or not the danger zone or restricted area regulation should be promulgated. The District Engineer shall include a copy of environmental documentation prepared in accordance with appendix B to 33 CFR part 325, the record of any public hearings, if held, a summary of any comments received and a response thereto, and a draft of the regulation as it is to appear in the Federal Register.

(f) Final decision. The Chief of Engineers will notify the District Engineer of the final decision to either approve or disapprove the regulations. The District Engineer will notify the applicant/proponent and publish a public notice of the final decision. Concurrent with issuance of the public notice the Office of the Chief of Engineers will publish the final decision in the Federal Register and either withdraw the proposed regulation or issue the final regulation, as appropriate. The final rule shall become effective no sooner than 30 days after publication in the Federal Register unless the Chief of Engineers finds that sufficient cause exists and publishes that rationale with the regulations.

[58 FR 37608, July 12, 1993]