46 U.S.C. § 70003 — Port access routes

submitted 8 years ago by Pub. L. 115-282 to r/title-46-SHIPPING · 752 words · no verdicts yet

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The Secretary must set up safe fairways and traffic lanes for ships heading to or from U.S. ports. These routes get priority over other ocean uses in that area. But first, the Secretary must study the need, consult other agencies, and protect any existing legal rights.

(a) Authority To Designate. To provide safe routes for vessels going to or from U.S. ports, the Secretary must set up needed fairways and traffic separation schemes. These cover the U.S. territorial sea and the high-seas approaches outside it. Within these designated areas, the right to navigate comes before all other uses. (b) Limitation. The Secretary cannot make this designation if doing so would take away someone's ability to use a right already granted by a lease or permit under other law, and that right became fixed before the Secretary published the notice required in subsection (c)(1). Before deciding this, the Secretary must consult with the head of the agency that issued that lease or permit. (c) Consideration of Other Uses. Before making a designation, and following the requirements of section 70004, the Secretary must: study the possible traffic levels and need for safe routes in the area, and publish notice of this study in the Federal Register; work with the Secretaries of State, the Interior, Commerce, the Army, and the Governors of affected states to consider other uses of the area — like oil, gas, or mineral development, deepwater ports or other structures, marine sanctuaries, and recreational or commercial fishing; and, as much as practical, balance the need for safe routes against these other reasonable uses. (d) Study. In doing this work, the Secretary must move quickly to finish any study, and afterward must either propose a rule for the planned designation or publish a Federal Register notice explaining why no designation will be made. (e) Implementation of Designation. Once a designation is made, the Secretary must: issue reasonable rules for using the designated areas, including how international collision-prevention rules on narrow channels and traffic separation apply; make using the fairways and traffic schemes mandatory for certain vessel types and sizes — foreign and domestic ships in the territorial sea, and U.S. ships on the high seas beyond it — when reasonable and necessary; adjust the location or limits of a fairway or scheme over time to fit other needs that can't otherwise be met, as long as this doesn't unacceptably hurt the purpose of the existing designation; and notify international organizations of any designation or change, and work to get foreign countries to require their vessels to use these designated routes too.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a)Authority To Designate.—

Except as provided in subsection (b) and subject to the requirements of subsection (c), in order to provide safe access routes for the movement of vessel traffic proceeding to or from ports or places subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, the Secretary shall designate necessary fairways and traffic separation schemes for vessels operating in the territorial sea of the United States and in high seas approaches, outside the territorial sea, to such ports or places. Such a designation shall recognize, within the designated area, the paramount right of navigation over all other uses.

(b)Limitation.—

(1)In general.—

No designation may be made by the Secretary under this section if—

(A)

the Secretary determines such a designation, as implemented, would deprive any person of the effective exercise of a right granted by a lease or permit executed or issued under other applicable provisions of law; and

(B)

such right has become vested before the time of publication of the notice required by paragraph (1) of subsection (c).

(2)Consultation required.—

The Secretary shall make the determination under paragraph (1)(A) after consultation with the head of the agency responsible for executing the lease or issuing the permit.

(c)Consideration of Other Uses.—

Before making a designation under subsection (a), and in accordance with the requirements of section 70004, the Secretary shall—

(1)

undertake a study of the potential traffic density and the need for safe access routes for vessels in any area for which fairways or traffic separation schemes are proposed or that may otherwise be considered and publish notice of such undertaking in the Federal Register;

(2)

in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Army, and the Governors of affected States, as their responsibilities may require, take into account all other uses of the area under consideration, including, as appropriate, the exploration for, or exploitation of, oil, gas, or other mineral resources, the construction or operation of deepwater ports or other structures on or above the seabed or subsoil of the submerged lands or the Outer Continental Shelf of the United States, the establishment or operation of marine or estuarine sanctuaries, and activities involving recreational or commercial fishing; and

(3)

to the extent practicable, reconcile the need for safe access routes with the needs of all other reasonable uses of the area involved.

(d)Study.—

In carrying out the Secretary’s responsibilities under subsection (c), the Secretary shall—

(1)

proceed expeditiously to complete any study undertaken; and

(2)

after completion of such a study, promptly—

(A)

issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for the designation contemplated; or

(B)

publish in the Federal Register a notice that no designation is contemplated as a result of the study and the reason for such determination.

(e)Implementation of Designation.—

In connection with a designation made under this section, the Secretary—

(1)

shall issue reasonable rules and regulations governing the use of such designated areas, including rules and regulations regarding the applicability of rules 9 and 10 of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, relating to narrow channels and traffic separation schemes, respectively, in waters where such regulations apply;

(2)

to the extent that the Secretary finds reasonable and necessary to effectuate the purposes of the designation, make the use of designated fairways and traffic separation schemes mandatory for specific types and sizes of vessels, foreign and domestic, operating in the territorial sea of the United States and for specific types and sizes of vessels of the United States operating on the high seas beyond the territorial sea of the United States;

(3)

may, from time to time, as necessary, adjust the location or limits of designated fairways or traffic separation schemes in order to accommodate the needs of other uses that cannot be reasonably accommodated otherwise, except that such an adjustment may not, in the judgment of the Secretary, unacceptably adversely affect the purpose for which the existing designation was made and the need for which continues; and

(4)

shall, through appropriate channels—

(A)

notify cognizant international organizations of any designation, or adjustment thereof; and

(B)

take action to seek the cooperation of foreign States in making it mandatory for vessels under their control to use, to the same extent as required by the Secretary for vessels of the United States, any fairway or traffic separation scheme designated under this section in any area of the high seas.

Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 115–282, title IV, § 401(a), Dec. 4, 2018, 132 Stat. 4255.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2018Enacted · Pub. L. 115-282 · 132 Stat. 4255

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 115-282 on 2018-12-04.

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