[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35986-35988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12782]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket Number USCG-2021-0738]


Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas 
Environmental Impact Statement Offshore Patrol Cutter Acquisition 
Program

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of Availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard announces the availability of the Final 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)/Overseas 
Environmental Impact Statement (POEIS) for the Offshore Patrol Cutter 
(OPC) Program's Stage 2 acquisition of up to 21 OPCs and operation of 
up to 25 total OPCs to replace the capabilities of the existing fleet 
of Medium Endurance Cutters (MEC) (Proposed Action). In accordance with 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental 
Quality (CEQ) NEPA implementing regulations, and Executive Order 12114 
``Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions,'' the Final 
PEIS/POEIS analyzes the potential environmental and socioeconomic 
impacts of the acquisition and identifies related mitigation measures 
associated with the acquisition and operation of up to 25 OPCs.

DATES: Comments and related material must be post-marked or received by 
the Coast Guard on or before July 14, 2022. No decision will be made 
until at least 30 days after publication of the Notice of Availability 
(NOA) in the Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, at which time the Coast Guard may execute a Record of Decision 
(ROD).

ADDRESSES: The Final PEIS/POEIS is available in the docket which can be 
found by searching the docket number USCG-2021-0738 using the Federal 
Decision Making Portal at https://www.regulations.gov, or by 
downloading from the project website at https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Engineering-Logistics-CG-4-/Program-Offices/Environmental-Management/Environmental-Planning-and-Historic-Preservation/. Requests for additional information should be 
sent to U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, ATTN: Andrew Haley, 2700 Martin 
Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20593.
    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the

[[Page 35987]]

Final PEIS. We will consider all submissions and may adjust our final 
action based on your comments. If you submit a comment, please include 
the docket number for this notice, indicate the specific section of 
this document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for 
each suggestion or recommendation.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments on the Final PEIS/
POEIS by one of the following methods:
     Via the Web: You may submit comments identified by docket 
number USCG-2021-0738 using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov.
     Via U.S. Mail: U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, ATTN: Andrew 
Haley, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20593. 
Please note that mailed comments must be postmarked on or before the 
comment deadline of 30 days following publication of this notice to be 
considered.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Andrew Haley, U.S. 
Coast Guard; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard), 
a military, multi-mission, maritime service within the Department of 
Homeland Security (DHS), is proposing to continue the acquisition of up 
to 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs) each with a design service life of 
30 years to replace 28 aging Medium Endurance Cutters (MECs; Famous and 
Reliance-Class) which would then be or have already been 
decommissioned. There is no redundant vessel capability within the 
Coast Guard or other government agencies.
    The OPC program is a DHS Level 1 Major Acquisition Program that 
provides surface assets to bridge the Coast Guard's operational 
capability gap between the National Security Cutters (NSC) that patrol 
the open ocean and the Fast Response Cutters (FRC), which primarily 
operate within 50 nautical miles (nm; 93 kilometers (km)) from shore. 
The complete OPC Program of Record comprises 25 OPCs. OPC Stage 1 is 
already under contract to provide the first four OPCs. OPC Stage 2 is 
the focus of this PEIS/POEIS and would provide the remaining 21 OPCs. 
The purpose of the OPC program is to provide the Coast Guard with a 
reliable and operationally available presence to accomplish assigned 
missions in offshore waters. Typical OPC operations would occur between 
12 nm from shore and inside 200 nm (370 km), but they could be deployed 
anywhere around the globe where national interests require. These 
missions may require an extended on-scene vessel presence, a long 
transit time to reach the operational area, or a forward deployment of 
forces in support of national defense. Without replacement of the MECs 
and the USCGC ALEX HALEY, the Coast Guard could face an increasing risk 
of failure to maintain the capability to execute its mission and 
provide timely services in offshore waters. The Proposed Action would 
enable the Coast Guard to continue to ensure the Nation's maritime 
safety, security, and stewardship.
    Similar to the MEC's operations, the Proposed Action would include 
vessel and aircraft operations supporting a range of missions including 
maritime patrol, fisheries protection, port security, disaster 
response, and drug and migrant interdiction. Full operational 
capability would be achieved when all planned OPCs have been produced 
and are operational. Coast Guard OPC operations and training would 
occur after delivery of each OPC from the shipbuilder to the Coast 
Guard. For example, the completion of the first OPC is expected in 2023 
and it is expected to become operational in 2024. Completed 
construction of one new OPC is scheduled annually through 2028. 
Beginning in 2029, completion of two new OPCs is scheduled annually 
until all 25 have been constructed. OPCs would be operationally ready 
one year after delivery to the Coast Guard from the shipbuilder. The 
projected construction completion date of all 25 OPCs is 2037.
    The Proposed Action would include delivery, training, operations, 
and maintenance of up to 25 OPCs to replace the capabilities of the 
MECs. The Final PEIS/POEIS analyzes the potential environmental and 
socioeconomic impacts associated with the Proposed Action, including 
direct, indirect, and cumulative effects, and mitigation measure to 
minimize impacts.
    The Coast Guard submitted a request for consultation under Section 
7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS; 
the Services) for those endangered or threatened species under their 
respective jurisdictions. Determinations made in the PEIS/POEIS 
regarding endangered or threatened species, as well as critical 
habitat, should be considered preliminary, as the consultation process 
under Section 7 of the ESA is ongoing and has not been completed. On 
April 13, 2022, the Coast Guard submitted letters to NMFS and the USFWS 
under Section 7(d) of the ESA confirming that there would be no 
irretrievable commitment of resources that would preclude any 
reasonable and prudent alternatives as the Coast Guard works together 
with the Services towards completing consultation before the first OPC 
is delivered to the Government. The Coast Guard also requested 
consultation under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act on designated essential fish habitat (EFH) and 
anticipates completion before the first OPC is delivered. The 
determinations presented herein may be modified as a result of the ESA 
and EFH consultations.
    The Coast Guard is not requesting authorization under Section 
101(a)(5) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) at this time, 
because the Proposed Action discussed in this PEIS/POEIS would not 
deliver the first operational OPC until 2024. The PEIS/POEIS may 
contain information relevant and applicable to assist with future Coast 
Guard consultations that are in support of a request for future 
incidental take authorizations under the MMPA.
    The Coast Guard identified three reasonable alternatives that would 
meet the purpose and need of the Proposed Action; these three Action 
Alternatives are analyzed in detail in the Final PEIS/POEIS.
    1. Alternative 1 (Preferred Alternative): The Coast Guard would 
acquire and operate up to 25 OPCs to fulfill mission requirements in 
the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean, including 
Alaska, and Hawaii and Pacific Islands. Completed construction of one 
new OPC is scheduled annually through 2028; therefore, construction of 
OPC-1-4 would be completed by Fiscal Year (FY) 2027. Beginning in 2029, 
two new OPCs would be constructed annually with a projected 
construction completion date for all 25 OPCs by 2037. OPCs would be 
operationally ready one year after delivery to the Coast Guard from the 
shipbuilder. This notional construction schedule would allow for MECs 
to be decommissioned and the Coast Guard to remain present with no 
delay in service to complete the Coast Guard's missions.

[[Page 35988]]

    2. Alternative 2: The Coast Guard would explore the acquisition of 
fewer OPCs after the completion of OPC-1 through OPC-4 (which are still 
under contract). Five, ten, or fifteen OPCs would be considered via a 
re-competition of the original OPC contract as replacements for a 
corresponding number of in-service MECs. The Coast Guard would then 
replace the remaining MECs on a one-for-one basis, using whatever 
replacement hulls the Coast Guard could obtain when deterioration or 
obsolescence requires decommissioning. The life cycle training and 
logistical costs of maintaining several unique hulls would exceed the 
corresponding costs of maintaining a class of 25 cutters that would be 
built specifically to conduct missions in proposed action areas. Costs 
and challenges are similar to what is described under Alternative 3.
    3. Alternative 3: The Coast Guard would explore various forms of 
cutter purchase or lease, or inherit vessels from the Navy, as the need 
arises. This would mean that as a MEC reaches or surpasses the end of 
its economic and operational service life, that cutter would not 
necessarily be replaced with the same type of asset or by an asset with 
similar capabilities.
    The challenges involved with one-for-one MEC replacements are best 
demonstrated by the 1999 acquisition of the U.S. Navy's USS EDENTON, a 
salvage and rescue ship. The Coast Guard recommissioned the ship as the 
USCGC ALEX HALEY. The ship was designed in the early 1970s and, except 
for replacing her aged diesel engines, no significant environmental 
improvements were made. This is typical of a one-off ship acquisition 
because there is little justification for the extensive or expensive 
non-recurring design engineering costs for specifications that would 
make the vessel capable of conducting missions assigned to MECs. 
Maintenance records maintained by the Surface Forces Logistics Center 
confirm the maintenance costs per operating hour for USCGC ALEX HALEY 
($2,345) are 62 percent higher than the equivalent costs for 
maintaining the average 270 ft (82 m) cutter ($1,445), as is typical 
for a one-of-a-kind ship. One-for-one MEC replacement would cost far 
more per replacement hull because it eliminates any workforce savings 
associated with a ship with capabilities designed specifically to 
conduct Coast Guard missions in offshore areas. The purchase, lease, or 
inherit alternative includes the lack of an existing domestic 
commercial vessel capable of meeting available options to Purchase and 
Build-to-Lease. One of the major challenges with this approach is that 
the Coast Guard would not have an integrated system of systems, thus 
assets would not be able to communicate in real time, they would 
operate at differing levels of efficiency (resulting in decreased 
efficiency throughout the system), and maintenance costs would be 
higher.
    The Coast Guard also carried forward the No Action Alternative for 
detailed analysis in the Final PEIS/POEIS. While the No Action 
Alternative would not satisfy the purpose and need for the Proposed 
Action, this alternative was retained to provide a comparative against 
which to analyze the effects of the Action Alternatives as required 
under CEQ's NEPA regulation.
    Resource areas analyzed in the Final PEIS include: air quality, 
ambient sound, biological resources and critical habitat, and 
socioeconomic resources.
    Stressors analyzed in the Final PEIS include: acoustic stressors 
(fathometer and Doppler speed log noise, vessel noise, aircraft noise, 
and gunnery noise) and physical stressors (vessel movement, aircraft 
movement, and military expended materials).
    Based on the analysis presented in the Final PEIS/POEIS, 
potentially adverse impacts could occur to biological resources (i.e., 
from disturbance); however, practical mitigation measures presented in 
the Final PEIS/POEIS are expected to reduce any of these potential 
adverse effects. As a result, impacts to all resource areas would be 
less-than-significant (i.e., negligible, minor, or moderate) adverse or 
beneficial, which may result in the Coast Guard making a finding of no 
significant impact in the ROD. However, these findings are not final 
until the Coast Guard executes a ROD.
    A Notice of Availability and request for comments was published in 
the Federal Register Notice (86 FR 52162; September 20, 2021) to notify 
the public of the 45 day public review period of the Draft PEIS/POEIS. 
The Coast Guard received comments from the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency and two comments from the public. The Coast Guard 
considered and addressed in the Final PEIS/POEIS comments received on 
the Draft PEIS during the comment period. Public comments did not 
result in the addition of substantive revisions to the Draft PEIS. 
Responses to comments are in Appendix I of the Final PEIS/POEIS. An 
electronic copy of the Final PEIS/POEIS can be obtained using the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov identified by 
docket number USCG-2021-0738, or by downloading from the project 
website at https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Engineering-Logistics-CG-4-/Program-Offices/Environmental-Management/Environmental-Planning-and-Historic-Preservation/.
    After publication of this NOA of the Final PEIS/POEIS, the Coast 
Guard will prepare and publish its ROD announcing which Alternative is 
environmentally preferred and which Alternative it selects for 
implementation (be it an Action Alternative or the No Action 
Alternative). Publication of the Final ROD will occur no sooner than 30 
days after the publication of the Final PEIS/POEIS. This notice is 
issued under authority of NEPA, specifically in compliance with 42 
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C) and CEQ implementing regulations in 40 CFR parts 1500 
through 1508 and Executive Order 12114 titled ``Environmental Effects 
Abroad of Major Federal Actions.''

    Dated: June 8, 2022.
Andrew T. Pecora,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, OPC Program Manager (CG-9322).
[FR Doc. 2022-12782 Filed 6-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P


