An official website of the State of Georgia.
This serves as notification from the State of Georgia Coastal Management Program (GCMP), in accordance with 16 U.S.C. §1456 and 15 C.F.R. 930.41, of receipt of a “Regional” Federal Consistency Determination by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that the proposed amendments to the North American Right Whale (NARW) Vessel Strike Reduction Rule is consistent with the enforceable policies of the GCMP. The amendments are designed to further reduce the likelihood of mortalities and serious injury to endangered right whales from vessel strikes. The proposed rule would 1) modify the boundaries and timing of seasonal speed restrictions (renamed as Seasonal Speed Zones or SSZs) to better align with areas characterized by elevated collision-related mortality risk; 2) create a Dynamic Speed Zone (DSZ) program to implement temporary mandatory speed restrictions when whales are known to be present outside of active SSZs; 3) extend the size threshold of regulated vessels to include most vessels 35 ft or greater in length; and 4) update the speed rule’s safety deviation provision.
NOAA NMFS’s Regional Federal Consistency Determination was based, in part, upon a request to the GCMP to describe any reasonably foreseeable effects to Georgia’s coastal uses or resources and identify the enforceable policies that pertain to those effects for NOAA NMFS’s consideration. The Regional Consistency Determination and GCMP’s response letter may be viewed in the "Additional Resources" section below.
The proposed amendments to the North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction Rule can be viewed or downloaded from the NOAA Fisheries website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/amendments-north-atlantic-right-whale-vessel-strike-reduction-rule, including a link to the August 1, 2022 Federal Register Notice at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/08/01/2022-16211/amendments-to-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-vessel-strike-reduction-rule
The GCMP is reviewing the information provided to ensure the proposed activities are consistent with Georgia’s enforceable environmental policies. The enforceable policies can be viewed on the GaDNR website at https://coastalgadnr.org/sites/default/files/crd/MarshandShore/Regulations/EnforceablePolicies.pdf
A list of Program changes to the GCMP that affect current enforceable policies is available on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency’s (NOAA) website at https://coast.noaa.gov/czmprogramchange/#/public/home (click on Filter by Program and then select Georgia).
Written comments will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. on August 15, 2024. Written comments should be mailed to Kelie Moore, Federal Consistency Coordinator, One Conservation Way, Brunswick, Georgia 31520 or emailed to crd.comments@dnr.ga.gov .
Additional Resources
Letter: Right Whale Vessel Speed Regulations, NMFS-2022-0022 (Oct. 31, 2022)
