The Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Coastal Resources Division (CRD) is accepting public comment on a request for review of a federal consistency submission from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of Protected Resources proposing amendments to the North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction Rule (“speed rule”).
The proposed action includes:
- Modifying the boundaries and timing seasonal speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (renamed as Seasonal Speed Zones or SSZs) to better align with areas characterized by elevated collision-related mortality risk;
- Creating a Dynamic Speed Zone (DSZ) program to implement temporary mandatory speed restrictions when whales are known to be present outside active SSZs;
- Extending the size threshold of regulated vessels to include most vessels 35 ft (10.7 m) or greater in length; and
- Updating the speed rule’s safety deviation provision. See 87 FR 46921 (August 1, 2022).
