Regulated Navigation Area and Safety Zone; Hampton River, Hampton, NH

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY <SUBAGY>Coast Guard</SUBAGY> <CFR>33 CFR Part 165</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket Number USCG-2025-0389]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1625-AA00</RIN> <SUBJECT>Regulated Navigation Area and Safety Zone; Hampton River, Hampton, NH</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Coast Guard, DHS. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Temporary interim rule and request for comments. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary regulated navigation area and a safety zone on the Hampton River at the inlet to Hampton Harbor, Hampton, NH, in response to hazardous conditions created by construction activities for the Neil R. Underwood Seabrook-Hampton Harbor Bridge replacement project. The RNA will establish a speed restriction and a traffic pattern. The safety zone, when enforced, will prohibit all vessel traffic from transiting through or operating within 50 yards of the bridge(s) center span navigational channel. This rule is necessary to provide for the safety of life in the areas undergoing demolition and construction. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective without actual notice from July 7, 2025 through 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2030. For the purposes of enforcement, actual notice will be used from July 1, 2025, until July 7, 2025. Comments and related material must be received by the Coast Guard on or before October 6, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Although this regulation is published as an interim rule without prior notice, public comment is nevertheless desirable to ensure that the regulation is both workable and reasonable while the rule remains in effect. If the Coast Guard determines on the basis of comments submitted that changes to the temporary interim rule are necessary, we will publish a temporary final rule, or other document, as appropriate. You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-2025-0389 using the Federal Decision-Making Portal at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> See the “Public Participation and Request for Comments” portion of the <E T="02">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION</E> section for further instructions on submitting comments. To view documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, go to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> type USCG-2025-0389 in the search box and click “Search.” Next, in the Document Type column, select “Supporting & Related Material. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> If you have questions about this rulemaking, call or email Mr. Craig Lapiejko, Waterways Management at Coast Guard First District, telephone 571-607-6314, email <E T="03">Craig.D.Lapiejko@uscg.mil.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Table of Abbreviations</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CFR Code of Federal Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">COTP Captain of the Port</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">DHS Department of Homeland Security</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FR Federal Register</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NHDOT New Hampshire Department of Transportation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RNA Regulated Navigation Area</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">§ Section </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">TIR Temporary Interim Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">U.S.C. United States Code</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Background Information and Regulatory History</HD> In 2023, the Coast Guard received notification from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) concerning the replacement of the Neil R. Underwood Memorial Bridge that carries NH 1A Ocean Boulevard traffic over the Hampton River from the town of Seabrook, NH, to the town of Hampton, NH. The project includes the removal of the existing movable single leaf bascule span bridge and construction of a new fixed high-level steel girder bridge built on a new alignment approximately 60 feet west (shoreward) of the existing bridge. Major construction activity began earlier this year with a temporary trestle being installed west of the new bridge location to provide access for the new bridge construction. Once the temporary trestle is installed, drilled shaft foundations will be installed for the new piers. Next, cofferdams will be installed to construct the footings for piers 1 and 6, while precast concrete forms will be installed to construct the footings for piers 2 through 5. Once the pier footings are constructed, the cofferdams will be removed, and the remaining pier construction will commence. Abutments will be constructed, followed by the superstructure. Once the new bridge is constructed, the temporary trestle will be removed and installed east of the old bridge to provide construction access for old bridge removal. Although waterway traffic will be maintained within the existing federal navigational channel during construction and demolition activities, some equipment barges may block half the navigation channel. The restricted channel, along with heavy seasonal traffic and strong tidal currents, creates a hazardous condition. Based on the hazardous condition created by this construction, the First Coast Guard District Commander has determined that establishment of a temporary RNA and safety zone through rulemaking is warranted to ensure the safety of life, property, and the environment within the regulated area. The Coast Guard is issuing this temporary interim rule without prior notice and opportunity to comment pursuant to authority under section 4(a) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b)). This provision authorizes an agency to issue a rule without prior notice and opportunity to comment when the agency for good cause finds that those procedures are “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.” Under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the Coast Guard finds that good cause exists for not publishing a NPRM with respect to this rule because doing so would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest since the hazardous conditions are being presented now. For the same justification, the Coast Guard also finds that good cause exists to issue the rule prior to providing notice and taking comments because it would delay promulgating a rule. Construction to replace the Neil R. Underwood Bridge is currently underway, creating a hazardous condition, therefore there is an urgent need for the RNA and safety zone to protect the safety of both the construction crew and the waterway users operating in the vicinity of the bridge construction. An interruption of the project to accommodate a full notice and comment period would also delay necessary operations, result in increased costs, and postponement to the completion date of the bridge project and subsequent reopening of the replacement to the Neil R. Underwood Bridge for normal operations. Under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the Coast Guard finds that good cause exists for making this rule effective less than 30 days after publication in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> considering the hazardous conditions created by the replacement of the bridge. Delaying the effective date of this rule would be contrary to public interest because immediate action is needed to respond to the hazardous condition created by the replacement of the bridge. Although this regulation is published as an interim rule without prior notice, public comment is nevertheless desirable to ensure that the regulation is both workable and reasonable. Accordingly, persons wishing to comment may do so by submitting written comments as set out under <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> in this preamble. Commenters should include their names and addresses, identify the docket number for the regulation, and give reasons for their comments. If the Coast Guard determines that changes to the temporary interim rule are necessary, we will publish a temporary final rule or other appropriate document. <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Legal Authority and Need for Rule</HD> The Coast Guard is issuing this rule under authority in 46 U.S.C. 70034. The Commander of the First Coast Guard District has determined that potential hazards associated with this bridge construction will continue to exist through December 31, 2030, creating a safety concern for anyone transiting the Hampton River in the vicinity of the Seabrook-Hampton Bridge removal and replacement bridge construction project. This rule is needed to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment in the navigable waters within the regulated area while bridge replacement operations are taking place. <HD SOURCE="HD1">IV. Discussion of the Rule</HD> This rule establishes both an RNA and, when enforced, a safety zone from July 1, 2025, through 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2030. First, the Coast Guard is creating a RNA, as shown in figure 1, to include all navigable waters of the Hampton River, mile 0.0, at the inlet to Hampton Harbor, Hampton, NH, surface to bottom, encompassed by a line connecting the following approximate positions, 42°53′41.59″ N 070°48′29.064″ W (Hampton Harbor North Jetty Daybeacon “8” LLNR 8945); thence along the jetty to 42°53′48.1″ N 070°48′38.4″ W; thence along the shore line to 42°53′50.9″ N 070°48′58.2″ W (center Hampton Bridge north side approach); thence along the shore line to 42°53′56.52″ N 070°49′4.77″ W (Hampton State Pier); thence to 42°53′55.73″ N 070°49′12.72″ W; thence to 42°53′41.78″ N 070°49′14.11″ W; thence to 42°53′41.67″ N 070°49′8.63″ W” (Harborside Dunes); thence along the shore to 42°53′41.09″ N 070°49′0.87″ W (center Hampton Bridge south side approach); thence along the shore to 42°53′33.077″ N 070°48′38.724″ W (Hampton Harbor South Daybeacon “H” LLNR 8955); thence to the point of origin, expressed in Degrees (°) Minutes (′) Seconds (″) (DMS) based on North American Datum 1983 (NAD 83). <HD SOURCE=" ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 31k characters. 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