Renaming of U.S. Coast Guard Districts

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY <SUBAGY>Coast Guard</SUBAGY> <CFR>33 CFR Parts 1, 3, 67, 72, 80, 100, 107, 110, 117, 141, 147, 151, 153, 162, and 165</CFR> <CFR>46 CFR Parts 4, 42, and 401</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. USCG-2025-0716]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Renaming of U.S. Coast Guard Districts</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security (DHS). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Coast Guard is updating its regulations to reflect the renaming of the Coast Guard districts from numerical to geographic designations. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This finale rule is effective October 2, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> To view documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, go to <E T="03">www.regulations.gov,</E> type USCG-2025-0716 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> For information about this document call or email Mr. Timothy Brown, Coast Guard; telephone 202-372-2358, email <E T="03">Timothy.M.Brown@uscg.mil.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents for Preamble</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Abbreviations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Purpose and Legal Basis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Discussion of Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Regulatory Analyses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Regulatory Planning and Review</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Small Entities</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Assistance for Small Entities</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Collection of Information</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Federalism</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Unfunded Mandates</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Taking of Private Property</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Civil Justice Reform</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Protection of Children</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Indian Tribal Governments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Energy Effects</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Environment</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Abbreviations</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">ALCOAST All Coast Guard Message</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CATEX Categorical Exclusion</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CFR Code of Federal Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">DHS Department of Homeland Security</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FR Federal Register</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">OMB Office of Management and Budget</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RA Regulatory analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">§ Section </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">U.S.C. United States Code</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Purpose and Legal Basis</HD> The purpose of this rule is to update the Coast Guard's chapters in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to reflect the renaming of our districts. This is a conforming amendment regarding the Coast Guard's organization. This final rule is issued under the authority of 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 552(a) and 553; 14 U.S.C. 102, 503, and 504; and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Delegation No. 00170.1(II)(23) Revision No. 01.4. As explained in 33 CFR 1.05-1(h), the Chief of the Coast Guard's Office of Regulations and Administrative Law has been delegated authority to issue regulations necessary to implement technical, organizational, and conforming amendments and corrections to regulations. We did not publish a notice of proposed rulemaking before this final rule. The Coast Guard finds that this rule is exempt from notice and comment rulemaking requirements under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A) because the district renaming is a conforming amendment involving agency organization. Updating the district names in the CFR imposes no substantive changes on the public's rights or obligations and will be inconsequential in impact. The Coast Guard finds good cause exists under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to make the rule effective fewer than 30 days after publication in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . Delaying the effective date of the rule is unnecessary because updating the district name we use in our regulations is inconsequential to the public and the name has already been adopted by the Coast Guard in agency practice. <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Background</HD> The Coast Guard announced the renaming of the districts in a message, ALCOAST 305/25, “Force Design 2028—Renaming Coast Guard Districts” on July 3, 2025. A copy of the ALCOAST is available in the docket under the <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> section of this preamble. As explained in the ALCOAST, when the Coast Guard operated as part of the Navy during World War II it adopted the Navy's numbered district system to ensure alignment between the services. In the 80 years since the end of World War II, the Coast Guard has maintained its numbered districts. However, the Navy stopped using numbered districts over 25 years ago. Renaming Coast Guard districts to reflect their geographical location will help the public and maritime stakeholders easily find and understand which Coast Guard district they live, boat, and operate in. In the ALCOAST we explained the name change will not impact operations or change existing geographical district boundaries. The ALCOAST also stated we would change district names in the CFR in coming months. <HD SOURCE="HD1">IV. Discussion of Final Rule</HD> This final rule updates the CFR to reflect the renaming of Coast Guard operational districts from numerical to geographic names. The geographic names more clearly align districts with their areas of responsibility, improve collaboration with interagency partners, and ensure the public and maritime stakeholders can easily find and understand the districts in which they live, recreate, and operate. The new geographic names are as follows: <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,nj,tp0,i1" CDEF="s25,r50"> <TTITLE> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1">New geographical district name</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 1</ENT> <ENT>USCG Northeast District.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 5</ENT> <ENT>USCG East District.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 7</ENT> <ENT>USCG Southeast District.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 8</ENT> <ENT>USCG Heartland District.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 9</ENT> <ENT>USCG Great Lakes District.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 11</ENT> <ENT>USCG Southwest District.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 13</ENT> <ENT>USCG Northwest District.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 14</ENT> <ENT>USCG Oceania District.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 17</ENT> <ENT>USCG Arctic District.</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> The Coast Guard periodically issues technical, organizational, and conforming amendments to existing regulations. These conforming amendments provide the public with accurate and current regulatory information but do not change the effect of any Coast Guard regulations on the public. This rule also revises the authority citations in several parts of the CFR solely to update the DHS Delegation No. 00170.1 to the most current revision number 01.4. <HD SOURCE="HD1">V. Regulatory Analyses</HD> We developed this rule after considering numerous statutes and Executive orders related to rulemaking. A summary of our analyses based on these statutes or Executive orders follows. <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Regulatory Planning and Review</HD> Executive Order 14192 (Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation) directs agencies to significantly reduce the private expenditures required to comply with Federal regulations and provides that “any new incremental costs associated with new regulations shall, to the extent permitted by law, be offset by the elimination of existing costs associated with at least 10 prior regulations.” This rule is not an Executive Order 14192 regulatory action because this rule is not significant under Executive Order 12866. See OMB Memorandum M-25-20, “Guidance Implementing Section 3 of Executive Order 14192, titled `Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation' ” (March 26, 2025). The name change will have no substantive effect on the public. A regulatory analysis (RA) follows. This rule involves non-substantive technical amendments and updates to internal agency practices and procedures and will not impose any additional costs. The technical amendments in this rule modify existing language in the CFR. The Coast Guard does not expect any additional costs for the public or the Federal Government because none of the technical and editorial changes included in this rule will change existing regulatory requirements. Specifically, renaming the districts to reflect their geographical location will help the public and maritime stakeholders easily find and understand which Coast Guard district they live, boat, and operate in, leading to less confusion. A summary of these amendments by numerical district name and geographical district name are presented in table 1. <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s50,r50,r50,r50"> <TTITLE>Table 1—Summary of Regulatory Changes by District Number and Name</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Previous numerical district name</CHED> <CHED H="1">New geographical district name</CHED> <CHED H="1">Description of changes</CHED> <CHED H="1">Economic impact</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 1</ENT> <ENT>USCG Northeast District</ENT> <ENT>Editorial</ENT> <ENT>No impact; editorial changes.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 5</ENT> <ENT>USCG East District</ENT> <ENT>Editorial</ENT> <ENT>No impact; editorial changes.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 7</ENT> <ENT>USCG Southeast District</ENT> <ENT>Editorial</ENT> <ENT>No impact; editorial changes.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">District 8</ENT> <ENT>USCG Heartland District</ENT> <ENT>Editorial</ENT> <ENT>No impact; ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 37k characters. 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