Data Management Plan

This dataset represents mandatory speed restriction zones as described in the Final Rule To Implement Speed Restrictions to Reduce the Threat of Ship Collisions With North Atlantic Right Whales (50 CFR Part 224.105). While the offshore boundaries of the mandatory speed restriction areas are fixed, the majority of the coastal boundary is represented by shoreline data. Because shorelines are highly dynamic, the dataset used to represent the shoreline, while contemporary, will likely become quickly outdated in a number of locations. In addition, GIS projection and topology functions can often change or generalize coordinates. For these reasons, the spatial features contained in this dataset are considered to be approximate representations and are NOT an OFFICIAL record for the exact regulated area boundaries.

Process Steps:

• 2022-08-10 00:00:00 - COLREGS Demarcation Lines and NOAA NGS Continually Updated Shoreline Product (CUSP) line features were merged into a single dataset.
• 2022-08-10 00:00:00 - Linear features in the merged COLREGS Demarcation Lines and NOAA NGS Continually Updated Shoreline Product (CUSP) feature class were edited to remove out-of-habitat features (e.g. inland waters, barrier islands, etc.) or features that were determined to introduce an unnecessary degree of complexity to the boundaries (e.g. seawalls, jetties, groins, offshore breakwaters, etc.). Hand digitized features guided by ESRI’s World Imagery Basemap were added to connect shoreline features to COLREGS features where the speed zone boundaries transitioned between shoreline and COLREGS linear features and to bridge gaps where shoreline data was unavailable or where breaks in shoreline features occurred due to the removal of out-of-habitat waters. The linear features in this dataset were merged to create a single, contiguous coastal boundary for the regulated portion of the U.S. Atlantic seaboard.
• 2022-08-11 00:00:00 - Coordinate values belonging to the offshore and coastal control points to define the offshore boundary and coastal divisions for mandatory speed restriction areas were converted from degrees-minutes-seconds to decimal degrees and used to create a line feature class delineating the offshore boundaries and divisions between the mandatory speed restriction areas.
• 2022-08-12 00:00:00 - Polygons were created using the linear feature class representing the offshore boundaries and mandatory speed restriction area divisions and the feature class containing the contiguous coastal boundary for the regulated portion of the U.S. Atlantic seaboard.