[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 4, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17697-17698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8217]



[[Page 17697]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-2000-7117]


Notice of Public Meeting and Request for Comments on Proposed 
Changes to the Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) Classification 
Program

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is soliciting comments on proposed changes to 
the Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) Classification program. The 
Coast Guard has developed proposed changes to the OSRO Classification 
program in a document entitled: Coast Guard Program for Classifying Oil 
Spill Removal Organizations. This notice also announces a public 
meeting to discuss the proposed document.

DATES: The meeting in Arlington, VA will be on May 4, 2000, from 9 a.m. 
to 5 p.m. The meeting will convene at 9 a.m., and will conclude before 
5 p.m. if we finish early. Comments and related material must reach the 
Docket Management Facility on or before May 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The meeting in Arlington, VA will be held at the Hilton 
Crystal City at National Airport Hotel, 2399 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, VA 22202, 703-418-6800.
    To make sure your comments and related materials are not entered in 
the docket more than once, please submit them by only one of the 
following means:
    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility (USCG-2000-7117), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By hand to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    (3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
    (4) Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket Management 
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments and documents, as indicated in this notice, will 
become part of this docket and will be available for inspection or 
copying at room PL-401 on the Plaza Level of the Nassif Building at the 
same address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays. You may electronically access the public docket on 
the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this meeting notice, 
or persons interested in presenting information at the workshop, please 
contact Lieutenant Commander Roger Laferriere, Office of Response, 
Response Operations Division (G-MOR-3), telephone 202-267-0448, fax 
202-267-4085, or email [email protected].
    For questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call 
Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 
202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  

Agenda of Meeting

    Proposed changes to the Coast Guard Program for Classifying Oil 
Spill Removal Organizations. The agenda includes the following:
    (1) Addressing OSROs with different capabilities having the same 
classification.
    (2) Increasing measurement of OSRO systems capability.
    (3) Development of realistic response times.
    (4) Addressing personnel requirements.
    (5) Increasing alignment with the regulations.
    (6) Strengthening the verification program.
    (7) Making the guidelines more user friendly.
    (8) Clarifying planner and OSRO responsibilities.
    (9) Improving fixed storage counting.
    (10) Validating OSRO exercise participation.
    A copy of the document entitled, Coast Guard Program for 
Classifying Oil Spill Removal Organizations can be obtained through the 
National Strike Force Coordination Center at 252-331-6000, extension 
3034, or at the Vessel Response Plan program internet site (http: 
www.uscg.mil/vrp), or at the internet site for the public docket for 
this notice, http://dms.dot.gov.

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to participate by submitting comments and related 
material. If you do so, please include your name and address, identify 
the docket number [USCG-2000-7117], indicate the specific section of 
the Coast Guard Program for Classifying Oil Spill Removal Organizations 
to which each comment applies, and give the reason for each comment. 
You may submit your comments and material by mail, hand delivery, fax, 
or electronic means to the Docket Management Facility at the address 
under ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and material by only 
one means. If you submit them by mail or hand delivery, submit them in 
an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail and would 
like to know they reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-
addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and 
material received during the comment period. We may change the document 
in view of them.

Public Meeting

    The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the proposed changes to 
the OSRO Classification program guidelines as described in Coast Guard 
Program for Classifying Oil Spill Removal Organizations. Also, the 
Coast Guard will discuss many issues raised during the last five years 
of the OSRO Classification program. Federal, state, and local agencies, 
industry, oil spill removal organizations, environmental groups and the 
public are encouraged to participate and provide written or oral 
comments on the document.

Background

    The primary purpose of the OSRO program is to provide a systematic 
way to classify OSROs. Once classified, planholders can list them by 
name and classification as an alternative to listing extensive 
resources in their tank vessel and facility plans [Title 33 Code of 
Federal Regulations, sections 154.1035(e)(3)(iii) and 155.1035(i)(8)]. 
OSROs and plan holders participate and use the classification program 
on a strictly voluntary basis. Since their inception, five years ago, 
the OSRO Classification Guidelines have undergone subtle changes to 
increase alignment with the regulatory requirements. Thirteen separate 
newsletters were published announcing these changes, eight of which 
were incorporated into the last revision of the Guidelines in 1997. 
Since 1997, the guidelines have remained stable in form, but program 
managers and stakeholders identified more shortfalls, where the 
guidelines did not meet the regulatory requirements. OSRO 
classifications were intended strictly as a response ``planning'' tool 
that would allow plan writers to identify OSROs that could meet their 
response needs, as outlined by the regulations. In order to ensure, at 
a minimum, that an OSRO classification represents as accurately as

[[Page 17698]]

possible an OSRO's response capabilities, further changes to the 
guidelines were needed. The proposed changes are designed to ensure 
that the Coast Guard classification program provides a more accurate 
representation of an OSRO's response capability and better addresses 
the regulatory requirements.

Information on Services for Individuals with Disabilities

    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities, or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact 
Lieutenant Commander Roger R. Laferriere, Office of Response, Response 
Operations Division (G-MOR-3), Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-0448, e-
mail [email protected] as soon as possible.

    Dated: March 29, 2000.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 00-8217 Filed 4-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-U