[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 250 (Thursday, December 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82451-82453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-33192]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-2000-8568]


Revised Recertification Procedure for Alternative Voluntary 
Advisory Groups in Lieu of Councils, Prince William Sound and Cook 
Inlet, AK

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposal to change procedure; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Under the Oil Terminal and Oil Tanker Environmental Oversight 
and Monitoring Act of 1990, the Coast Guard may certify, on an annual 
basis, an alternative voluntary advisory group in lieu of a Regional 
Citizen's Advisory Council for Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound 
regions of Alaska. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public 
that the Coast Guard intends to revise the procedure by which the 
alternative voluntary advisory groups undergo annual recertification 
with the objective of streamlining the administrative burden to the 
advisory groups, the Coast Guard and other involved parties.

DATES: Comments must reach the Document Management Facility on or 
before Febraury 12, 2001.

ADDRESSES: To make sure your written comments and related material are 
not entered more than once in the docket,

[[Page 82452]]

please submit them by only one of the following means:
    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-2000-8568), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By hand delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001, 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 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 will become part of this docket and will be available 
for inspection or copying at room PL-401, located on the Plaza Level of 
the Nassif Building at the above address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may electronically 
access the public docket for this notice on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, contact Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, 
Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329; for questions on 
this notice, contact LT Mark Tennyson, Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-
0486.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on this 
notice. If you do so, please include your name and address, identify 
the docket number for this notice (USCG-2000-8568), and give the 
reasons for each comment. You may submit your comments and material by 
mail, hand delivery, fax, or electronic means to the Document 
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\ x 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you 
want acknowledgment of receipt of your comments, enclose a stamped, 
self-addressed post card or envelope. We will consider all comments and 
materials received during the comment period. We intend to finalize any 
procedural changes in time for the 2001 certification season. A notice 
will be published in a later Federal Register.

Public Meeting

    We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. You may submit a 
request for a public hearing by writing to Director (G-MW), Commandant, 
2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001. You may also deliver 
them to the same address in room 1408. The request should include 
reasons why a hearing would be beneficial. If there is sufficient 
evidence to determine that oral presentations will aid this process, we 
will hold a public hearing at a time and place announced by a later 
notice in the Federal Register.

Background and Purpose

    As part of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, Congress passed the Oil 
Terminal and Oil Tanker Environmental Oversight and Monitoring Act of 
1990 (33 U.S.C. 2732) (the Act) to foster the long-term partnership 
among industry, government, and local communities in overseeing 
compliance with environmental concerns in the operation of crude oil 
terminals and oil tankers.
    Paragraph (o) of the Act permits an alternative voluntary advisory 
group to represent the communities and interests in the vicinity of the 
oil terminal facilities in Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound regions 
of Alaska in lieu of a Council of the type specified in 33 U.S.C. 
2732(d), if certain conditions are met. The Act requires that each 
group enter into a contract to ensure annual funding and receive annual 
certification from the President that it fosters the general goals and 
purposes of the Act and is broadly representative of the community and 
interests in the vicinity of the terminal facilities. Accordingly, in 
1991, the President granted certification to both the Cook Inlet 
Regional Citizen's Advisory Council (RCAC) and the Prince William Sound 
RCAC alternative voluntary advisory groups (advisory groups). The 
authority to certify advisory groups was subsequently delegated to the 
Commandant of the Coast Guard and redelegated to the Chief, Office of 
Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection. In February 1999, 
the authority to certify these advisory groups was redelegated to the 
Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District in Juneau, Alaska.
    The Coast Guard published guidelines on December 31, 1992 (57 FR 
62600), to assist groups seeking recertification under the Act. We 
issued a policy statement on July 7, 1993 (58 FR 36504), to clarify the 
factors that we would be considering in making our determination as to 
whether advisory groups should be certified in accordance with the Act; 
and the procedures which we would follow in meeting our certification 
responsibilities under the Act. Since then, both the Prince William 
Sound and Cook Inlet advisory groups have been recertified annually. 
Based on the experiences of the recertification processes conducted 
from 1993 to 2000, as well as the evolution of the advisory groups from 
new, untested organizations to stable, functioning organizations, the 
Coast Guard believes the recertification procedure should be 
streamlined, reducing the substantial annual administrative burden 
placed on the advisory groups, the Coast Guard and the public.

Proposed Action

    This notice proposes two changes to the guidelines available to 
assist advisory groups seeking recertification under the Act. First, we 
propose to amend the application procedure. Second, we propose to amend 
the public review procedure (i.e., the notice and comment period 
provided under the current procedure).
    Under the current guidelines, when an advisory group applies or re-
applies for annual certification, it should submit the information 
relevant to the general criteria set forth in section 2732 (c) through 
(l) of the Act and, subsequently, in the July 7, 1993 Federal Register 
(58 FR 36504). This information enables us to review the advisory 
group's activities over the past year, as well as future planned 
activities, including projects, studies, plans, permits, regulations, 
procedures, membership policies, public accessibility of the advisory 
group and its work, use of finances, and the establishment of a funding 
contract with designated industry members.
    We now propose that an applicant for recertification should provide 
us with this comprehensive information once every 3 years 
(triennially). For each of the 2 years between the triennial 
application procedure, applicants should submit a letter requesting 
recertification and describe any substantive changes to the information 
provided at the last triennial recertification. A copy of the previous 
year's annual report, annual financial statement, and Budget and 
Spending Plan for the coming year should also be included.
    Although we will continue to evaluate an advisory group's request 
for recertification every year, we believe that an annual collection of 
information is redundant and unnecessary. Experience gathered from 1993 
to present has shown us that the majority of information submitted by 
advisory

[[Page 82453]]

groups seeking recertification remains unchanged year-to-year and both 
the government and the public would benefit from a streamlined 
administrative procedure.
    The second proposed change pertains to the solicitation of public 
comments through Federal Register publication. The current guidelines 
provide that upon receipt of an application for recertification as an 
alternative advisory group, we will solicit comments from the public by 
publishing a notice and request for comments in the Federal Register. 
After a 45 day comment period, we will review the application and all 
comments received within the comment period and make a determination. 
The public will then be notified of the decision by Federal Register 
publication.
    We now propose to solicit public comments every three years by 
publishing a notice and request for comments in the Federal Register. 
We believe that the public will benefit from a triennial public comment 
period. The majority of recent comments have expressed general 
agreement that the advisory groups have fulfilled their role as 
mandated by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Therefore, interested 
individuals and groups will be able to engage in a more substantial and 
meaningful dialogue if the comment period is opened triennially rather 
than annually. This streamlining provision would also reduce the 
administrative burden to both the government and the public.
    This notice proposes to change the procedure for certification only 
during the 2 intervening years. First, a previously-certified advisory 
group will not have to re-submit a full application for recertification 
every year. Instead, an advisory group certified in the triennial 
certification year will, in the intervening 2 years, only have to 
submit updates or changes from the previous year's application. Second, 
we will only solicit comments from the public during the triennial 
certification year. We propose that this procedure commences with the 
2001 certification season, meaning that applicants seeking 
recertification in 2001 need only submit the streamlined application 
and that we will not solicit public comments prior to recertification 
during 2001. The triennial review process will take place in 2003. 
However, we will continue to recertify advisory groups annually. We 
will continue to use our established criteria to evaluate an advisory 
group's application for recertification. Finally, we will continue to 
advise the public of any recertification granted each year, by Federal 
Register notice.

    Dated: December 21, 2000.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Acting Assistant Commandant, for Marine Safety and Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 00-33192 Filed 12-27-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P