[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 179 (Monday, September 16, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58440-58441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-23481]


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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 policy.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces a change of policy on 
recertification procedures for alternative voluntary advisory groups in 
lieu of councils at Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet regions of 
Alaska. Under the Oil Terminal and Oil Tanker Environmental Oversight 
and Monitoring Act of 1990, the Coast Guard must certify, on an annual 
basis, an alternative voluntary advisory group in lieu of a Regional 
Citizen's Advisory Council for Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet 
regions of Alaska. The new policy will require an applicant for 
recertification to provide the Coast Guard with comprehensive 
information every three years (triennially). For each of the two years 
between the triennial applications procedure, applicants need only 
submit a letter requesting recertification and describe any substantive 
changes to the information provided at the last triennial 
recertification.

DATES: This notice of policy is effective September 16, 2002.

ADDRESSES: The public docket for this notice is maintained by the 17th 
Coast Guard District. Comments and documents, as indicated in this 
notice, will become part of this docket and will be available for 
inspection by appointment. Appointments can be made by calling the 
Chief of Planning and Response, 17th Coast Guard District at (907) 463-
2804. Comments regarding this notice or the Regional Citizen's Advisory 
Council can be sent to Commander 17th Coast Guard District, Office of 
Response (MOR) P.O. Box 25517 Juneau, AK, 99802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
please call Commander Spencer Wood at (907) 463-2804. If you have 
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, please call 
the Chief of Planning and Response, 17th Coast Guard District at (907) 
463-2804.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 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).
    On October 18, 1991, the President delegated his authority under 33 
U.S.C. 2732 (o) to the Secretary of Transportation in Executive Order 
12777, section 8(g) (see 56 FR 54757; Oct. 22, 1991). On March 3, 1992, 
the Secretary redelegated that authority to the Commandant of the Coast 
Guard (see 57 FR 8582; March 11, 1992). The Commandant redelegated that 
authority to the Chief, Office of Marine Safety, Security and 
Environmental Protection (G-M) on March 19, 1992 (letter 
5402). The successor to that officer, the Assistant Commandant 
for Marine Safety and Environmental Protection (G-M) redelegated that 
authority to the Commander, Seventeenth U.S. Coast Guard District on 
February 26, 1999 (letter 16450).
    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

[[Page 58441]]

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 annual administrative burden placed 
on the advisory groups, the Coast Guard, and the public. Hence, the 
Coast Guard published a notice of proposal to change procedure; request 
for comments on December 28, 2000 (65 FR 82451) that asked the public 
to comment on the proposal to change recertification procedure. Three 
commenters, including the two advisory groups, submitted comments. All 
three commenters endorsed the proposed procedural changes for 
certification. All three commenters agreed that the current annual 
recertification process involves a lot of time and effort. The 
commenters also agreed that much of the information that is required 
remains unchanged from year to year, thus rendering it redundant.
    However, one commenter proposed a minor modification to the clause 
within the proposal that states that ``for each of the 2 years between 
the triennial application procedure, applicants should * * * describe 
any substantive changes to the information provided at the last 
triennial recertification.'' The commenter said that, if this clause is 
interpreted literally, this provision would appear to require that 
changes occurring during the first off-year, and described in the 
application for that year, be described again in the application for 
the second off-year. The commenter stated that this would be necessary 
to ensure that all changes since the last triennial recertification 
were captured in each off-year application. The commenter suggested 
instead that each off year application be required to capture only 
changes since the last recertification, without regard to whether it 
was a triennial recertification or an off-year recertification. This 
commenter added that a simplified process of recertification would:
    [sbull] Materially reduce the administrative burden on the Coast 
Guard and other parties to the process.
    [sbull] Preserve an appropriate degree of oversight of RCAC 
activities by the Coast Guard.
    [sbull] Provide appropriate opportunities for public comment on 
RCAC activities.
Our experience gathered from 1993 to present has shown us that the 
majority of information submitted by advisory groups seeking 
recertification remains unchanged year-to-year and both the government 
and the public would benefit from a streamlined administrative 
procedure. Based on the comments received and on that experience, we 
believe an applicant for recertification should provide the Coast Guard 
with a comprehensive application once every 3 years (triennially). For 
each of the 2 years between the triennial application procedures, 
applicants should submit a letter requesting recertification and 
describe any substantive changes to the information provided at the 
last triennial recertification. We propose that this procedure 
commences with the 2002 certification season, meaning that applicants 
seeking recertification in 2002 need only submit the streamlined 
application and that we will not solicit public comments prior to 
recertification during 2002. The triennial review process will take 
place in 2005. The Coast Guard will still accept public comments 
whenever submitted and these comments will be available for viewing by 
making arrangements with the office listed under ADDRESSES.

    Dated: September 6, 2002.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security and Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 02-23481 Filed 9-13-02; 8:45 am]
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