[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64961-64962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26864]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-2000-7514]


National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP)

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability and notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard, Research and Special Programs 
Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Mineral 
Management Service, in concert with representatives from various State 
governments, industry, environmental interest groups, and the general 
public, developed the National Preparedness for Response Exercise 
Program (PREP) Guidelines to reflect the consensus agreement of the 
entire oil spill response community. This notice announces the 
availability of the revised 2002 PREP Guidelines and announces the 
participating agencies' intent to hold a public meeting in November 
2002.

DATES: A public meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on 
November 7, 2002, in Galveston, Texas.

ADDRESSES: The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket 
for this notice. Comments and materials received from the public and 
the 2002 PREP Guidelines are part of this docket and are available for 
inspection or copying at 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. You may also find 
this docket on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.
    The 2002 PREP Guidelines also can be found on the following Web 
site: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfcc/nsfweb/. Hard copies of the PREP 
Guidelines are available at no cost by writing or faxing the PREP 
Coordinator at Commandant (G-MOR), 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, 
DC 20593-0001, fax: 202-267-4065. Please indicate the quantity when 
ordering. Quantities are limited to 10 per order.
    The public meeting will be held in Galveston, Texas, at the Moody 
Gardens Convention Center, One Hope Blvd., Galveston, Texas, 77554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this notice and 
general information regarding PREP Guidelines and the schedule, contact 
Mr. Robert Pond, Office of Response, Plans and Preparedness Division 
(G-MOR-2), Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20593-0001, telephone: 202-267-6603, fax: 202-267-4065, 
or e-mail: [email protected]. If you have questions on viewing 
material in the docket, call Ms. Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, 
Department of Transportation, telephone: 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    In 1994, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the Research and Special 
Programs Administration (RSPA) of the Department of Transportation, the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), and the Minerals 
Management Service (MMS) of the Department of Interior, coordinated the 
development of the PREP Guidelines. Through a series of public 
workshops involving representatives from many State governments, the 
regulated community, environmental interest groups, and the general 
public, the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) 
Guidelines were crafted to reflect the consensus agreement of the 
entire oil spill response community regarding an appropriate exercise 
program, including exercise types, frequency, scope, and objectives.
    For their part, the USCG, RSPA, U.S. EPA, and MMS agreed that an 
industry entity may use the PREP Guidelines as one means of complying 
with the pollution response exercise requirements in 33 U.S.C. 1321(j). 
(For USCG rules, see 33 CFR part 154, subpart F (Response Plans for Oil 
Facilities) and 33 CFR part 155, subpart D (Response Plans); for RSPA 
rules, see 49 CFR part 194 (Response Plans for Onshore Oil Pipelines); 
for U.S. EPA rules, see 40 CFR part 112, subpart D (Response 
Requirements); and for MMS rules, see 30 CFR part 254 (Oil-Spill 
Response Requirements for Facilities Located Seaward of the Coast 
Line).)
    Since 1994, USCG, RSPA, U.S. EPA, and MMS have hosted public 
workshops in 1995 (60 FR 19804, April 20, 1995), 1997 (62 FR 36864, 
July 9, 1997), and 2000 (65 FR 40160, June 29, 2000) to review the PREP 
Guidelines and consider need for changes. The first two workshops 
produced recommendations to preserve the 1994 PREP Guidelines without 
amendment. Based on comments from the 2000 workshop, the USCG, RSPA, 
U.S. EPA, and MMS recommended amending the

[[Page 64962]]

PREP Guidelines to clarify or alter certain exercise parameters and 
standards.

Key Changes and Clarifications to PREP Guidelines

    Several key changes have been made to the PREP Guidelines. The 2002 
PREP Guidelines clarify the exercise parameters found in the 1994 
version and do not increase or decrease the scope or scale of 
individual exercises or of the overall program. One exception is the 
potential frequency for government initiated unannounced exercises, 
which changes the number of exercises for U.S. EPA regulated facilities 
from four per year per planning area to no more than 10 percent of such 
facilities per year.
    There also were some minor changes made to individual agency 
sections and the appendices, with the majority of changes being made to 
Section 2 ``Guiding Principles.''
    Section 2 changes included the following:
    [sbull] The subsection ``Equipment Deployment Exercises'' was 
revised to include greater specificity of equipment types to be 
deployed, along with a more detailed description of the regional Oil 
Spill Removal Organizations concept. The revision also included 
encouragement to exercise ``systems'' rather than individual pieces of 
equipment, and to use equipment deployment exercises to test the 
effectiveness of response planning strategies.
    [sbull] The subsection ``Spill Management Team Exercises'' was 
revised to clarify criteria for allowing multiple planholders to take 
credit for a single spill management team exercise.
    [sbull] The subsection ``Area Exercises'' was revised to clarify 
the scope of an exercise including minimum spill size, a requirement to 
include industry-funded equipment deployment, and to reiterate that the 
goal is to exercise the entire response community with the unified 
command framework.
    [sbull] The section ``Government Initiated Unannounced Exercises'' 
was revised to clarify exercise expectations. Among the 2002 revisions 
are the expectations of satisfactory performance by planholders and to 
advise them of the change in the number of potential exercises in an 
EPA region (up to 10 percent of planholders).

Approach to Revision of PREP Guidelines

    On June 29, 2000, we published a notice in the Federal Register (65 
FR 40160) requesting comments on the 1994 PREP Guidelines and 
announcing a public workshop to address current concerns with the PREP 
Guidelines.
    On August 29, 2000, in Washington, DC, the Coast Guard held a 
public workshop. Based on the comments, the National Schedule 
Coordination Committee (NSCC)--comprised of representatives from the 
Coast Guard, RSPA, U.S. EPA, and MMS--proposed changes to the 1994 PREP 
Guidelines.
    On April 13, 2001, we published a notice of availability and 
request for comment in the Federal Register (66 FR 19282) seeking 
comments on the proposed changes to the PREP Guidelines.
    On August 7, 2001, we published an extension of comment period 
notice in the Federal Register (66 FR 41293) extending the comment 
period due to a delay in the availability of the proposed changes to 
the PREP Guidelines.
    On March 13, 2002, we published a notice of availability and 
request for comments in the Federal Register (67 FR 11368). This notice 
advised the public of the proposed final changes to the 2002 PREP 
Guidelines that have been revised based on a review of the comments 
made in response to the initial changes proposed in April 2001.

Availability of Document

    The 2002 PREP Guidelines are available electronically in this 
docket or from the sources indicated in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

Public Meeting

    The USCG, in conjunction with RSPA, U.S. EPA, and MMS, will hold a 
public meeting to discuss the 2002 PREP Guidelines on the following 
date and at the following location: Galveston, Texas, November 7, 2002, 
from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Moody Gardens Convention Center, 
One Hope Blvd., Galveston, Texas, 77554.
    The meeting may conclude before the allotted time if all matters of 
discussion have been addressed.

    Dated: October 16, 2002.
Paul J. Pluta,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, 
Security and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 02-26864 Filed 10-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P