[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 210 (Wednesday, October 30, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66189-66191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-27610]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-2002-13582]


National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP)

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comments on PREP triennial exercise 
schedule for 2003, 2004, and 2005.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard, the Research and Special Programs 
Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minerals 
Management Service, in concert with representatives from various State 
governments, industry, environmental interest groups, and the general 
public, developed the Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) 
Guidelines to reflect the consensus agreement of the entire oil spill 
response community. This notice announces the PREP triennial cycle, 
2003-2005, requests comments from the public, and requests industry 
participants to volunteer for scheduled PREP Area exercises.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before December 30, 2002.

ADDRESSES: To make sure that your comments and related material are not 
entered more than once in the docket, please submit them by only one of 
the following means:
    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-2002-13582), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By delivery 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 material received from the public, 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, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
or need general information regarding the PREP Program and the 
schedule, contact Mr. Robert Pond, Office of Response, Plans and 
Preparedness Division (G-MOR-2), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 
telephone 202-267-6603, fax 202-267-4065 or e-mail 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, call Ms. Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, 
Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PREP Area exercise schedule and exercise 
design manuals are available on the Internet at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfcc/nsfweb/. To obtain a hard copy of the exercise design manual, 
contact Ms. Melanie Barber at the Research and Special Programs 
Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, at 202-366-4560. The 2002 
PREP Guidelines booklet is available at no cost on the Internet at 
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfcc/nsfweb/ or by writing or faxing the TASC 
DEPT Warehouse, 33141Q 75th Avenue, Landover, MD 20785, facsimile: 301-
386-5394. The stock number of the manual is USCG-X0241. Please indicate 
the quantity when ordering. Quantities are limited to 10 per order.

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-2002-13582], indicate the specific section of 
this document 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 this triennial exercise schedule in view of them.

Background and Purpose

    In 1994, the 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 National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program 
(PREP) Guidelines to provide guidelines for compliance with the Oil 
Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) pollution response exercise requirements 
(33 U.S.C. 1321(j)). The guiding principles for PREP distinguish 
between internal and external exercises. Internal exercises are 
conducted within the plan holder's organization. External exercises 
extend beyond the plan holder's organization to involve other members 
of the response community. External exercises are separated into two 
categories: (1) Area exercises, and (2) Government-initiated 
unannounced exercises. These exercises are designed to evaluate the 
entire response

[[Page 66190]]

mechanism in a given area to ensure adequate pollution response 
preparedness.
    Since 1994, the USCG, U.S. EPA, MMS, and RSPA's Office of Pipeline 
Safety (OPS) have published a triennial schedule of Area exercises. In 
short, the Area exercises involve the entire response community 
(Federal, State, local, and industry participants) and therefore, 
require more extensive planning than other oil spill response 
exercises. The PREP Guidelines describe all of these exercises in more 
detail. This notice announces the next triennial schedule of Area 
exercises. If a company wants to volunteer for an Area exercise, a 
company representative may call either the Coast Guard or EPA On-Scene 
Coordinator (OSC) where the exercise is scheduled.
    The following table is the PREP schedule for calendar years 2003, 
2004, and 2005.

              Prep Schedule--Government-Led Area Exercises
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Date/
              Area                     Agency        Qtr\1\  Participant
------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Calendar Year 2003
Florida Panhandle (MSO Mobile).  CG................       1
SE Alaska (MSO Juneau).........  CG................       2
Philadelphia, PA (MSO            CG................       3
 Philadelphia).
Region II RCP or Caribbean (EPA  EPA...............       3
 Region II).
Portland, ME (MSO Portland)....  CG................       4
Buffalo, NY (MSO Buffalo)......  CG................       4
--------------------------------
       Calendar Year 2004
SF/LA/LB/San Diego (MSO San      CG SONS \2\.......       1
 Francisco, MSO Los Angeles/
 Long Beach & MSO San Diego).
Prince William Sound (MSO        CG................       2
 Valdez).
Charleston, SC (MSO Charleston)  CG................       2
South Texas Coast (MSO Corpus    CG................       3
 Christi).
Duluth-Superior (MSO Duluth)...  CG................       3
Guam (MSO Guam)................  CG................       4
Region I RCP (EPA Region I)....  EPA...............       4
--------------------------------
       Calendar Year 2005
Virginia Coastal (MSO Hampton    CG................       2
 Roads).
Houston-Galveston (MSO Houston)  CG................       2
Alabama (MSO Mobile)...........  CG................       3
Region V RCP (EPA Region V)....  EPA...............       3
Providence (MSO Providence)....  CG................       4
Western Alaska (MSO Anchorage).  CG................      4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Quarters: 1 (January-March); 2 (April-June); 3 (July-September); 4
  (October-December).
\2\ SONS: Spill of National Significance.


               Prep Schedule--Industry-Led Area Exercises
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Area                       Date/Qtr\1\  Participant
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Calendar Year 2003
Region IX RCP (EPA Region IX).................            1
Cleveland, OH (MSO Cleveland).................            1
Detroit (MSO Detroit).........................            2
Jacksonville (MSO Jacksonville)...............            2
New Orleans (MSO New Orleans).................            2
Northwest Area--Portland (MSO Portland).......            2
Region III RCP (EPA Region III)...............            3
North Coast (CA) (MSO San Francisco)..........            3
Caribbean Area (MSO San Juan).................            3
Western Lake Erie (MSO Toledo)................            3
Region VI RCP (EPA Region VI).................            4
Northern Marianas--Saipan (MSO Saipan)........            4
              Calendar Year 2004
Region IV RCP (EPA Region IV).................            1
New York, NY (Activities NY)..................            1
Maryland Coastal (MSO Baltimore)..............            2
Chicago, IL (MSO Chicago).....................            2
Morgan City (MSO Morgan City).................            2
Eastern Wisconsin (MSO Milwaukee).............            3
Long Island Sound (MSO Long Island)...........            3
Northwest--Puget Sound (MSO Puget Sound)......            3
Savannah (MSO Savannah).......................            3
Region VII RCP (EPA Region VII)...............            4
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[[Page 66191]]

 
              Calendar Year 2005
Region VIII (EPA Region VIII).................            1
Boston (MSO Boston)...........................            1
Buffalo (MSO Buffalo).........................            2
Hawaii Islands (MSO Honolulu).................            2
South LA/LB...................................            2
South Florida (MSO Miami).....................            2
S. North Carolina (MSO Wilmington)............            3
Region X or EPA Alaska (EPA Region X).........            3
SW LA/SE Texas (MSO Port Arthur)..............            3
San Diego (MSO San Diego).....................            3
Tampa (MSO Tampa).............................            4
Sault Ste. Marie (MSO Sault Ste. Marie).......           4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Quarters: 1 (January-March); 2 (April-June); 3 (July-September); 4
  (October-December).


    Dated: October 15, 2002.
Howard L. Hime,
Acting Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security & Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 02-27610 Filed 10-29-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P