[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 182 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56445-56446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21137]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2004-19106]


National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP)

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comments on PREP triennial exercise 
schedule for 2005, 2006, and 2007, and PREP Guidelines.

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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, 
2005 through 2007, requests comments from the public, and requests 
industry participants to volunteer for scheduled PREP Area exercises. 
Additionally, this notice requests comments on issues or concerns 
related to the PREP.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before November 22, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket 
number USCG-2004-19106 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one 
of the following methods:
    (1) Web site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (4) Delivery: 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
or need general information regarding the PREP Program and the 
schedule, contact Lieutenant Commander Mark Cunningham, Office of 
Response, Plans and Preparedness Division (G-MOR-2), U.S. Coast Guard 
Headquarters, telephone 202-267-2877, fax 202-267-

[[Page 56446]]

4065 or e-mail [email protected]. If you have questions on 
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Ms. Andrea M. 
Jenkins, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Preparedness for Response Exercise 
Program (PREP) Area exercise schedule and exercise design manuals are 
available on the Internet at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfweb/nsfcc/prep/prepexercisesked.html. 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/nsfweb/nsfcc/prep/prepexercisesked.html 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.

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to respond to this notice by submitting comments 
and related materials. All comments received will be posted, without 
change, to http://dms.dot.gov and will include any personal information 
you have provided. We have an agreement with the Department of 
Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please see 
DOT's ``Privacy Act'' three paragraphs below.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your 
name and address, identify the docket number for this notice (USCG-
2004-19106), 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 electronic means, mail, fax, or 
delivery 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 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 that 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.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as 
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using 
the docket number. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in 
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.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the 
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

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 pollution response mechanism in a given geographic area to 
ensure adequate response preparedness.
    A National Schedule Coordination Committee (NSCC) was established 
for scheduling these Area exercises. The NSCC is comprised of personnel 
representing the four Federal regulating agencies--the USCG, U.S. EPA, 
MMS, and RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). Since 1994, the NSCC 
has 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.

PREP Schedule

    In the PREP exercise notice for 2004 through 2006 published on 
October 16, 2003 (68 FR 59627), we provided in Table 1 a lists of the 
dates and Federal Register cites of past PREP exercise notices.
    This notice announces the next triennial schedule of Area 
exercises. The PREP schedule for calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007 
for Government-Led and Industry-Led Area exercises is available on the 
Internet at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfweb/nsfcc/prep/PREP_Ex_Schedule_05-07.pdf. 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.

PREP Guidelines and Workshop

    The NSCC is considering whether or not to hold a public workshop on 
the state of the PREP. If there are issues or concerns related to the 
PREP and its Guidelines, please submit your comments using the 
procedures described under the ADDRESSES section of this notice. If 
sufficient interest exists, the NSCC may hold a public workshop in 
calendar year 2005.

    Dated: September 14, 2004.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security & Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 04-21137 Filed 9-20-04; 8:45 am]
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