[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 48 (Monday, March 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14334-14335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05283]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2021-0041]


Recertification of Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' 
Advisory Council

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of recertification.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the recertification of the Prince 
William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council (PWSRCAC) as an 
alternative voluntary advisory group for Prince William Sound, Alaska. 
This certification allows the PWSRCAC to monitor the activities of 
terminal facilities and crude oil tankers under an alternative 
composition, other than prescribed, the Prince William Sound Program 
established by the Oil Terminal and Oil Tanker Environmental Oversight 
and Monitoring Act of 1990.

DATES: This recertification is effective for the period from March 1, 
2021 through February 28, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this document, 
call or email LT Ian McPhillips, Seventeenth Coast Guard District 
(dpi), by phone at (907) 463-2809 or email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    The Coast Guard published guidelines on December 31, 1992 (57 FR 
62600), to assist groups seeking recertification under the Oil Terminal 
and Oil Tanker Environmental Oversight and Monitoring Act of 1990 (33 
U.S.C. 2732) (the Act). The Coast Guard issued a policy statement on 
July 7, 1993 (58 FR

[[Page 14335]]

36504), to clarify the factors that the Coast Guard would be 
considering in making its determination as to whether advisory groups 
should be certified in accordance with the Act, and the procedures 
which the Coast Guard would follow in meeting its certification 
responsibilities under the Act. Most recently, on September 16, 2002 
(67 FR 58440), the Coast Guard changed its policy on recertification 
procedures for regional citizen's advisory council by requiring 
applicants to provide comprehensive information every three years. For 
each of the two years between the triennial application procedures, 
applicants submit a letter requesting recertification that includes a 
description of any substantive changes to the information provided at 
the previous triennial recertification. Further, public comment is only 
solicited during the triennial comprehensive review.
    The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company pays the PWSRCAC $3.7 million 
annually in the form of a long-term contract. In return for this 
funding, the PWSRCAC must annually show that it ``fosters the goals and 
purposes'' of OPA 90 and is ``broadly representative of the communities 
and interests in the vicinity of the terminal facilities and Prince 
William Sound.'' The PWSRCAC is an independent, nonprofit organization 
founded in 1989. Though it receives federal oversight like many 
independent, nonprofit organizations, it is not a federal agency. The 
PWSRCAC is a local organization that predates the passage of OPA 90. 
The existence of the PWSRCAC was specifically recognized in OPA 90 
where it is defined as an ``alternative voluntary advisory group.'' 
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company funds the PWSRCAC, and the Coast Guard 
ensures the PWSRCAC operates in a fashion that is broadly consistent 
with OPA 90.

Recertification

    By letter dated February 16, 2021, the Commander, Seventeenth Coast 
Guard District, certified that the PWSRCAC qualifies as an alternative 
voluntary advisory group under 33 U.S.C. 2732(o). This recertification 
terminates on February 28, 2022.

    Dated: February 17, 2021.
Matthew T. Bell, Jr.,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard 
District.
[FR Doc. 2021-05283 Filed 3-12-21; 8:45 am]
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