[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 168 (Thursday, August 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 60221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18877]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No USCG-2023-0392]


Recertification of Cook Inlet 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 Cook 
Inlet Regional Citizens' Advisory Council (CIRCAC) as an alternative 
voluntary advisory group for Cook Inlet, Alaska. This certification 
allows the CIRCAC to monitor the activities of terminal facilities and 
crude oil tankers under the Cook Inlet 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 September 
01, 2023 through August 31, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this document, 
call or email LT Case Kuikhoven, 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 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.

Discussion of Comments

    On June 20, 2023, the Coast Guard published a Notice; Request for 
comments titled ``Application for Recertification of Cook Inlet 
Regional Citizens' Advisory Council'' in the Federal Register (88 FR 
39857). We received 33 comments, all in support of CIRCAC's 
recertification. No public meeting was requested. The comments 
consistently cited CIRCAC's collaborative partnerships in furthering 
the respective communities' interest to promote safety, efforts to keep 
the public informed, oil spill industry monitoring efforts, effective 
prevention and response efforts regarding oil pollution, and to protect 
the sensitive marine environment along Alaska's coastline.

Recertification

    By letter dated August 23, 2023, the Commander, Seventeenth Coast 
Guard District, certified that the CIRCAC qualifies as an alternative 
voluntary advisory group under 33 U.S.C. 2732(o). This recertification 
terminates on August 31, 2024.

    Dated: August 23, 2023.
M. M. Dean,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard 
District.
[FR Doc. 2023-18877 Filed 8-30-23; 8:45 am]
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