[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 43 (Monday, March 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15602-15603]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04489]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No USCG-2024-0021]


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, 
2024 through February 28, 2025.

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 
case.a.kuikhoven@uscg,mil.

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.
    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

[[Page 15603]]

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 27, 2024, 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, 2025.

    Dated: February 27, 2024.
M.M. Dean,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard 
District.
[FR Doc. 2024-04489 Filed 3-1-24; 8:45 am]
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