[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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