[Federal Register: August 4, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 150)]
[Notices]
[Page 45231-45232]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04au08-50]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2008-0521]
National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
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 National Preparedness for Response Exercise
Program (PREP) Guidelines to reflect the consensus agreement of the
entire oil spill response community. This notice announces the PREP 5-
year exercise cycle, 2009 through 2013, and requests comments from the
public, and requests volunteers from industry to participate in the
scheduled PREP Area exercises. The new schedule adjustment from 3 years
to 5 years was created to align with the Department of Homeland
Security's National Exercise 5-year Schedule.
DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management
Facility on or before October 3, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket
number USCG-2008-0521 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S.
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one
of the following methods:
(1) Online: http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(3) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
(4) Fax: 202-493-2251.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
or need general information regarding the PREP or the 5-year exercise
schedule, contact Lieutenant Shawn Essert, Office of Contingency
Exercises (CG-535), U.S. Coast Guard, telephone 202-372-2149, or e-mail
shawn.g.essert@uscg.mil. If
[[Page 45232]]
you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket,
call Ms. Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone
202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
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://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal
information you provide. We have an agreement with the Department of
Transportation to use their Docket Management Facility.
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (USCG-2008-0521), indicate the specific section of this document
to which each comment applies, and give the reason for each comment. We
recommend that you include your name and a mailing address, an e-mail
address, or a phone number in the body of your document so that we can
contact you if we have questions regarding your submission. 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 5-year
exercise schedule, as well as other elements of the PREP, in light of
your comments.
Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov at
any time. Enter the docket number for this notice (USCG-2008-0521) in
the Search box, and click ``Go>>.'' If you do not have access to the
Internet, you may view the docket online by visiting the Docket
Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the
Department of Transportation West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue,
SE., Washington, DC 20590, 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 a Privacy Act, system of
records notice regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008
issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
Background and Purpose
In 1994, the United States Coast Guard (USCG), the Research and
Special Programs Administration (RSPA) of the Department of
Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the
Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior,
coordinated the development of the National Preparedness for Response
Exercise Program (PREP) Guidelines to ensure compliance with the Oil
Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) pollution response exercise requirements
(33 U.S.C. 1321(j)). The guiding principles of PREP distinguish between
internal and external exercises. Internal exercises are conducted
within the planholder's organization. External exercises extend beyond
the planholder's organization to involve other members of the response
community. External exercises are separated into two categories: Area
exercises, and Government-initiated, unannounced exercises. External
exercises are designed to evaluate the entire pollution response
mechanism in a given geographic Area to ensure adequate response
preparedness.
Area exercises involve the entire response community including
Federal, State, local, tribal, and non-government organizations, and
industry participants; therefore, these Area exercises require more
extensive planning than other oil spill response exercises. The PREP
Guidelines describe all of these exercises in more detail.
A National Schedule Coordination Committee (NSCC) was established
for scheduling Area exercises. The NSCC is comprised of personnel
representing the four Federal regulating agencies--the USCG, EPA, MMS,
and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's
(PHMSA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). Since 1994, the NSCC published
a triennial schedule of Area exercises. Starting in 2008, NSCC will
publish a schedule of Area exercises every 5 years.
Source for PREP Documents
The PREP Area exercise schedule and exercise design manuals are
available on the Internet at http://homeport.uscg.mil/exercises. To
obtain a hard copy of the exercise design manual, contact Ms. Melanie
Barber at PHMSA, Office of Pipeline Safety at 202-366-4560.
PREP Schedule
This notice announces the next 5-year schedule of the Area
exercises. The PREP schedule for calendar years 2009 through 2013 for
Government-led and Industry-led Area exercises is available on the
Internet in the docket for this notice at http://www.regulations.gov
and at http://homeport.uscg.mil/exercises under Port Level Exercises.
Any revisions to the schedule will appear on the http://
homeport.uscg.mil Web site. We have include a table listing the dates
and Federal Register cites of past PREP exercise notices in our online
docket for those who wish to compare this 2009-2013 schedule with past
schedules.
If a company wants to volunteer for an Area exercise, a company
representative may call either the Coast Guard or EPA on-scene
coordinator for times and locations. If you have concerns or
recommended improvements to the Government-led PREP exercises, please
submit those using the procedures described under the ADDRESSES section
of this notice.
Dated: July 24, 2008.
Joseph R. Castillo,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Response Policy.
[FR Doc. E8-17755 Filed 8-1-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P