[Federal Register: June 25, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 121)]
[Notices]
[Page 30316-30317]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25jn09-59]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2000-7833]
Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Vessel and
Facility Response Plans for Oil: 2003 Removal Equipment Requirements
and Alternative Technology Revisions
AGENCY: U.S. Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of the Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (FPEIS) for the rulemaking
entitled Vessel and Facility Response Plans for Oil: 2003 Removal
Equipment Requirements and Alternative Technology Revisions (Docket No.
USCG-2001-8661). The FPEIS assesses the potential environmental impacts
from an increase of oil removal capability requirements for tank
vessels and marine transportation-related (MTR) facilities. We request
your comments on the FPEIS.
DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our
online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before July 27, 2009
or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket
number USCG-2000-7833 using any of the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods.
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on
submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
call or e-mail Gregory Kirkbride, U.S. Coast Guard, telephone 202-372-
1479, e-mail Gregory.B.Kirkbride@uscg.mil. If you have questions on
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright,
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the
FPEIS. All comments received will be posted, without change, to http://
www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you have
provided.
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the
docket number (USCG-2000-7833) for this notice and provide a reason for
each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and
material online, or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only
one of these means. 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.
To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
select the Advance Docket Search option on the right side of the
screen, insert ``USCG-2000-7833'' in the Docket ID box, press Enter,
and then click on the balloon shape in the Actions column. If you
submit your comments by mail or hand 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.
Viewing the comments and the FPEIS: To view the comments and the
FPEIS, go to http://www.regulations.gov, select the Advanced Docket
Search option on the right side of the screen, insert ``USCG-2000-
7833'' in the Docket ID box, press Enter, and then click on the item in
the Docket ID column. 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. We have an agreement with the Department of Transportation to
use the Docket Management Facility.
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of comments
received into any of our dockets using 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
We have prepared a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (FPEIS) for the rulemaking entitled Vessel and Facility
Response Plans for Oil: 2003 Removal Equipment Requirements and
Alternative Technology Revisions (1625-AA26). See ``Viewing the
comments and the FPEIS'' above. The FPEIS examines the reasonable
alternatives and potential environmental impacts from an increase of
oil removal capability requirements for tank vessels and marine
transportation-related (MTR) facilities. The FPEIS recommends
Alternative 5 as the preferred alternative for increasing oil removal
capability. Alternative 5 would require spill removal plan holders to
maintain on-water mechanical recovery capability at current levels,
establish a dispersant application capability, and establish aerial
tracking capability. We are requesting your comments on environmental
concerns that you may have related to the FPEIS.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) (Pub. L. 101-380) and
Executive
[[Page 30317]]
Order 12777 authorized the Coast Guard to issue regulations requiring
owners and operators of tank vessels and MTR facilities to prepare and
submit response plans, for approval, to the Coast Guard. OPA 90 also
requires that owners and operators conduct their operations in
accordance with those Coast Guard approved response plans.
In 1993, the Coast Guard published interim tank vessel and MTR
facility response plan regulations (58 FR 7424, February 5, 1993 and 58
FR 7730 February 5, 1993, respectively). The Coast Guard finalized
those regulations in 1996 (tank vessels, 61 FR 1052, January 12, 1996)
(MTR facilities 61 FR 7890, February 29, 1996). These regulations
contain minimum on-water oil removal equipment requirements that
planholders transporting or transferring petroleum oil are required to
meet when planning for an oil discharge. See 33 CFR part 155, subpart D
for tank vessels; and 33 CFR 154, subpart F for MTR facilities. These
regulations also state that the Coast Guard will periodically review
oil removal equipment requirements to determine if increases in
equipment and additional requirements for new response technologies are
practicable. 33 CFR 154.1045(n) and 155.1050(p).
On January 27, 1998, the Coast Guard published a notice requesting
comments (63 FR 3861) regarding our intent to conduct a review of
response plan oil removal equipment requirements. In the notice, we
stated that the 1993 removal equipment requirements would remain in
effect pending the results of that review, and that the removal
equipment requirement increases, as originally scheduled, would not be
implemented until the review was complete. On June 24, 1998, the Coast
Guard published a Notice of Meetings (63 FR 34500) that announced three
public workshops. The workshops were set up to solicit comments on
potential changes to removal equipment requirements within the response
plan regulations (33 CFR parts 153, 154 and 155) for mechanical
recovery, dispersants, and other spill removal technologies. Based on
comments in response to the notice of Request for Comments and the
three workshops, the Coast Guard commissioned an in-depth assessment of
advances in oil-spill response equipment since 1993 (USCG-1998-3350,
comments on the notice; and USCG-1998-3350-0048, -0049, and -0050,
summary reports of the public workshops). The Coast Guard completed the
assessment in May 1999 (USCG-1998-3350-0074). Based on the
recommendations contained in the assessment, the Coast Guard published
a Notice of Decision (65 FR 710, January 6, 2000) that implemented a 25
percent increase for on-water mechanical recovery equipment for
response plans of MTR facilities and tank vessels, effective April 6,
2000.
In 2002, the Coast Guard published the Vessel and Facility Response
Plans for Oil: 2003 Removal Requirements and Alternative Technology
Revisions NPRM to evaluate the potential for additional increases in
mechanical on-water recovery and new requirements for other response
technologies (67 FR 63331, October 11, 2002). The NPRM described five
regulatory alternatives (including a ``no action'' alternative) which
emphasized mechanical and non-mechanical response assets. In addition
to addressing different modes of oil-spill response, the alternatives
included differing capabilities within each response mode. On November
19, 2002, we published a notice of public meeting and extension of the
comment period (67 FR 69697) for the NPRM. The meeting was held on
December 18, 2002, at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC, and
the comment period closed on April 8, 2003.
As part of the rulemaking effort, the Coast Guard published a
Notice of Intent to prepare and circulate a Draft Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (DPEIS) (65 FR 53335, September 1,
2000). On June 1, 2005, the Coast Guard published the DPEIS (70 FR
31487) to ensure that a broad range of environmental issues were
adequately considered in the rulemaking. Both documents requested input
from the public on environmental concerns related to the alternatives
for increasing spill removal equipment requirements for an oil
discharge. The information obtained from the public, in combination
with Area Committee and Regional Response Team investigations, led to
our determination that mechanical recovery, in-situ burning, and
chemical dispersion met the criterion to increase the response plan
equipment capability requirements, which could potentially reduce the
amount of spilled oil reaching sensitive marine resources.
The FPEIS describes the reasonable alternatives that were
evaluated, the affected environment, and the environmental impacts
associated with the alternatives on the resources analyzed. As a
programmatic document, the FPEIS covers general issues in a broad,
program-oriented analysis. The information contained in the FPEIS is
required in order to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.
This notice is issued under authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a).
Dated: June 18, 2009.
J. G. Lantz,
Director of Commercial Regulations and Standards, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. E9-14945 Filed 6-24-09; 8:45 am]
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