
[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
