2022-27895. Application for Recertification of Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council

AGENCY:

Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION:

Notice of availability; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Coast Guard seeks comments on, the application for recertification submitted by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizen's Advisory Council (PWSRCAC) for March 1, 2022, through February 28, 2023. Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), the Coast Guard may certify on an annual basis, the PWSRCAC. This advisory group monitors the activities of terminal facilities and crude oil tankers under the Prince William Sound program established by the statute. The Coast Guard may certify an alternative voluntary advisory group in lieu of the PWSRCAC. The current certification for the PWSRCAC will expire February 28, 2023.

DATES:

Public comments on PWSRCAC's recertification application must reach the Seventeenth Coast Guard District on or before February 8, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG - 2022-0707 using the Federal Decision Making Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. See the “Public Participation and Request for Comments” portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for further instructions on submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

If you have questions on this recertification, call or email LT Benjamin Bauman, Seventeenth Coast Guard District (dpi); telephone [phone]; email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Participation and Request for Comments

We view public participation as essential to effective rulemaking and will consider all comments and material received during the comment period. Your comment can help shape the outcome of this rulemaking. If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this rulemaking, indicate the specific section of this document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation.

Submitting comments. We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal Decision Making Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. To do so, go to https://www.regulations.gov, type USCG-2022-0707 in the search box and click “Search.” Next, look for this document in the Search Results column, and click on it. Then click on the Comment option. If you cannot submit your material by using https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the person in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this proposed rule for alternate instructions.

Viewing material in docket. To view documents mentioned in this proposed rule as being available in the docket, find the docket as described in the previous paragraph, and then select “Supporting & Related Material” in the Document Type column. Public comments will also be placed in our online docket and can be viewed by following instructions on the https://www.regulations.gov Frequently Asked Questions web page. We review all comments received, but we will only post comments that address the topic of the proposed rule. We may choose not to post off-topic, inappropriate, or duplicate comments that we receive.

Personal information. We accept anonymous comments. Comments we post to https://www.regulations.gov will include any personal information you have provided. For more about privacy and submissions to the docket in response to this document, see DHS's eRulemaking System of Records notice (85 FR 14226, March 11, 2020).

Public meeting. We do not plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a request for one on or before January 15, 2023, using the method specified under ADDRESSES . Please explain why you believe a public meeting would be beneficial. If we determine that one would aid the process of thoroughly considering the application for recertification, we will hold one at a time and place announced by a later notice in the Federal Register .

II. 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 the two years in between, applicants only submit information describing substantive changes to the information provided at the last triennial recertification. This is the year in this triennial cycle that PWSRCAC must provide comprehensive information.

The Coast Guard is accepting comments concerning the recertification of PWSRCAC. At the conclusion of the comment period, February 8, 2023, the Coast Guard will review all application materials and comments received and will take one of the following actions:

(a) Recertify the advisory group under 33 U.S.C. 2732(o).

(b) Issue a conditional recertification for a period of 90 days, with a statement of any discrepancies, which must be corrected to qualify for recertification for the remainder of the year.

(c) Deny recertification of the advisory group if the Coast Guard finds that the group is not broadly representative of the interests and communities in the area or is not adequately fostering the goals and purposes of 33 U.S.C. 2732.

The Coast Guard will notify PWSRCAC by letter of the action taken on their respective applications. A notice will be published in the Federal Register to advise the public of the Coast Guard's determination.

Dated: December 16, 2022.

N. A. Moore,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District.