[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 58 (Friday, March 25, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-7102]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: March 25, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
[CGD 94-017]
National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP)
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Exercise Schedule and Workshop.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), and the
Minerals Management Service (MMS), in concert with the states, the oil
industry and concerned citizens, jointly developed the National
Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) to provide guidelines
for compliance with Oil Pollution Act of 1990 pollution response
exercise requirements. The PREP guidelines outline the applicability,
type, frequency, and objectives of the required exercises and will aid
the government and industry in meeting the Federal requirements for
pollution response exercises. This notice proposes an exercise schedule
for 1995, 1996, and 1997; solicits comments on the proposed schedule
and the PREP scheduling process outlined here; solicits industry
members to lead Area exercises for 1995; and announces a workshop to be
held on May 19, 1994, to discuss the proposed schedule and the
scheduling process.
DATES: Written comments relating to the schedule or the scheduling
process should be submitted by May 1, 1994, to the address listed
below. Industry members interested in leading the industry-led Area
exercises or participating in the government-led Area exercises should
submit their names to the National Scheduling Coordinating Committee
(NSCC) by May 1, 1994, to the address listed below, and indicate the
date and location of the proposed exercise. The workshop will be held
on May 19, 1994, in Alexandria, Virginia.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed to the NSCC at Commandant
(G-MEP-4), room 2100, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20593-0001, ATTN: LCDR Rhae Giacoma.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
LCDR Rhae Giacoma, Office of Marine Safety, Security and Environmental
Protection (G-MEP-4), (202) 267-2616.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Comments
The Coast Guard, EPA, RSPA, and MMS encourage interested persons to
comment on the PREP Area exercise schedule and the scheduling process.
The schedule and scheduling process may be revised in view of the
comments. Comments will be discussed at the scheduling workshop to be
held on May 19, 1994. After the workshop, the final schedule for Area
exercises for 1995 and the tentative schedule for 1996 and 1997 Area
exercises will be published by a notice in the Federal Register.
Background Information
The Coast Guard, EPA, RSPA, and MMS developed the National
Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) to provide guidelines
for compliance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 pollution response
exercise requirements (33 U.S.C. 1321(j)). One section of the PREP
focuses on Area exercises, which are designed to evaluate the entire
response mechanism in a given Area to ensure adequate pollution
response preparedness. Each Area is defined by geographical boundaries,
for which, a separate and distinct Area Contingency Plan has been
developed. The goal of the PREP is to conduct 20 Area exercises per
year, with the intent of exercising most Areas of the country within a
three year period.
The three year period under consideration here for Area exercise
scheduling includes calendar years 1995, 1996 and 1997. The schedule
consists of 20 Area exercises per year (6 government-led and 14
industry-led). Industry members required to submit response plans are
actively solicited to lead the industry-led Area exercises or
participate in the government-led Area exercises. Requests to lead or
participate in an Area exercise should be made to the NSCC, as
described in DATES.
Scheduling Process
The Area exercise scheduling process is as follows:
1. The NSCC, comprised of representatives of the Coast Guard, EPA,
RSPA, and MMS, will meet in January of each year to develop a proposed
Area exercise schedule for the upcoming three year period. (For
example, when the NSCC meets in 1995, the three years considered will
be 1996, 1997 and 1998.) The information included in the proposed
schedule will be the exercise Area, the exercise quarter, whether the
exercise is industry-led or government-led, and the types of industry
that will lead the exercise (vessel, marine transportation-related
(mtr) facility, non marine transportation-related facility, offshore
facility or pipeline). Once developed, the proposed schedule will be
published in the Federal Register in February of each year.
2. The NSCC will solicit input on this proposed schedule for each
three year period. The NSCC is specifically looking for input from On-
Scene Coordinators (OSCs), Coast Guard Districts and EPA Regional
Offices, the Regional Response Teams, the states and the industry plan
holders regarding the Area scheduled to be exercised, the time frame
for each exercise, the mix of the industry types selected for
participation, and any federal, state or local government or industry
operational issues affecting the schedule. The NSCC is also looking for
industry plan holders to lead the Area exercises or participate in the
government-led Area exercises.
3. When reviewing the proposed schedule, issues to be considered at
the local Area level include:
a. Can the Area sponsor an exercise in the quarter listed? Do Area
activities already scheduled preclude an exercise from being held in
this time frame? What specific dates would be appropriate for the
exercise?
b. Is the industry type to be exercised in accordance with the
proposed schedule appropriate for the Area? For instance, if needed for
the exercise planned, is there a pipeline or offshore platform
operating in the Area? Has one specific type of industry dominated Area
exercises in the past? For example, have many or most of the Area
exercises in the past focused on vessels?
c. Should the Area receive credit for response to a major pollution
incident? Was the response to this incident evaluated in accordance
with the PREP guidelines? (Only responses to major pollution incidents
that have been evaluated using the criteria for an Area exercise, as
outlined in the PREP guidelines, will be considered for credit as an
Area exercise.)
4. Issues to be considered at the district and regional level
include:
a. Does the mix of industry types proposed for involvement in the
exercises fairly represent the district or region? Are all industry
types adequately covered?
b. Are state issues being taken into consideration? Close
coordination with the states is critical when reviewing the exercise
schedule and the types of industries being exercised.
c. Regional Response Teams (RRTs) should be consulted to ensure
that RRT issues such as the coordination of other exercises (for
example, FEMA hazmat exercises) are taken into consideration when
scheduling the Area exercises and exercise participants.
d. Regional coordinating committees (such as the Area Industry
Exercise Coordinating Committee in the Pacific Northwest) should be
consulted for input.
5. The suggested process for commenting on the schedule is as
follows:
a. Coast Guard OSCs are requested to comment, on behalf of their
Area Committees, to the NSCC through their respective district offices.
b. EPA OSCs are requested to comment, on behalf of their Area
Committees, to the NSCC through their respective regional offices.
c. Industry plan holders are requested to comment directly to the
NSCC as described in ``ADDRESSES.'' (If a regional coordinating
committee is established in the region, industries are encouraged to
use this committee to coordinate industry responses for forwarding to
the NSCC.)
d. Coast Guard Districts and EPA Regions are requested to comment
directly to the NSCC, on behalf of their OSCs, RRTs, and other regional
organizations, as described in ``ADDRESSES.''
e. The states are requested to comment on the scheduling process
directly to the NSCC as described in ``ADDRESSES.''
Selection of Industry Participants for Area Exercises
The selection process for industry participants for the Area
exercises will be as follows:
1. Industry response plan holders interested in leading the Area
exercises or supporting the government-led Area exercises should submit
their requests directly to the NSCC as described in ``DATES.'' These
requests should be submitted by May 1. The NSCC will notify the
districts/regions and OSCs of the industry plan holder requests
received; the districts/regions and OSCs shall notify the NSCC of
requests submitted locally for exercise participation. The NSCC will
coordinate with the districts/regions and OSCs prior to the scheduling
workshop to finalize the list of potential exercise plan holders slated
for exercise participation, for presentation at the workshop.
2. In Areas where no plan holders have come forth and expressed an
interest in leading or participating in the Area exercises, OSCs will
recommend industry plan holders for exercise participation to the NSCC.
Some issues that will be considered when selecting industry
participants include the number of times a specific industry has
conducted exercises in the past, the operating history of industries in
the Area and the perceived need for a particular industry plan holder
to be exercised. The OSCs will consult with the selected industry plan
holders prior to submitting their names for exercise participation.
3. In Areas scheduled for exercises involving pipelines or offshore
facilities, the OSCs will coordinate with the respective regulatory
agency (RSPA or MMS) to select plan holders to lead or participate in
these exercises.
Scheduling Workshop
A PREP scheduling workshop will be conducted by the NSCC annually
in May. The workshop will focus primarily on the upcoming year's Area
exercise schedule, but will also address issues relating to the
following two years of the triennial schedule. National level industry
representation is strongly encouraged at these workshops, as this will
be an opportunity for industry plan holders to comment on the schedule
and address issues which may affect them and their operations. This
will also be an opportunity for the plan holders to comment on
priorities for each exercise, particularly in instances when more than
one plan holder expresses an interest in leading or participating in
the same exercise, or when plan holders have been selected by the OSC
for exercise participation. The workshops will be the forum for
discussion and final selection of the industry plan holders to lead the
Area exercises or participate in the government-led Area exercises.
Input from the workshop will be used for finalizing the upcoming year's
schedule and proposing the schedule for the following two years.
Workshop Format and Schedule
The workshop format will consist of a presentation of the PREP Area
exercise schedule listed here, followed by a question and answer period
and open discussion of the schedule and the scheduling process.
The workshop will be held on May 19, 1994, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
at the Best Western Old Colony Inn, 625 1st Street, Alexandria,
Virginia.
Final Schedule
After the workshop is completed, the NSCC will forward information
received from the workshop to the Coast Guard Districts/EPA Regions for
distribution to the OSCs. The proposed final schedule will specify the
exercise Area, the exercise dates, whether the exercise is government
or industry-led, the type of industry participating, and the government
and industry plan holders that will lead or participate in the
exercises. The Coast Guard Districts/EPA Regions will coordinate with
the OSCs to validate the schedule and comment back to the NSCC.
Comments should be provided to the NSCC as soon as possible, but no
later than August 1, to allow for timely publication of the final
schedule. The Coast Guard will publish a final schedule in the Federal
Register annually in September.
Proposed Triennial Schedule for 1995, 1996 and 1997
Prep Schedule--1995
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Industry (I) or
Area Government (G) Led QTR*
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Guam Area (MSO Guam OSC).................. Vessel (I)........ 1
Southern Coastal NC Area (MSO Wilmington CG (G)............ 1
OSC).
San Diego, CA Area (MSO San Diego OSC).... Facility (Mtr) (I) 1
Maryland Coastal Area (MSO Baltimore OSC). Vessel (I)........ 1
Portland, OR Area (MSO Portland, OR OSC).. CG (G)............ 2
EPA Regional III Area (EPA OSC)........... Pipeline (I)...... 2
Long Island Sound, NY Area (COTP Long Vessel (I)........ 2
Island Sound OSC).
EPA Region I Area (EPA OSC)............... Facility (non mtr) 2
(I).
San Francisco Bay & Delta Region Area (MSO CG (G)............ 2
San Francisco OSC).
EPA Region II Area (EPA OSC).............. Facility (non mtr) 2
(I).
Boston, MA (MSO Boston OSC)............... Vessel (I)........ 3
Cleveland, OH Area (MSO Cleveland OSC).... Facility (mtr) (I) 3
Sault Ste. Marie, MI Area (COTP Sault Ste. Vessel (I)........ 3
Marie OSC).
EPA Region V Area (EPA OSC)............... EPA (G)........... 3
Savannah Area (MSO Savannah OSC).......... Vessel (I)........ 3
Southeast Alaska Area (MSO Juneau OSC).... Pipeline (I)...... 3
Tampa, FL Area (MSO Tampa OSC)............ CG (G)............ 4
EPA Region X Area (EPA OSC)............... Facility (non mtr) 4
(I).
EPA Region VII Area (EPA OSC)............. Facility (non mtr) 4
(I).
South Texas Coastal Zone Area (MSO Corpus CG (G)............ 4
Christi OSC).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Quarterly Schedule: 1 (January-March); 2 (April--June); 3 (July-
September); 4 (October-December).
Prep Schedule--1996
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry (I) or
Area Government (G) Led QTR*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charleston, SC Area (MSO Charleston OSC).. CG (G)............ 1
Mobile, AL Area (MSO Mobile OSC).......... Offshore (I)...... 1
Virginia Coastal Area (MSO Hampton Roads Vessel (I)........ 1
OSC).
Puget Sound Area (MSO Puget Sound OSC).... CG (G)............ 1
Grand Haven, MI Area (COTP Grand Haven Vessel (I)........ 2
OSC).
Santa Barbara/Ventura Area (MSD Santa Vessel (I)........ 2
Barbara OSC).
EPA Region VIII Area (EPA OSC)............ EPA (G)........... 2
Buffalo, NY Area (MSO Buffalo OSC)........ Facility (mtr) (I) 2
Western Lake Erie Area (MSO Toledo OSC)... Facility (mtr) (I) 2
EPA Region VI Area (EPA OSC).............. Pipeline (I)...... 2
South Florida Area (MSO Miami OSC)........ CG (G)............ 3
Western Alaska Area (MSO Anchorage OSC)... Pipeline (I)...... 3
EPA Region IX Area (EPA OSC).............. Facility (non mtr) 3
(I).
Duluth--Superior Area (MSO Duluth OSC).... Vessel (I)........ 3
Maine & New Hampshire Area (MSO Portland Vessel (I)........ 3
OSC).
Philadelphia Coastal Area (MSO CG (G)............ 3
Philadelphia OSC).
Palau Area (MS) Guam OSC)................. Vessel (I)........ 4
Orange County Area (MSO LA/LB OSC)........ Facility (mtr) (I) 4
SW Louisiana--SE Texas Area (MSO Port CG w/MMS (G)...... 4
Arthur OSC).
EPA Region II Area (Caribbean) (EPA OSC).. Facility (non mtr) 4
(I).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Quarterly Schedule: 1 (January-March); 2 (April-June); 3 (July-
September); 4 (October-December).
Prep Schedule--1997
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry (I) or
Area Government (G) Led QTR*
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Providence, RI Area (MSO Providence OSC).. CG (G)............ 1
Northeast North Carolina Coastal Area (MSO Vessel (I)........ 1
Hampton Roads OSC).
Jacksonville Area (MSO Jacksonville OSC).. CG (G)............ 1
Caribbean Area (MSO San Juan OSC)......... Facility (mtr) (I) 1
Florida Panhandle Area (MSO Mobile OSC)... Vessel (I)........ 2
Morgan City Area (MSO Morgan City OSC).... CG (G)............ 2
Eastern Wisconsin Area (MSO Milwaukee OSC) Facility (mtr) (I) 2
Chicago Area (MSO Chicago OSC)............ Facility (mtr) (I) 2
North Coast Area (MSO San Francisco OSC).. Vessel (I)........ 2
Commonwealth of N. Marianas Islands Area Vessel (I)........ 3
(MSO Guam OSC).
Detroit Area (MSO Detroit OSC)............ CG (G)............ 3
EPA Alaska Region (EPA OSC)............... Facility (non mtr) 3
(I).
EPA Oceania Region (EPA OSC).............. EPA (G)........... 3
Houston/Galveston Area (MSO Houston OSC).. Offshore (I)...... 3
New York, NY Area (COTP New York OSC)..... Vessel (I)........ 3
Hawaii/American Samoa Area (MSO Honolulu Vessel (I)........ 4
OSC) Commanding Officer.
EPA Region IV Area (EPA OSC).............. Facility (non mtr) 4
(I).
Central Coast Area (MSO San Francisco OSC) Vessel (I)........ 4
Los Angeles/Long Beach Area (MSO Los Vessel (I)........ 4
Angeles OSC).
New Orleans Area (MSO New Orleans OSC).... CG w/ MMS (G)..... 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Quarterly Schedule: 1 (January-March); 2 (April-June); 3 (July-
September); 4 (October-December).
Dated: March 22, 1994.
R.C. North,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting Chief, Office of Marine Safety,
Security and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 94-7102 Filed 3-24-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-14-M
