Coast Guard, DHS.
Notice; request for public comments on PREP triennial exercise schedule for 2005, 2006, and 2007, and PREP Guidelines.
The Coast Guard, the Research and Special Programs 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 Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) Guidelines to reflect the consensus agreement of the entire oil spill response community. This notice announces the PREP triennial cycle, 2005 through 2007, requests comments from the public, and requests industry participants to volunteer for scheduled PREP Area exercises. Additionally, this notice requests comments on issues or concerns related to the PREP.
Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before November 22, 2004.
You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket number USCG–2004–19106 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one of the following methods:
(1) Web site:
(2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590–0001.
(3) Fax: 202–493–2251.
(4) Delivery: Room PL–401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202–366–9329.
If you have questions on this notice, or need general information regarding the PREP Program and the schedule, contact Lieutenant Commander Mark Cunningham, Office of Response, Plans and Preparedness Division (G–MOR–2), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, telephone 202–267–2877, fax 202–267–
The Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) Area exercise schedule and exercise design manuals are available on the Internet at
We encourage you to respond to this notice by submitting comments and related materials. All comments received will be posted, without change, to
In 1994, the Coast Guard (USCG) and the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) of the Department of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of Interior, coordinated the development of the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) Guidelines to provide guidelines for compliance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) pollution response exercise requirements (33 U.S.C. 1321(j)). The guiding principles for PREP distinguish between internal and external exercises. Internal exercises are conducted within the plan holder's organization. External exercises extend beyond the plan holder's organization to involve other members of the response community. External exercises are separated into two categories: (1) Area exercises, and (2) Government-initiated unannounced exercises. These exercises are designed to evaluate the entire pollution response mechanism in a given geographic area to ensure adequate response preparedness.
A National Schedule Coordination Committee (NSCC) was established for scheduling these Area exercises. The NSCC is comprised of personnel representing the four Federal regulating agencies—the USCG, U.S. EPA, MMS, and RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). Since 1994, the NSCC has published a triennial schedule of Area exercises. In short, the Area exercises involve the entire response community (Federal, State, local, and industry participants) and therefore, require more extensive planning than other oil spill response exercises. The PREP Guidelines describe all of these exercises in more detail.
In the PREP exercise notice for 2004 through 2006 published on October 16, 2003 (68 FR 59627), we provided in Table 1 a lists of the dates and
This notice announces the next triennial schedule of Area exercises. The PREP schedule for calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007 for Government-Led and Industry-Led Area exercises is available on the Internet at
The NSCC is considering whether or not to hold a public workshop on the state of the PREP. If there are issues or concerns related to the PREP and its Guidelines, please submit your comments using the procedures described under the