Recertification of Cool Inlet Regional Citizens' Advisory Council

AGENCY:

Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION:

Notice of recertification.

SUMMARY:

The Coast Guard announces the recertification of the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens' Advisory Council (CIRCAC) as an alternative voluntary advisory group for Cook Inlet, Alaska. This certification allows the CIRCAC to monitor the activities of terminal facilities and crude oil tankers under the Cook Inlet Program established by the Oil Terminal and Oil Tanker Environmental Oversight and Monitoring Act of 1990.

DATES:

This recertification is effective for the period from September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For information about this document, call or email LT Lauren Bloch, Seventeenth Coast Guard District (dpi), by phone at (907) 463-2812 or email at Lauren.E.Bloch@uscg.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 each of the two years between the triennial application procedures, applicants submit a letter requesting recertification that includes a description of any substantive changes to the information provided at the previous triennial recertification. Further, public comment is only solicited during the triennial comprehensive review.

Recertification

By letter dated August 27, 2021, the Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District, certified that the CIRCAC qualifies as an alternative voluntary advisory group under 33 U.S.C. 2732(o). This recertification terminates on August 31, 2022.