National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP)

The PREP Area exercise schedule and exercise design manual are available on the internet at htt://www.uscg.mil/hq/g- m/gmhome.htm (see index, then oil

response). To obtain a hard copy of the exercise design manual, contact Ms. Melanie Barber at the Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, at (202) 366-4560. The 1994 PREP Guidelines book is available at no cost by writing or faxing the TASC Dept Warehouse, 3341 Q 75th Avenue, Landover, MD 20785, fax: 301-386-5394. The stock number of the manual is USCG-X0191. Please indicate the quantity when ordering. Quantities are limited to 10 per order.

Background and Purpose

A. Vessel-Owned Equipment Deployment Exercise

The Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) has guidelines for equipment deployment exercises for the owners or operators of tank vessels. These guidelines provide recommendations for the deployment and operation of response equipment identified in the response plans. Specifically, objectives include demonstrating the ability of the personnel to deploy and operate equipment, and ensuring that equipment is being maintained in proper working order. The equipment deployment guidelines for vessels focus on exercising a plan holder's oil spill removal organizations (OSROs) and do not address exercising ``vessel-owned response equipment'' operated by vessel crews. For plan holders who employ a mixture of both vessel- owned response equipment and OSROs, the current guidelines do not provide for vessel-owned equipment to be exercised and deployed in addition to the OSROs. As the vessel-owned equipment is likely to be critical to the response in such plans, it is important to exercise these resources. This notice establishes guidelines for equipment deployment exercises for response plans that employ vessel-owned equipment as part of their response arrangements. The most common occurrences of such arrangements are for owners or operators that provide their own coverage for an average most probable discharge (AMPD) or those involved in alternate compliance programs. Both arrangements typically involve company-owned equipment, either onboard the vessel, or strategically located at shore-based facilities, as the primary means for meeting some or all of their spill response requirements. At a minimum, the new guidelines will apply to the owners or operators of tank vessels that employ the following arrangements: (1) Average Most Probable Discharge (AMPD) With ``Vessel-Owned'' Response Equipment The vessel response plan regulations [33 CFR 155.1050(d)] require that the owner or operator of a vessel that carries groups I through IV petroleum oil as a primary cargo identify in the response plan and ensure the availability of, through contract or other approved means, the response resources that will respond to a discharge up to the vessel's average most probable discharge [defined as a discharge of the lesser of 50 barrels of oil or 1 percent of the cargo from the vessel during cargo oil transfer operations to or from the vessel]. Since the requirements for AMPD coverage involve quick response times and typically small amounts of equipment, many tank vessel owners have chosen to provide their own response for such spills. This coverage usually involves the use of company-owned equipment, either stored in land-based locations near a transfer site, or stowed onboard the tank vessel itself (or in the case of many unmanned vessels, on the accompanying towing vessel). (2) Alternate Compliance Arrangements With ``Vessel-Owned'' Response Equipment The vessel response plan regulations provide for the development of such alternative compliance arrangements. 33 CFR 155.1065(f) provides that an owner or operator of a vessel who believes that the national planning criteria is inappropriate to the vessel for the areas in which it is intended to operate, then the owner/operator may request acceptance of alternative planning criteria. Since the initial submission of vessel response plans more than five years ago, both primary and secondary carriers carrying non-persistent cargoes in remote locations such as Alaska have developed alternate compliance arrangements. Many of these arrangements rely heavily on the use of onboard spill response equipment to meet some or all of the response planning requirements. Secondary Carriers The vessel response plan regulations, 33 CFR 155.1045, require secondary carriers of petroleum cargoes to prepare and submit vessel response plans. The term ``secondary carrier'' refers to any vessel that carries oil in bulk as cargo other than a vessel carrying oil in bulk as a primary cargo. ``Cargo'' is defined as oil that is transported to and offloaded at a destination by a vessel. Large fishing tenders (greater than 750 gross tons) and processors are considered secondary carriers when they transfer fuel from their vessel to other smaller fishing vessels in their fleet. These vessels, as secondary carriers, are required by regulation to consider approximately 25% of their total fuel capacity as ``secondary cargo'' for planning purposes. The regulations mandates secondary carriers plan for a worst case discharge, and identify resources, which can commence containment and recovery within twenty-four hours. This has been a difficult standard to attain in many remote locations (such as western Alaska) because of the lack of response resources available in these areas. Due to the distances between their fishing grounds and any existing response organizations, many secondary carriers believe that the services of any OSRO would arrive too late to have any appreciable benefit in most spill scenarios as a result of the non-persistent nature of their cargo. As a result, many secondary carriers have indicated that they would prefer to develop their own response capabilities. Primary Carriers Like the fishing tenders, many tank barge operators in Alaska face similar response planning challenges for transporting their non- persistent cargoes to remote locations throughout the state. These primary cargo carriers have also preferred to develop alternate compliance arrangements that involve the use of onboard spill response equipment to address some of their response planning requirements. Proposed addition to PREP Guidelines: Equipment Deployment Exercises (Vessel-owned equipment) Applicability: Vessels using ``owned'' equipment [equipment owned by the vessel owner or operator] to meet their planning standards for response equipment. Frequency: Annual. Initiating Authority: Company policy. Participating Elements: Owner or operator personnel supporting or operating the ``owned'' response equipment. Scope: Deploy and operate vessel-owned response equipment identified in the response plan. The equipment to be deployed would be either (1) the minimum amount of equipment for deployment as described in ``Guiding Principles''; or (2) the equipment necessary to respond to an average most probable discharge [for plans using owned equipment to provide AMPD coverage]. Equipment deployment exercises should be conducted annually for each

vessel within a plan using owned onboard response equipment. For owners or operators using owned shore-based equipment and personnel to meet their response standard, one annual deployment should be conducted for each location where owned equipment is located. For operators or owners that use owned onboard response equipment, but also use a limited number of vessel crews to operate a larger fleet of vessels, the number of vessels exercised in one annual cycle may be limited to the number of vessel crews employed to operate the owned equipment. For example, a large tank barge fleet using three crews would conduct three exercises annually. In another example, where the response equipment is located on two towing vessels instead of the tank vessels, then they would conduct two exercises annually. However, all vessels using owned onboard equipment by an owner or operator under the plan should be exercised within a rotation that does not exceed a three-year cycle. Objectives: Demonstrate ability of vessel personnel to deploy and operate equipment. Ensure equipment is in proper working order. Certification: Self certification. Verification: U.S. Coast Guard. Records: Retention: 3 years. Location: In accordance with 33 CFR 155.1060(e)(1). Evaluation: Self-evaluation.

B. Exercise Schedule

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 (OPA 90) pollution response exercise requirements (33 U.S.C. 1321(j)). OPA 90 requires periodic unannounced drills. See 33 U.S.C. 1321(j)(7). However, the working group (comprised of Coast Guard, EPA, RSPA, MMS, state representatives, and industry representatives) determined that the PREP Guidelines should also include announced drills. See 33 CFR 154.1055(a)(5) and 155.1060(c), and 40 CFR 112. 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 response mechanism in a given area to ensure adequate pollution response preparedness. Since 1994, the USCG, EPA, MMS, and Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) have 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. This notice announces the next triennial schedule of Area Exercises. Some exercises are scheduled with industry participants, but where participants have not been listed, the USCG and EPA request volunteers. If a company wants to volunteer for an Area exercise, a company representative may call either the Coast Guard or EPA On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) where the exercise is scheduled. Alternatively, if a company is interested in participating in an exercise where Coast Guard is the OSC, a representative may call Ms. Karen Adams at 202-267-2850, and she can facilitate scheduling the volunteer. Although either method will provide the same result, contact at the local level, with the OSC, is preferred. The following is the revised PREP schedule for calendar years 1999, 2000, and 2001.

PREP Schedule--Government-Led Area Exercises ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Area Agency Date/Qtr 1 Participant ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1999 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LA/LB South Area (MSO LA/LB OSC)... CG 2/8-12 Blue Star Shipping. Hampton Roads (MSO Hampton Rds OSC) CG 3/15-19 Maris Transportation. Maine & New Hampshire Area (MSO CG 6/3-4 Kent Lines. Portland OSC). EPA Region VI (EPA OSC)............ EPA 8/2-6 ........................................ Providence Area (MSO Providence CG 9/20-24 ........................................ OSC). Portland, OR (MSO Portland OSC).... CG 12/6-10 ........................................ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- North Coast Area (MSO San Francisco CG 2/7-11 ........................................ OSC). Florida Panhandle Area (MSO Mobile CG 4/10-14 ........................................ OSC). Houston/Galveston Area (MSO Houston CG 6/12-16 ........................................ OSC). EPA Region IX (EPA OSC)............ EPA 8/14-18 ........................................ Western Lake Erie Area (MSO Toledo CG 9/18-22 ........................................ OSC). Detroit Area (MSO Detroit OSC)..... CG 12/8-11 ........................................ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2001 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SW Louisiana/SE Texas Area (MSO CG 2/14-15 ........................................ Port Arthur OSC). New York, NY Area (COTP NY OSC).... CG 4/18-19 ........................................ Saulte Ste. Marie, MI Area (COTP CG 6/20-21 ........................................ Saulte Ste.). EPA Region I Area (EPA OSC)........ EPA 8/21-22 ........................................ Chicago Area (MSO Chicago OSC)..... CG 9/26-27 ........................................ Maryland Coastal Area (COTP CG 12/5-6 ........................................ Baltimore OSC). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PREP Schedule--Industry-Led Exercises ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Area Ind2 Date/Qtr Lead ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1999 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alabama/Mississippi Area (MSO p Mobile OSC). South Florida Area (MSO Miami OSC). p Boston Area (MSO Boston OSC)....... f EPA Region VIII (EPA OSC).......... f (nonmtr) Hawaii/Samoa Area (MSO Honolulu v OSC). Central Coast Area (MSO San v Francisco OSC). Eastern Wisconsin Area (MSO f (mtr) Milwaukee Area). EPA Region Oceania Area (EPA OSC).. f (nonmtr) Buffalo, NY Area (MSO Buffalo Area) f EPA Region II Area (EPA Caribbean f (nonmtr) OSC). Tampa, FL Area (MSO Tampa OSC)..... v Puget Sound (MSO Puget Sound OSC).. v ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caribbean Area (MSO San Juan OSC).. v EPA Region III Area (EPA OSC)...... f (nonmtr) Duluth-Superior Area (MSO Duluth f OSC). Jacksonville Area (MSO Jacksonville v OSC). EPA Region IX Oceania (EPA OSC).... f (nonmtr) New Orleans Area (MSO New Orleans p OSC). Commonwealth of N. Mariannas v Islands Area (MSO Guam OSC). EPA Alaska Area (EPA OSC).......... f (nonmtr) EPA Region IV Area (EPA OSC)....... f (nonmtr) EPA Region IX Area (EPA OSC)....... p Southeast Alaska Area (MSO Juneau v OSC). Philadelphia Area (MSO Philadelphia f (mtr) OSC). Charleston Area (MSO Charleston f (mtr) OSC). EPA Region II (EPA OSC)............ f (nonmtr) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2001 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guam Area (MSO Guam OSC)........... v San Diego, CA Area (MSO San Diego f OSC). Morgan City Area (MSO Morgan City v OSC). EPA Region VII Area (EPA OSC)...... f (nonmtr) Long Island Sound Area (COTP Long f Island Sound). Savannah Area (MSO Savannah)....... p Southern Coastal NC Area (MSO v Wilmington OSC). San Francisco Bay & Delta Region f (mtr) Area (MSO San Francisco OSC). Cleveland, OH Area (MSO Cleveland f (mtr) OSC). EPA Region V Area (EPA OSC)........ f South Texas Coastal Zone Area (MSO v Corpus Christi OSC). w/OPS LA/LB North Area (MSO LA/LB OSC)... v Prince William Sound (MSO Valdez p OSC). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ Quarters: 1 (Jan-March); 2 (April-June); 3 (July-Sept); 4 (Oct-Dec). \2\ Industry: v-vessel; f (mtr)--marine transportation-related facility; f (nonmtr)--nonmarine transportation- related facility; p--pipeline.

Dated: June 4, 1999. R.C. North, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environmental Protection. [FR Doc. 99-15041 Filed 6-14-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-15-M