Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory Group Charter

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory Group Charter

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Renewal of the Public Advisory Group Charter--Exxon

Valdez Oil Spill.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice is published in accordance with 41 CFR Part 101-6,

section 101-6.1015(a), Committee establishment, reestablishment, or

renewal.

Following the recommendation and approval of the Exxon Valdez Oil

Spill Trustee Council, the Secretary of the Interior hereby renews the

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory Group Charter to continue for

two years, to October 22, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Mutter, Department of the

Interior, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, 1689 ``C''

Street, Suite 119, Anchorage, Alaska, (907) 271-5011.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 24, 1989, the T/V Exxon Valdez ran

aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound in Alaska spilling

approximately 11 million gallons of North Slope crude oil. Oil moved

into the Gulf of Alaska, along the Kenai coast to Kodiak Island and the

Alaska Peninsula--some 600 miles from Bligh Reef. Massive clean-up and

containment efforts were initiated and continue to 1992. On October 8,

1991, an agreement was approved by the United States District Court for

the District of Alaska that settled claims of the United States and the

State of Alaska against the Exxon Corporation and the Exxon Shipping

Company for various criminal and civil violations. Under the civil

settlement, Exxon companies agreed to pay to the governments $900

million over a period of 10 years.

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council was established to

manage the funds obtained from the civil settlement of the Exxon Valdez

Oil Spill. The Trustee Council is composed of three State of Alaska

trustees (Attorney General; Commissioner, Department of Environmental

Conservation; and Commissioner, Department of Fish and Game) and three

Federal representatives appointed by the Federal Trustees (Secretary,

U.S. Department of Agriculture; the Administrator of the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and the Secretary, U.S.

Department of the Interior).

The Public Advisory Group was created by Paragraph V.A.4 of the

Memorandum of Agreement and Consent Decree entered into by the United

States of America and the State of Alaska on August 27, 1991 and

approved by the United States District Court for the District of Alaska

in settlement of United States of America v. State of Alaska, Civil

Action No. A91-081 CV. The Public Advisory Group was chartered by the

Secretary of the Interior on October 23, 1992 and functions solely as

an advisory body, and in compliance with the provisions of the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. (1988).

The Public Advisory Group was established to advise the Trustee

Council, and began functioning in October 1992. The Public Advisory

[[Page 6794]]

Group consists of 17 members representing the following principal

interests: sport hunting and fishing, environmental, public-at-large

(5), recreation users, local government, science/academic,

conservation, subsistence, commercial fishing, aquaculture, commerical

tourism, forest products, and Native landowners. Members were appointed

to serve a two-year term.

To carry out its advisory role, the Advisory Group makes

recommendations, to, and advises, the Trustee Council in Alaska on the

following matters:

All decisions related to injury assessment, restoration

activities, or other use of natural resource damage recovery monies

obtained by the government, including all decisions regarding:

a. Planning, evaluation and allocation of available funds;

b. Planning, evaluation and conduct of injury assessment; and

c. Planning, evaluation and conduct of restoration activities.

Trustee Council intentions regarding the importance of obtaining a

diversity of viewpoints is stated in the Public Advisory Group

Background and Guidelines (March 1993, updated June 1994): ``The

Trustee Council intends that the Public Advisory Group be established

as an important component of the Council's public involvement

process.'' The Council continues, stating their desire that ``* * * a

wide spectrum of views and interest are available for the Council to

consider as it evaluates, develops, and implements restoration

activities. It is the Council's intent that the diversity of interests

and views held by the Public Advisory Group members contribute to wide

ranging discussions that will be of benefit to the Trustee Council.''

In order to ensure that a broad range of public viewpoints

continues to be available to the Trustee Council, and in keeping with

the settlement agreement, the Public Advisory Group is being renewed

for another two-year period.

Certification

I hereby certify that the renewal of the Charter of the Public

Advisory Group, an advisory committee to make recommendations to and

advise the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council in Alaska, is

necessary and in the public interest in connection with the performance

of duties mandated by the settlement of United States v. State of

Alaska, No. A91-081 CV, and is in accordance with the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as

amended and supplemented.

Dated: January 28, 1997.

Bruce Babbit,

Secretary of the Interior.

[FR Doc. 97-3588 Filed 2-12-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-10-M