Reestablish the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Advisory Committee
Reestablishment of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory Committee
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR· Prince William SoundFederal Register 2026-19933 ↗
This committee keeps public voices in decisions about Prince William Sound's ongoing spill recovery.
What’s at risk
Without this committee, communities affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill lose their formal channel to advise the federal government on fishing, wildlife, recreation, and Native land concerns. The spill's long-term ecological and economic consequences in Prince William Sound still require active public oversight.
If we stay silent
The committee is renewed for two years, preserving structured public input on commercial fishing, tourism, hunting, outdoor recreation, wildlife conservation, and Native land issues in the region.
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
By the numbers, from the agency’s own document
- Annual committee budget, all sources
- Up to $25,337
- Number of committee seats
- 10 members
- Nominations open call period
- 30-day open call
- Federal staff supporting the committee
- 0.05 FTEs
- Years the committee has operated
- over 30 years
Public Interest Determination
Open the document ↗“Up to $25,337. All costs are paid by the Exxon Valdez settlement fund.”
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Open the document ↗“The Committee consists of 10 members representing the following principal interests”
Public Interest Determination
Open the document ↗“the Department of the Interior announces a 30-day open call for nominations period in the Federal Register”
Public Interest Determination
Open the document ↗“Federal personnel on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis: 0.05 FTEs.”
Public Interest Determination
Open the document ↗“The Committee has provided consistent expertise and consolidated advice to the Trustee Council for over 30 years.”
Each figure is checked word for word against the decision document ↗; open a label to read the sentence it comes from and the document it’s in.
The agency’s case, tested
What the agency argues, and whether its own record backs it
- 1
- Holds up
- 5
- No support given yet
The Department of the Interior is renewing the charter of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory Committee for 2 years. It says the committee keeps a broad range of public viewpoints available to the Trustee Council that manages the spill settlement funds, as the settlement agreement calls for.
“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 continuation of the Committee is recommended.”
Supplementary Information
Purpose and need
No support given yet
No other advisory body or federal source can give the Trustee Council the advice this committee gives.
The Supplementary Information section says the 1991 Consent Decree that created the Trustee Council also required a public advisory group to advise it. The Public Interest Determination calls this committee the Trustee Council's sole advisory body. Its ten seats cover a specific mix of interests, from commercial fishing to subsistence and native land ownership. The committees in item 4 are listed only as Interior advisory committees. None is described as advising the Trustee Council, which also includes the Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and three State of Alaska trustees. The notice doesn't compare those committees to this one directly, but nothing in the text suggests any of them could meet the decree's requirement.
The agency’s words, the record +Hide the words
The agency says
“There is no equivalent body of advisers empaneled to address the specific set of issues the Committee is tasked with, or to assist the Trustee Council with the specific subject matter by providing consensus, group advice.”
Public Interest Determination
Elsewhere in the same document
“The Committee serves the public interest as the sole advisory body to the Trustee Council by providing expertise and professional knowledge essential to the Trustee Council in decisions regarding administration of these funds.”
Public Interest Determination
Purpose and need
No support given yet
Over more than 30 years, the committee has successfully advised the Trustee Council on funding, injury assessments, restoration, monitoring and research.
The October 1992 start date supports the claim of more than 30 years of service. But the notice only names broad topics. It gives no specific recommendation, meeting count, or decision the Trustee Council made because of the committee's advice, so this text doesn't show that the advice succeeded.
The agency’s words, the record +Hide the words
The agency says
“Specifically, the Committee has successfully advised the Trustee Council in decisions regarding planning, evaluation and allocation of available funds; planning, evaluation and conduct of injury assessments; restoration activities; long term monitoring; and research activities.”
Public Interest Determination
Elsewhere in the same document
“The Committee has provided consistent expertise and consolidated advice to the Trustee Council for over 30 years.”
Public Interest Determination
Purpose and need
No support given yet
The Trustee Council's management of the spill funds for resource recovery, research and monitoring greatly benefits the public.
The notice explains that the Trustee Council manages the civil settlement funds and names its six federal and state members. It gives no figures on how much money remains, what restoration has done, or which injured resources have or haven't recovered. That leaves the claim of tremendous public benefit without data in this text.
The agency’s words +Hide the words
The agency says
“Trustee Council administration of Exxon Valdez oil spill funds dedicated to the recovery of resources injured by the oil spill, as well as long term research and monitoring, are of tremendous public benefit.”
Public Interest Determination
Show 2 more claims +Show fewer
Authority
No support given yet
The 1991 Consent Decree requires this committee, and it obligates Interior to recruit members and run the meetings.
The Supplementary Information section says the Consent Decree that set up the Trustee Council also required a public advisory group to advise it, and that the committee began in October 1992. The Public Interest Determination says Interior is obligated to solicit members and facilitate meetings. The decree and the charter themselves aren't in this text, but every section describes the requirement the same way.
The agency’s words, the record +Hide the words
The agency says
“The Committee is a requirement of the Consent Decree, and the Committee Charter identifies the Department of the Interior, Alaska, as the Designated Federal Officer.”
Public Interest Determination
Elsewhere in the same document
“The Department of the Interior is obligated by the Consent Decree to solicit Committee members and facilitate meetings.”
Public Interest Determination
Process
No support given yet
The way members are chosen ensures the committee has a balanced range of perspectives and expertise.
The notice lists ten seats for ten named interests, from commercial fishing to subsistence and native land ownership. It describes a 30-day open call in the Federal Register, requests for names from federal and state agencies, and ads on the Trustee Council website and social media. The detailed balance rules are said to be in the Committee Charter, which isn't in this text.
The agency’s words, the record +Hide the words
The agency says
“This membership model for the Committee assures a range of perspectives and expertise reflecting the breadth of its responsibilities as identified in the Committee Charter.”
Public Interest Determination
Elsewhere in the same document
“The Committee consists of 10 members representing the following principal interests: aquaculture/mariculture, commercial fishing, commercial tourism, conservation/environmental, native land ownership, recreation, sport hunting/fishing, subsistence, science/technology, and public-at-large.”
Supplementary Information
“The call for nominations is also announced on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council website and the Trustee Council advertises vacancies on social media sites.”
Public Interest Determination
Where its own record backs the agency
EconomicsThe committee will cost up to $25,337 a year, and the Exxon Valdez settlement fund pays all of it.Why it holds +
The budget lists approximately $5,343 in other federal internal costs and approximately $19,994 in reimbursable costs. Those add up to the stated $25,337. Payments to members are $0, and federal staff time is 0.05 full-time equivalents. The budget line also says all costs are paid by the Exxon Valdez settlement fund. The figures are internally consistent.
The agency says
“Any costs incurred by the Department of the Interior for these purposes are paid by Exxon Valdez Oil Spill funds.”
Public Interest Determination
Read from the agency’s own notice ↗, the notice that opens this window; the full analysis comes later, so what it leaves unsupported is what to ask it to show. Every quote is checked word for word against it, a claim marked contradicted stands on a quote from the same document, and a second reading argued the agency’s side of every verdict before it was published. The verdicts are our reading; the quotes are the agency’s. A court can set aside agency action it finds “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law” (5 U.S.C. 706(2)(A) ↗), which is why these gaps are worth putting in the record.
What to say
What the public could have raised, from the agency’s own document
- I support this action and urge the agency to advance it.
- The notice was published September 29, 2026, yet the DATES section sets a comment deadline of October 6, 2026, giving the public only 7 calendar days. Factor 3 of the Public Interest Determination states the agency uses a 30-day open call when soliciting committee nominations. No explanation is given for why the public receives less time to comment on a 2-year reestablishment than nominees receive to apply for a seat. The agency should extend the comment period to at least 30 days.
- Factor 6 of the Public Interest Determination requires a summary of previous accomplishments for a committee renewal. The notice states only that the committee 'has provided consistent expertise and consolidated advice to the Trustee Council for over 30 years,' with no specific decisions cited, no dollar figures for funds advised on, and no measurable restoration outcomes listed. Vague process description does not satisfy the FACA renewal standard. The agency should provide a specific, measurable summary of accomplishments from the most recent charter period before reestablishing the committee.
- Factor 3 of the Public Interest Determination states the Committee Charter 'primarily dictates' membership balance, individual and industry perspectives, and required expertise. That charter is not published in the notice and no public link is provided. Without the charter, the public cannot evaluate whether the membership categories are appropriate or fairly balanced. The agency should publish the Committee Charter or provide a direct public link to it before the comment period closes.
- Factor 5 asserts that no equivalent advisory body exists to address the committee's issues, but factor 4 lists more than 70 other Interior advisory committees, including multiple Alaska-based subsistence and resource advisory councils. The notice makes no attempt to distinguish any of them from the EVOS Committee. An assertion of uniqueness that ignores a list the agency itself compiled is not a reasoned determination. The agency should analyze each Alaska-based committee listed under factor 4 and explain specifically why none can fulfill the EVOS Committee's advisory function.
Show every point from the document
- The Certification Statement invokes CERCLA as authority for the reestablishment but cites no specific provision and provides no analysis showing how any CERCLA requirement is met or which CERCLA obligations the committee serves. A bare statutory citation is not a reasoned determination. The agency should identify the specific section or sections of CERCLA that require or authorize this committee and explain how each applies to the reestablishment.
- Factor 2 of the Public Interest Determination, which asks for the dollar value of grants the committee is expected to recommend, is answered simply 'N/A.' Yet factor 6 states the committee has advised on 'planning, evaluation and allocation of available funds,' and factor 7 describes the committee as essential in 'decisions regarding administration of these funds.' No explanation is given for why a committee that advises on fund allocation is not expected to recommend any grants during the charter period. The agency should clarify this distinction and disclose whether any fund allocations are anticipated during the 2-year term.
- The Public Disclosure of Comments section warns that a commenter's entire submission, including personal identifying information, 'may be made publicly available at any time,' and that the agency cannot guarantee withholding even upon request. This disclosure, with no guaranteed privacy alternative, may deter native land owners, subsistence users, and commercial fishers from submitting substantive comments, directly undermining the breadth of public input the reestablishment is designed to gather. The agency should establish a clear, guaranteed process for submitting substantive comments without mandatory full public disclosure of personal information.
- Factor 1 states all committee costs are paid by the Exxon Valdez settlement fund, but the notice provides no information on the fund's current balance or its projected sufficiency over the 2-year charter period. The committee exists to advise on administration of that fund, so a charter renewal that does not disclose the fund's financial status cannot be fully evaluated on its merits. The agency should disclose the current balance of the Exxon Valdez settlement fund and confirm it is sufficient to support committee operations for the full 2-year term.
- The Supplementary Information section lists 10 membership categories, and factor 6 confirms the committee has operated under these same categories since its Consent Decree-mandated establishment in October 1992. The notice does not explain whether those categories have been reviewed for adequacy after more than 30 years of ecological recovery, changed fishing patterns, and demographic shifts in the spill-affected region. The agency should document whether the membership categories have been reviewed since 1992 and explain why they remain appropriate for current conditions.
- Say something only you can say. The law requires the agency to consider and respond to substantive comments, and specifics are what make a comment substantive.
In the agency’s own words
The U.S. Department of the Interior is reestablishing the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory Committee (Committee). The Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with the General Services Administration, is reestablishing the Committee charter for 2 years. The Committee provides advice related, and not limited to, commercial fishing, tourism, general season and subsistence hunting, outdoor recreation, wildlife conservation, and native land issues.
On the record for this fight
1 person has filed on this fight through PLAN. The official record is still catching up.
- Emily, California32 seals
Ranked on letters found on the agency’s record, then letters filed. Readers appear as first name and last initial, or as a steward in their state; switch yours off in your record. All boards
Did the agency answer?
9 issues are on this record. The agency has not published its decision document yet, so each one stays pending until the agency answers.
Issues on the record, awaiting the decision
- PendingFactor 3 of the Public Interest Determination states the Committee Charter 'primarily dictates' membership balance, individual and industry perspectives, and required expertise.
Factor 3 of the Public Interest Determination states the Committee Charter 'primarily dictates' membership balance, individual and industry perspectives, and required expertise. That charter is not published in the notice and no public link is provided. Without the charter, the public cannot evaluate whether the membership categories are appropriate or fairly balanced. The agency should publish the Committee Charter or provide a direct public link to it before the comment period closes.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingFactor 2 of the Public Interest Determination, which asks for the dollar value of grants the committee is expected to recommend, is answered simply 'N/A.' Yet factor 6 states the committee has advised
Factor 2 of the Public Interest Determination, which asks for the dollar value of grants the committee is expected to recommend, is answered simply 'N/A.' Yet factor 6 states the committee has advised on 'planning, evaluation and allocation of available funds,' and factor 7 describes the committee as essential in 'decisions regarding administration of these funds.' No explanation is given for why a committee that advises on fund allocation is not expected to recommend any grants during the charter period. The agency should clarify this distinction and disclose whether any fund allocations are anticipated during the 2-year term.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingFactor 1 states all committee costs are paid by the Exxon Valdez settlement fund, but the notice provides no information on the fund's current balance or its projected sufficiency over the 2-year char
Factor 1 states all committee costs are paid by the Exxon Valdez settlement fund, but the notice provides no information on the fund's current balance or its projected sufficiency over the 2-year charter period. The committee exists to advise on administration of that fund, so a charter renewal that does not disclose the fund's financial status cannot be fully evaluated on its merits. The agency should disclose the current balance of the Exxon Valdez settlement fund and confirm it is sufficient to support committee operations for the full 2-year term.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingFactor 5 asserts that no equivalent advisory body exists to address the committee's issues, but factor 4 lists more than 70 other Interior advisory committees, including multiple Alaska-based subsiste
Factor 5 asserts that no equivalent advisory body exists to address the committee's issues, but factor 4 lists more than 70 other Interior advisory committees, including multiple Alaska-based subsistence and resource advisory councils. The notice makes no attempt to distinguish any of them from the EVOS Committee. An assertion of uniqueness that ignores a list the agency itself compiled is not a reasoned determination. The agency should analyze each Alaska-based committee listed under factor 4 and explain specifically why none can fulfill the EVOS Committee's advisory function.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice was published September 29, 2026, yet the DATES section sets a comment deadline of October 6, 2026, giving the public only 7 calendar days.
The notice was published September 29, 2026, yet the DATES section sets a comment deadline of October 6, 2026, giving the public only 7 calendar days. Factor 3 of the Public Interest Determination states the agency uses a 30-day open call when soliciting committee nominations. No explanation is given for why the public receives less time to comment on a 2-year reestablishment than nominees receive to apply for a seat. The agency should extend the comment period to at least 30 days.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingFactor 6 of the Public Interest Determination requires a summary of previous accomplishments for a committee renewal.
Factor 6 of the Public Interest Determination requires a summary of previous accomplishments for a committee renewal. The notice states only that the committee 'has provided consistent expertise and consolidated advice to the Trustee Council for over 30 years,' with no specific decisions cited, no dollar figures for funds advised on, and no measurable restoration outcomes listed. Vague process description does not satisfy the FACA renewal standard. The agency should provide a specific, measurable summary of accomplishments from the most recent charter period before reestablishing the committee.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe Certification Statement invokes CERCLA as authority for the reestablishment but cites no specific provision and provides no analysis showing how any CERCLA requirement is met or which CERCLA oblig
The Certification Statement invokes CERCLA as authority for the reestablishment but cites no specific provision and provides no analysis showing how any CERCLA requirement is met or which CERCLA obligations the committee serves. A bare statutory citation is not a reasoned determination. The agency should identify the specific section or sections of CERCLA that require or authorize this committee and explain how each applies to the reestablishment.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe Public Disclosure of Comments section warns that a commenter's entire submission, including personal identifying information, 'may be made publicly available at any time,' and that the agency cann
The Public Disclosure of Comments section warns that a commenter's entire submission, including personal identifying information, 'may be made publicly available at any time,' and that the agency cannot guarantee withholding even upon request. This disclosure, with no guaranteed privacy alternative, may deter native land owners, subsistence users, and commercial fishers from submitting substantive comments, directly undermining the breadth of public input the reestablishment is designed to gather. The agency should establish a clear, guaranteed process for submitting substantive comments without mandatory full public disclosure of personal information.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe Supplementary Information section lists 10 membership categories, and factor 6 confirms the committee has operated under these same categories since its Consent Decree-mandated establishment in Oc
The Supplementary Information section lists 10 membership categories, and factor 6 confirms the committee has operated under these same categories since its Consent Decree-mandated establishment in October 1992. The notice does not explain whether those categories have been reviewed for adequacy after more than 30 years of ecological recovery, changed fishing patterns, and demographic shifts in the spill-affected region. The agency should document whether the membership categories have been reviewed since 1992 and explain why they remain appropriate for current conditions.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
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