Archived page: © 2001 Environmental Legal Information Systems (ELIS). All rights reserved. The information contained in this site is for demonstration and educational purposes, and while every effort has been made to simulate a potential real response to an oil spill, the storyline is not based on actual events. Developed by Kenneth J. Markowitz for the 2nd International Symposium on Digital Earth, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada (June 25, 2001). The external links on this page may no longer be functional.

Laws and Policies

I.  Federal

Spills of Oil and Hazardous Substances are governed at the Federal level in accordance with the Clean Water Act, the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan, and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

The National Response System

The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Response System is the federal government’s primary guideline for oil spill response. The system provides a framework for coordination among federal, state, and local responders and responsible parties.  The National Response System is described in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP).  The NCP establishes three organizational levels: the National Response Team (NRT), the Regional Response Teams (RRT), and the On-Scene Coordinators (OSC).  The NRT and RRTs are primarily planning, policy, and coordinating bodies that do not respond directly to a spill.  The NRT is comprised of 16 federal agencies, including the EPA, the U. S. Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Transportation.

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), which came into effect largely in response to the Exxon Valdez spill, expanded the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan to include Area Committees (ACs), composed of federal, state, and local government officials. The Acs develop detailed, location-specific Area Contingency Plans and to require owners or operators of vessels and certain facilities that pose a serious threat to the environment to prepare their own facility response plans.  The OPA also established a $1 billion dollar Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for emergency response, which is now managed by the US Coast Guard's National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC).

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) serves as the defining reference for oils. Section 311(a)(1) of the FWPCA defines oil as including but not limited to petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse, and oil mixed with waste other than dredge spoils (33 U.S.C. 1321(a)(1)). The most common oils are the various petroleum oils (e.g., crude oil, gasoline, diesel, etc.), non-petroleum oils such as turpentine and the various animal fats (e.g., tallow, lard, etc.) and vegetable oils (e.g., corn oil, sunflower seed oil, palm oil, etc.) are included within the ambit of this regulation when carried in bulk as cargo by tank vessels.

The party responsible for an oil spill is required to contact the National Response Center as soon as the spill occurs from a vessel or facility operating in or along US navigable waters; on the Outer Continental Shelf; in a deepwater port; or from a vessel transporting oil from the Outer Continental Shelf under Section 311(b)(5) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Section 306(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978, and Section 16(b) of the Deepwater Ports Act of 1974.

The U. S. Coast Guard and the EPA are responsible for oil spills.  The U. S. Coast Guard responds to coastal area spills in the oceans, rivers, and other water bodies.  The EPA responds to inland spills.  The separation is determined in the individual Regional Contingency Plans.  The National Response Center contacts the On-Scene Coordinators (OSC) of the correct agency.  The OSC’s coordinate all containment, removal, and disposal efforts and resources during the incident at the federal, state, local, and responsible party efforts. They have access to special forces, including the Coast Guard's National Strike Force, the Coast Guard's Public Information Assistance Team, NOAA's Scientific Support Coordinators, and the EPA's Environmental Response Team, and can call on agencies like NOAA, and the National Fish and Wildlife Service for assistance.

Responders from the Responsible Party in the case of a spill from a vessel would also address the Vessel Contingency Plan regulations. The Vessel Response Plan (described in 33 CFR 155) is to provide the captain of the ship with the information required to respond to an emergency oil spill. The plan must be written in English and, if applicable, in a language that is understood by the crew members with responsibilities under the plan. The plan must cover all geographic areas of the United States in which the vessel intends to handle, store, or transport oil, including port areas and offshore transit areas. The information contained in the response plan must be consistent with the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) (40 CFR part 300) and the Area Contingency Plan(s) (ACP).  Vessel Response Plans can be found online in the US Coast Guard’s e-VRP database.

Vessel Response Plans must contain: (1)   General information and introduction, including the owner and operator of the vessel, the number of barrels it carries, and the worst-case discharge, as well as the boat specifications such as hull type and cargo type carried; (2)   Notification procedures. Shipboard spill mitigation procedures, including the response resources necessary to carry out the transfer of oil to another ship and the location of all equipment and fittings; (3)   Shore-based response activities; (4)   List of contacts; (5) Training procedures; (6)  Exercise procedures; (7)   Plan review and update procedures; (8)   On board notification checklist and emergency procedures (unmanned tank barges only); (9)      Geographic-specific appendix for each COTP zone in which the vessel or vessels operate and (10)  An appendix for vessel-specific information for the vessel or vessels covered by the plan.

II. Regional and Local

Responders to an oil spill occurring in the Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore would first address the requirements in:

These two plans are further coordinated with the regional Mid-Atlantic Area Contingency Plan, as well as the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The LEPCs, established by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) consist of elected state and local officials, law enforcement officers, firefighters, health and other relevant response personnel, community groups, and owners of subject facilities.

An oil spill occurring in the Baltimore area would be under the jurisdiction of the US Coast Guard 5^th District for offshore spills and the EPA Region 3 for inland spills.  The On-Scene Coordinator from the relevant agency would coordinate and direct the cleanup efforts and resources of all federal, state, local, and responsible parties.

Team III of the National Response System’s Regional Response Teams is responsible for West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  The Regional Response Team is responsible for preparing the Baltimore Area Contingency Plan that outlines how to respond to an oil spill emergency.  The Regional Response Team may also support the On-Scene Coordinator’s response to an accident by (1)acting as a broker of information to the larger political, media, and technical communities; (2) filter of information or demands from the political and industry communities; and (3) strategic planning. RRT members in planning or emergency roles must possess strategic thinking and organizational problem solving skills and react quickly and effectively to new information.

The Regional Response Team III’s Regional Response Plan organized in four sections based on the needs of the response community.

1.  The Strategic Plan

2.  The Administrative Procedures

3.  Response Policies: examples of response policies include: the use of dispersants, burning technologies, assessment of shoreline impacts, evaluation of response technologies, and prioritization of natural and economic resources.

4.  RRT Agency Support: “Yellow Pages” provides the members of the RRT a location to describe their support to the On Scene Coordinator during a large or complex spill emergency. The support categories include: Administrative, Human Health, Natural Environment, Economy, Public Communications, and Stakeholder Support.

III. Other Legal Resources

Search the ELIS legal resource library for more information.

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