number of resources from which to draw. EPA was not as fortunate because it 

 does not have as large a staff. Even though it did not burden the U.S. Coast 

 Guard as much from the standpoint of staffing, we in no way had the expertise 

 that was needed to deal with specific problems. In recognition of this, we 

 ended up contacting the RRT everytime we needed someone from another agency. 



We started to develop contacts at the local level so we would have people 

 to put the right finger in the dike on scene. These contacts continued to 

 grow, making it unnecessary for an OSC to call the RRT every time he needed 

 assistance. Now the LRT is operational. It also will indicate that in addi- 

 tion to regional contingency plans we will now require local contingency plans. 

 Now, this is not really a brand new change. This has been required for a 

 while. As a typical bureaucracy however, we are finally getting the change 

 into the national plan. However, it is one of the evolutionary things that 

 we have found is necessary for us to have an effective organization. We have 

 to do as much of the planning ahead of time as we possible can in order to be 

 successful. A regional plan with a regional group of people simply does not 

 have the detail needed to work on the local problems that we are confronted 

 with in responding to a pollution incident. 



The new change to the National Contingency Plan will call for OSC's to 

 develop local contingency plans that identify: 1) the most probable types 

 of accidents that are likely to occur within an area, 2) what the products 

 are, 3) where the accidents are likely to occur, 4) how much of the product 

 is likely to be involved, 5) which of the various environmentally and esthet- 

 ically sensitive areas are potentially going to be impacted by these incidents, 

 and 6) what can be done to protect these particular areas if the most probable 

 incidents occur. Once an OSC has all of this information, he will be able to 

 identify and locate all the needed talents to try to deal with these situa- 

 tions. 



This translates to the need for what I previously called a multi-agency 

 response. In recognition of this, the National Contingency Plan will call 

 for the members of the RRT's to designate people to work with the OSC in 

 developing the local contingency plans and in responding to these particular 

 incidents. 



There are two typical types of pollution response cases on which you as 

 an individual will be called upon to serve. One situation is where the dis- 

 charger has assumed the responsibility for the cleanup. The other case is 

 where either we do not know who is the discharger, or he has declined respon- 

 sibility, or is not acting in a responsible manner. 



In the first case, the task of the Federal Government is to give advice 

 to the person who is trying to clean up and guide him in doing what is con- 

 sidered appropriate. This includes advice on such things as protecting the 

 wildlife. It is not enough to simply do a good job in removing the oil, or 

 in mitigating the hazardous substance. There needs to be concern for the 

 environment as has been indicated. 



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