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17832 Federal Renter / Vol 45. No. 55 / Wednesday, March 19, 1980 / Rules and Regulations 



COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL 

 QUAUTY 



40 CFR Part 1510 



National Oil and Hazardous 

 Substances Pollution Contingency 

 Plan; Final Revision 



agency: Council on Environmental 



Quality, Executive Office of the 



President 



ACTION: Final Revision of National 



Contingency Plan. 



StJMMAnv: These final revisions to the 

 National Oil and Hazardous Substances 

 Pollution Contingency Plan update the 

 Plan to conform to the Clean Water Act 

 amendments of 1977 and restructure the 

 Plan to eliminate duplication and 

 simplify reading. Substantive changes 

 include; (1) Increasing Slate 

 participation in the Plan. (2) provision 

 for the preparation of local contingency 

 plana, (3) incorporation of the National 

 PoilQtion Equipment Inventory System. 

 (4) provision for Scientific Support 

 Coordinators, (5) provision for periodic 

 field testing, and (6) clarification of the 

 application of the Endangered Species 

 Act. These changes are designed to 

 improve the efficiency, coordination and 

 effectiveness with which Federal 

 agencies respond to discharges or 

 substantial threats of discharges of oil 

 and hazardous substances. 

 EFFECTIVE OATC March 19. 1980. 

 FOR FURTMEII INFORMATION CONTACH 



Foster Knight CounseL Council on 

 Environmental Quality, 722 Jackson 

 Place, N.W„ Washington. D.C 20006, 

 (202) 395-5750, or Richard Hess, EPA- 

 Coast Guard Liaison. Headquarters, U.S. 

 Coast Guard. G-WEP/73. Washingtion. 

 D.C 20590 (202) 42a-fl571, 

 SUPPtEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

 A. Purpose 



We are publishing final revisions to 

 the National Oil and Hazardous 

 Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, 

 40 CFR 1510 (as amended March 28, 

 1978). The Plan is the basis for Federal 

 action to minimize pollution damage 

 from discharges of oil or hazardous 

 substances. The purpose of these 

 revisions is to update the Plan and 

 improve the efficiency, coordination, 

 and effectiveness with which Federal 

 agencies respond to a discharge or 

 substantial threat of discharge of oil or a 

 hazardous substance. We expect the 

 revised regulations to improve planning 

 by and coordination ampu^a^ai^ 

 Federal agepcie^|Q^^^^e%g|eS^eAt 



of environmental d 



and to facilitate evaluation of response 



effectiveness. 



B. Summary of Changes Made by the 

 Fmal Revisions. 



1. Changes to make the Plan track 

 with the Clean Water Act amendments 

 of 1977.— See particularly 55 ISiaS. 

 1510.21. Following the Clean Water Act 

 amendments of 1977, the regulations 

 modify the scope of the Plan (5 1510.3) 

 to include the expanded economic zone 

 of the Fishery Conservation and 

 Management Act of 1978. The revisions 

 apply the Plan to potential as well as 

 actual discharges (J 1510j:i(b)]. 



2. Increasing the role of state 

 participation in the Plan. — (a) States are 

 invited to participate as full members of 

 Regional Response Teams (RRTsJ. Full 

 participation of high level state 

 representation is desired. See 



i 1510.23(a) and 5 1510.34 (a) and (f). 



(b) Section 1510.23(b). EPA and the 

 U.S. Coast Guard should explore the 

 possibility of entering into agreements 

 with states which will delegate to the 

 state spill cleanup responsibilities. 



(c) Section 1510.34 (m), (n) and (o). 

 Provisions for RRT members (including 

 state members) to appeal decisions of 

 the RRT to the National Response Team 

 (NRT) and to request further review by 

 CEQ. 



3. LocaJ Contingency Plans. — ^The 

 revised Plan makes provision for local 

 contingeacy plans for dealing with spUIa 

 in ports or local areas. 



Sections 1510.3e(d) and 1510.42 

 provide that die On-Scene Coordinator 

 (OSC) Is responsible for developing and 

 maintaining a local contingency plan for 

 the OSCs area of responsibility. Local 

 plans must identify: (l) Environmentally 

 sensitive areas, (2) most probable 

 locations for pollution incidents. (3) the 

 lands of resources that would be needed 

 to respond to spill incidents, (4) where 

 such resources can be obtained. (5) 

 plans of action for protecting vulnerable 

 resources, (6) sites for disposing 

 recovered oil and hazardous substances, 

 and (7) a local organizational structure 

 for spill response. 



To aid the development of local 

 contingency plans, j lS10.34(d) provides 

 that RRTs must designate members to 

 assist the OSC in local contingency 

 planning. 



4. National Pollution Equipment 

 Inventory System. — The revised Plan in 

 J 1510.43 incorporates a national 

 inventory of equipment and resources 

 available for oil and hazardous 

 substance spill response. 



5. Scientific Support Coordinators. — 

 The revised Plan provides a mechanism 

 for coordination between the On-Scene 

 Coordinator (OSC] and the scientific 



community during spills. Such a 

 mechanism is necessary in order to 

 provide the OSC with sound scientific 

 advice in an orderly way. so that the 

 OSC does not have to devote scarce 

 time to a number of different scientists 

 who are concerned about providing 

 cleanup advice and conducting 

 experiments during spill cleanup 

 operations. 



Section 1510.64(c) establishes a 

 scientific support organization headed 

 by Scientific Support Coordinators 

 (SSCs) who are designated by EPA for 

 inland spills and by NOAA for coastal 

 area spills. 



8. Annual Field Exercises. — The 

 revised Plan makes provision for 

 periodic field testing by the RRTs of 

 their spill response equipment and 

 people. 



Section 1510.34(h) requires each 

 coastal RRT to conduct annual training 

 exercises in which equipment is actually 

 deployed. 



Section 1510.34(1) strongly encourages 

 each inland RRT to conduct annual 

 training exercises. 



7. Changes Reflecting Requirements 

 of the Endangered Species Act — ^The 

 revised Plan specifically discusses the 

 relationship between spill response and 

 cleanup actions and the requirements of 

 legislation protecting endangered or 

 threatened species. 



Section 1510.36(aj(3) provides that 

 advice to the OSC provided by DOI 

 through the Fish and Wildlife Service or 

 by Commerce. through the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service on the cleanup 

 of spills that affect endangered species, 

 shall be binding on the OSC (with 

 specified exceptions), 



8. Public Information. — ^The previous 

 Plan provided for dissemination of 

 public information in Annex VL 



The revised Plan moves the provisions 

 of Annex VI to new 5 1510.37. In 

 addition, changes are made to make the 

 Plan conform to the existing public 

 information network. 



9. Restructuring Plan for Easier 

 Reading. — The previous Plan contained 

 considerable useful information buried 

 in its Annexes. 



The revised Plan shifts this more 

 hnportant material into the body of the 

 Plan. The revisions also add hew Annex 

 material (new Annexes n. VI and Vni). 

 See attached comparison of Previous 

 Plan and Revised Plan. 



In addition, the revisions eliminate 

 duplicative material and rewrite some 

 provisions to achieve clarity and to 

 make minor corrections of outdated Plan 

 information. 



