163 



Federal Register / Vol. 45, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 19, 1980 / Rules and Regulations 17843 



each cabinet department or independent 

 agency serving as a participating agency 

 on the NRT shall be accorded one vote 

 in NRT proceedings. 



S 1510.33 National Respona* Canter. 



(a) The NRC is the national 

 communications center for activities 

 related to pollution incidents. It is 

 located at the Washington, O.C., 

 Headquarters of the USCG. Notice of 

 discharges should be made through a 

 toU free number, a special local number, 

 or tlirough telephone and teletype 

 circuits. (Details appear below and in 

 Annex V.) The NRC relays notices of 

 discharge to the appropriate OSC It 

 disseminates OSC and RRT reports to 

 the NRT when appropriate. It provides 

 facilities for the NRT to use in 

 coordinating a national pollution 

 emergency response when required. 



(b) The Commandant, U.S. Coast 

 Guard, shall provide the necessary 

 communications, plotting facilities, and 

 equipment These will include: 



(1) A continuously manned 

 communication center for receiving 

 reports of discharges; 



(2) Telephone branch lines; 



(3) Teletypewriter circuits; 



(4) The latest updated charts of the 

 Departments of Commerce, Interior and 

 Defense for the U.S. waters, the 

 Continental Shelf and the ocean areas 

 adjacent to the U.S. Territorial waters; 



(5) Technical Ubrary on oil and 

 hazardous substances pollution 

 (descritjed in Annex Vir); and 



(6) Plotting and display facilities to 

 depict the geographic position, 

 movement, and extent of the discharge. 



(c) The USCG shall furnish technical 

 manuals and materials, and necessary 

 administrative support to operate the 

 NRC effectively and efficiently. 



(d) Participating agencies may use 

 normal communication circuits to fulfill 

 their responsibilities under the Plan. 

 Telephone numbers for the primary 

 notification offices of interested 

 agencies will be maintained in NRC and 

 inRRCs. 



(e) First notice of a pollution discharge 

 shall be made immediately (in 

 accordance with 33 CFR 153.203) either 

 to the NRC Duty Officer. HQ USCG, 

 Washington. D.C. toll free telephone 

 (800) 424-8802 (or 428-2675 in the 

 Washington, D.C, local calling area), or 

 to the predesignated OSC (see Annex 

 m}. All notices of discharges received at 

 the NRC shall be relayed immediately 

 by telephone to the OSC. The NRC shall 

 evaluate incoming information and 

 immediately advise FEMA of potential 

 major disaster situations. 



(0 Pollution Reports (POLREPS] shall 

 be submitted by the RRT to the NRC as 



developments occur and not later than 

 1600 local time on each day of a 

 pollution response operation. PoUudon 

 Reports shall be disseminated by the 

 NRC to NRT members as requested by 

 those members. 



i 1510.34 Regional Responsa Team. 



(a) The RRT serves as the regional 

 body for planning and preparedness 

 actions before a pollution discharge and 

 for coordination and advice during a 

 pollution discharge. The RRT consists of 

 regional representatives of the 

 participating agencies, state, and local 

 government representatives as 

 appropriate. The full participation of 

 high level representation from States 

 and local governments with major ports 

 and waterways is desired. (See 



§5 1510.23(a) and 15ia34(f).) 



(b) Except when the RRT is activated 

 for a pollution incident the 

 representatives of EPA and DOT shall 

 act as co-chairmen. When the RRT is 

 -activated for a pollution incident, the 

 chairman ahan be the representative of 

 EPA or DOT, depending upon the area 

 of the spill and the response. 



(c) Each participating agency shall 

 designate one member and at least one 

 alternate member to the RRT. 

 Participating States and local 

 governments should also designate one 

 member and at least one alternate 

 member to the Team. Agencies may also 

 provide additional representatives as 

 observers to meetings of the RRT. 

 Persons representing Federal and State 

 agencies shall be specified in each 

 regional contingency plan. 



(d) RRT members shall designate 

 representatives from their agencies to 

 work with OSCs in developing local 

 contingency plans, providing for the use 

 of agency resources, and in responding 

 to pollution incidents. 



(ej The chairman of RRT shall ensure 

 that the regional and local contingency 

 plans adequately provide the OSC widi 

 assistance from the Federal agencies 

 commensurate with agencies' resources, 

 capabilities and responsibilities within 

 the region. During a pollution 

 emergency, the members of the RRT 

 shall insure that the resources of their 

 agendes are made available to the OSC 

 as specified in the regional and local 

 contingency plans. 



(f| Affected states are encouraged to 

 participate actively in all RRT activities 

 (see i 1510.Z3(a)), to designate 

 representatives to work with the RRT 

 and OSCs in developing regional and 

 local plans, plan for and make available 

 State resources, and serve as the contact 

 point for coordination with local 

 government agencies in responding to 

 pollution incidents. When the RRT is 



activated for a pollution emergency, 

 affected States are invited to participate 

 in all RRT deliberations. Any State or 

 local government represeniaUve who 

 participates in the RRT has the same 

 status as any Federal member of the 

 RRT. 



(g) When not activated for a pollution 

 incident the RRT serves as a standing 

 committee to recommend needed policy 

 changes in the regional response 

 organization, to revise the regional plan 

 as needed, and to evaluate the 

 preparedness of the agencies and the 

 effectiveness of local plans for the 

 Federal response to pollution incidents. 

 The RRT shall: 



(1) Make a continuing review of 

 regional and local responses to pollution 

 incidents, considering equipment 

 readiness and coordination among 

 responsible public agencies and private 

 organizations; 



(2) Recommend revi&ions to diis 

 National Contingency Plan to die NRT. 

 on the basis of observations of response 

 operations; 



(3) Consider and recommend 

 necessary changes in policy on the basis 

 of the continuing review of regional 

 responses to pollution incidents; 



(4) Develop procedures to insure the 

 coordination of Federal. State, local 

 government and private responses to 



■ pollution incidents; 



(5) Review the functiorung of OSCs to 

 insure that local contingency plans are 

 developed satisfactorily; 



(6) Be prepared to respond to a major 

 discharge of oil or hazardous substances 

 outside its region; 



(7) Monitor incoming reports from all 

 OSCs and activate the RRT when 

 appropriate; and 



(8) Meet quarterly to review response 

 actions carried out during the preceding 

 period, and consider changes in both 

 regional and local contingency plans. In 

 those regions having both coastal and 

 inland RRTs, RRT meetings held in 

 alternating quarters (inland in March, 

 coastal in June, etc.) would meet tiiis 

 requirement 



(9) RRTs shall provide letter reports 

 on their activities to the NRT twice a 

 year, no later than 31 January and 31 

 July. The reports will help to identify 

 techniques and procedures that have 

 worked well and subjects requiring 

 improvement and should be circulated 

 to other RRTs. At a minimum, reports 

 will contain paragraphs covering; 



(i) Summary of Activities, containing 

 highlights of routine meetings and 

 activations during the reporting period; 



(ii) OrganizationaJ Matters, Outlining 

 improvements made since the last 

 report Organizational matters requiring 

 NRT action should be included. RRTs 



