Alaska Administrative Code › Title 18 - Environmental Conservation › Chapter 75 - Oil and Other Hazardous Substances Pollution Control › Article 4 - Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plans › 18 AAC 75.449 - Part 1 - oil discharge prevention and contingency plan; Response Action Plan

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) The response action plan must include the
				following information in sufficient detail to clearly guide responders in an
				emergency event:
(1) emergency action
				checklist - a short checklist of the immediate response and notification steps
				to be taken if an oil discharge occurs; the checklist must be immediately
				available to response personnel while on duty;
(2) reporting and notification - a
				description of the immediate spill reporting actions to be taken at any hour of
				the day, including
(A) the titles and
				telephone numbers of facility personnel responsible for making the
				notification;
(B) the telephone
				number of each appropriate government agency to be notified if a discharge
				occurs; and
(C) additional contact
				information for potentially impacted groups;
(3) safety - based on applicable safety
				standards, a description of the steps necessary to develop an incident-specific
				safety plan for conducting a response;
(4) communications - a description of field
				communications procedures, including, if applicable, assigned radio channels or
				frequencies and their intended use by response personnel;
(5) deployment strategies - a description of
				proposed initial response actions that may be taken, including
(A) procedures for the transport of
				equipment, personnel, and other resources to the spill site, including plans
				for alternative methods in adverse weather conditions; and
(B) if the operator is not the primary spill
				responder, procedures to notify and mobilize the response action contractor or
				other responder identified in the plan, including a description of the interim
				actions that the operator will perform until the responder identified in the
				plan initiates a full response to the discharge; the description must
				demonstrate that the transition and substitution of equipment and resources
				between the plan holder and response contractor will occur without interruption
				of response or cleanup;
(6) response scenario - a written description
				of a hypothetical spill and response that demonstrates a plan holder's ability,
				using the resources described in the plan, to respond to a discharge of each
				applicable response planning standard volume within the required time frames
				under 18 AAC 75.430 -
				18 AAC 75.442 and under
				environmental conditions that might reasonably be expected to occur at the
				discharge site; the response scenario must be usable as a general guide for a
				discharge of any size, must describe the discharge containment, control,
				recovery, transfer, storage, and cleanup actions to be taken, and must clearly
				demonstrate the strategies and procedures adopted to conduct and maintain an
				effective response, consistent with ensuring the safety of personnel; if the
				information required by this paragraph is contained in a separate document
				developed by the plan holder or the plan holder's oil spill primary response
				action contractor identified in
				18 AAC 75.45l(i),
				the plan holder may incorporate the information by reference upon department
				approval; response strategies for the scenario must include
(A) the spill location, time of year, and
				time of day, the source, and cause of the spill, the quantity and type of oil
				spilled, the spill trajectory, and the relevant environmental conditions,
				including weather, sea state, and visibility;
(B) the expected timeline for response
				actions, describing response actions to be taken;
(C) in-place procedures to stop the discharge
				at its source, within the shortest possible time, and prevent its further
				spread;
(D) a description of
				methods to prevent or control a potential fire hazard;
(E) procedures, methods, and a description of
				the equipment that will be used for real-time surveillance and tracking of the
				discharged oil on land and on open water, and forecasting of its expected
				points of shoreline contact; these must be sufficient to ensure that there is
				proper allocation and deployment of response personnel and equipment;
(F) for a stationary facility or operation,
				for a railroad, and if requested by the department for a vessel, a description
				of site-specific strategies for the protection of environmentally sensitive
				areas and areas of public concern identified under
				18 AAC 75.451(k),
				including, for a land-based facility or railroad, protection of groundwater and
				public water supplies; sufficient oil discharge response equipment, personnel,
				and other resources must be maintained and available for the specific purpose
				of preventing discharged oil from entering these environmentally sensitive
				areas or areas of public concern that would likely be impacted if a discharge
				occurs; this equipment and personnel must be deployed and maintained on a time
				schedule that will protect those areas before oil reaches them, according to
				the predicted oil trajectories for an oil discharge of the volumes calculated
				for the response planning standard under
				18 AAC 75.430 -
				18 AAC 75.442 for each type of
				facility or operation; areas identified in the plan must include areas added by
				the department as a condition of plan approval; if identification of those
				areas and site-specific strategies for protection of those areas are in an
				applicable geographic zone of one or more area contingency plans described in
				18 AAC 75.495, the plan holder may
				incorporate that information by reference;
(G) a description of the actions to be taken
				to contain and control the spilled oil, including, as applicable, boom
				deployment strategies, construction of temporary berms, and other
				methods;
(H) a description of the
				actions to be taken to recover the contained or controlled oil using mechanical
				response options, including procedures and provisions for skimming, absorbing,
				or otherwise recovering the contained or controlled product from water or
				land;
(I) procedures for
				lightering, transfer, and storage of oil that demonstrate access to sufficient
				lightering equipment and personnel to transfer all oil from damaged tanks and
				from undamaged tanks that might be at risk of discharging additional oil; the
				plan must provide for the start and completion of lightering within the
				shortest possible time;
(J)
				procedures for transfer and storage of recovered oil and oily water that
				demonstrate adequate temporary storage and removal capacity to keep up with
				skimming and recovery operations; for on-water recovery, this includes
				procedures for offloading and transfer of oil and oily water from temporary
				storage at or near the spill site to shore-side storage; for on-land recovery,
				this includes procedures for transfer from onsite temporary storage to more
				secure storage; procedures must include methods for estimating the amount of
				recovered oil;
(K) procedures and
				locations for temporary storage and ultimate disposal of oil-contaminated
				materials, oily wastes, and sanitary and solid wastes generated during the
				response that demonstrate adequate temporary storage and removal capacity to
				keep up with the recovery operations; plans for temporary storage and ultimate
				disposal must include identification of all necessary permits, approvals, and
				authorizations and the timeline to apply for them;
(L) procedures for decanting if the plan
				holder intends to request approval for decanting during a spill response; this
				does not eliminate the requirement for the response strategies to include
				procedures for storage of recovered oil and oily water; if, at the time of a
				spill, the responsible party wants to decant, the responsible party must apply
				to the department's state on-scene coordinator for approval on a form supplied
				by the department;
(M) procedures,
				methods, and a description of equipment that will be used for the protection,
				recovery, disposal, rehabilitation, and release of potentially affected
				wildlife; these procedures and methods must, as applicable, demonstrate best
				practices and recommendations in the Alaska Regional Response Team
Wildlife Protection Guidelines for Oil Spill Response in
				Alaska,
Version 2020.01, August 31, 2020, adopted by reference; if
				approved by the department, the response strategies may use alternative
				procedures and methods that adequately protect wildlife; the procedures
				methods, and equipment must include
(i)
				minimizing wildlife contamination through hazing or other means, when
				appropriate;
(ii) the recovery of
				oiled carcasses to preclude secondary contamination of scavengers;
				and
(iii) the capture, cleaning,
				rehabilitation, and release of oiled wildlife, when appropriate;
(N) if applicable, a description
				of procedures for the deployment of shoreline cleanup equipment and personnel,
				including cleanup and restoration methods and techniques to be used if the
				shoreline is impacted by the discharge; and
(O) if required by the department, additional
				response strategies to demonstrate alternative strategies for anticipated
				receiving environments and seasonal conditions, including time of year and
				spills of varying source and size;
(7) additional requirements for a response
				scenario for an exploration or production facility - if the facility is an
				exploration or production facility
(A) the
				response scenario must also include a summary of planned methods, equipment,
				logistics, and time frames proposed to be employed to control a well blowout
				within 15 days;
(B) the plan holder
				shall certify in the plan that the plan holder maintains a separate well
				blowout contingency plan; the blowout contingency plan is not part of an
				application package required under
				18 AAC 75.400 -
				18 AAC 75.495, but must be made
				available to the department for inspection upon request under
				18 AAC 75.480; this may be a paper
				or an electronic copy, and it must be available at the facility; the department
				may consult with the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the Department
				of Natural Resources, or other agencies to determine the adequacy of the
				planned methods, equipment, logistics, and time frames for the control of a
				well blowout;
(C) for development
				of a response scenario, a plan holder may use the July 1997 S.L. Ross oil
				deposition model for surface oil well blowouts, or another oil deposition model
				approved by the department for surface oil well blowouts;
(D) the response scenario must account for
				variations in seasonal conditions; if required by the department, a plan holder
				must provide a response scenario for a discharge of the applicable response
				planning standard volume under typical summer environmental conditions and
				typical winter environmental conditions; and
(E) if the information required by this
				paragraph is contained within a separate document developed by the plan holder
				or the plan holder's oil spill primary response action contractor identified in
				18 AAC 75.451(i),
				the plan holder may incorporate the information by reference upon receiving
				department approval;
(8)
				nonmechanical response options - plans that propose the use of dispersants, in
				situ burning, or other nonmechanical response techniques during periods when
				environmental conditions or other factors limit the use of mechanical spill
				response methods must include
(A) the basis
				for determining the conditions or circumstances under which these options will
				be used, and how the nonmechanical response options will be implemented,
				including a description of all required equipment and personnel;
(B) a demonstration of their efficiency and
				effectiveness;
(C) an assessment of
				potential environmental consequences, provisions for continuous monitoring and
				real-time assessment of environmental effects, and a description of the
				specific mechanisms in place for conducting these assessments; and
(D) a description of specific procedures,
				methods, and resources in place for protecting environmentally sensitive areas,
				areas of public concern identified in
				18 AAC 75.451(k),
				and the public from adverse effects of the nonmechanical response
				option;
(9) facility
				diagram - a diagram of the facility for reference in conducting emergency
				response operations; the facility diagram must include
(A) locations of response equipment and other
				features pertinent to the response plan clearly marked, including surrounding
				topography, roads, air transportation and other transportation access, location
				and bathymetry of adjacent water bodies, mooring areas, oil transfer locations,
				pipelines, control stations, drip pans, and drainage of drip pans;
(B) a representation of the distance and
				gradients to surface water for an operation located on land, by topographic
				map, aerial photographs, or other means;
(C) the location of fire suppression
				equipment, main power shutoff switches, and other relevant fire control
				features; and
(D) for a railroad
				tank car or locomotive, a diagram for each distinct type of railroad tank car
				or locomotive showing locations of fuel and lubrication systems and oil storage
				tanks, piping, and valves; and
(10) the general procedures to be followed in
				responding to the greatest possible discharge that could occur at the facility
				- this information must be located in the plan immediately following the
				response planning standard scenario or scenarios required by (6) of this
				subsection.