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Area Contingency Plans (ACPs) mandated under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) offer facilities a wealth of information that may be helpful when creating or updating Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Facility Response Plans (FRPs). Today we will look at ACP fundamentals, and tomorrow we will review some of the resources and opportunities ACPs provide for facilities.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversees creation of Area Contingency Plans, which are documents prepared to address environmental emergencies in predefined geographic areas of the United States. Originally, ACPs were required under the OPA 90 specifically for oil spill response but ACPs are now the basis for integrated response to almost any type of emergency, including hazardous materials releases, natural disasters, and acts of terrorism covered under federal laws. At the federal level, the National Contingency Plan (NCP) regulates different agencies’ involvement while state, tribal, and local laws also define ACP relationships and requirements. The primary objective of ACPs is to define interagency contingency planning on a geographic basis to eliminate redundancy, utilize appropriate resources, and expedite response to emergency releases.
To accomplish this, ACPs build on partnerships across federal, state, tribal, and local agencies, as well as nongovernmental organizations such as trade associations and owners and operators of facilities, particularly those with FRPs. Through these partnerships, ACPs incorporate information relating to different but related plans and response needs within their geographic area to create one master response document.
Although ACP participation is voluntary, each ACP is headed by a Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC), with the EPA leading inland ACPs and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) overseeing coastal zone ACPs. In some geographic areas, subareas may also be defined because they require special consideration for emergency response activities and may have additional response plans already in place that will be included in the ACP.
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Not unlike a facility FRP, ACPs contain essential elements necessary to conduct emergency response activities in an organized and efficient manner that is also tailored to the specific needs, assets, and risks associated with specific areas. These include:
- Maps and mapping tools that are accurate, accessible on-site and in the field, and easily updated.
- Contacts and notification (both immediate and during response), including ACP development and maintenance persons, 24/7 response personnel, and command/specialist personnel identified in the ACP.
- Resources identifying and describing:
- Entities and personnel identified as potential responders, including capabilities, certifications, roles, authorities’ response times, and other essential information.
- Equipment, including everything related to a response from sampling and monitoring to heavy equipment/transportation to communications.
- Laboratories’ analytical capabilities, descriptions, access procedures, and contact information.
- Volunteer resources, including descriptions, capabilities, training, safety, liability, and integration.
- Sensitive areas identified for environmental, cultural, or economic reasons, including attributes, protection recommendations, tactics, contacts, and other aspects such as hazards and access protocols.
- Hazard analysis, including fixed facilities and transportation infrastructure with a high-risk profile for release of oil or hazardous substances (including facilities with FRPs), possible sources outside the ACP area, and cut-off points below which the ACP will not respond.
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In addition, the Clean Water Act, (CWA) 311(j)(4) also has specific requirements for ACPs that overlap in some areas but also pertain more specifically to releases to navigable waters, the primary concern of the SPCC rule.
- A comprehensive description of the ACP area defining areas of economic and environmental value that may be damaged by a discharge and including water bodies, watershed, and/or political jurisdictions.
- A detailed breakdown of the responsibilities of all owners/operators and government agencies regarding discharge response, mitigation, and prevention of a substantial threat discharge. This should include identifying each entity, authority, resources, capabilities, and operational frameworks for each during a response.
- A list of all personnel, equipment, and supplies available for response activities.
- A description of protocols to expedite decision making regarding the use of dispersants.
- A description of how the ACP integrates with other plans.
Each of these requirements is designed to provide adequate information for sound response planning and execution while allowing the flexibility to design an ACP that is functional and meets the specific needs of the geographic area, infrastructure, facilities, and environmental, economic and cultural assets. Tomorrow we will look deeper at how facilities can use ACPs to ensure their FRPs are up to date and compliant with the SPCC rule.