Presentation to

RRT/NWACSpills Prevention, Preparedness and Response Program

Dale Jensen, Program ManagerMarch 10, 2011

• Mandated by Oil Pollution Act of 1990• Federal On-Scene Coordinators must pre-plan

for oil spills with State and local partners.• Plans must identify resources at risk, available

response equipment, and response procedures• Co-Chaired by Sector’s Portland & Seattle, EPA• Co-Vice-Chaired by states of Idaho, Oregon, and

Washington• Membership from private, local, State, Tribal,

and Federal entities

The Northwest Area Committee

• Mandated by National Contingency Plan• Conduct pre-planning for oil and hazmat

spills to ensure coordinated federal support

• Support On-Scene Coordinator during incident

• Co-Chaired by EPA and USCG D13• Membership from 15 federal agencies

and states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington

The Regional Response Team (RRT 10)

The NWACP is a planning tool that provides for a safe, appropriate, and timely response to reports of oil or hazardous substance spills.

The Regional Response Team brings together state and federal entities to jointly manage a response, and address response technology issues.

The Northwest Area Committee comprised of local, state, federal and tribal governments contributes to the planning process to ensure coordinated response activities.

The Area Committee and the RRT work jointly to maintain and

implement the Area Plan.

• Jurisdictional authority, roles, and responsibilities

• List of available spill response equipment

• Required notifications• List of response organizations• Incident Command System

implementation• Response Technologies Use• Dispersant use, In-situ burning,

Decanting• Volunteer Policy• Joint Information Center Manual• Applicable federal and state

regulations• Accessing State and Federal Funds• Geographic Response Plans

The Area Plan contains…

Local Involvements

• Representation in Unified Command and Liaison function

• Participate in oil spill drills and planning

• Local planning for emergency • Response equipment cache grant

program• Response training for the

equipment cache deployment and safety training (HAZWOPER)

• Work through Area Plan work group to give input into geographic response plans strategies

Local and Tribal Governments Public • Public comments for

contingency plans and geographic response plans

• Beachwatchers Volunteer Programs

• Wildlife Care Volunteer Programs

State Legislature

Non-governmental Groups

Local Governments

Tribal Governments

Partnerships and Relationships

Federal Organizations

Citizens of Washington

British Columbia/Pacific States Oil Spill Task Force

Industry

Regional Response Team NWAC Work Groups

Drills NW Area Committee

Other State Organizations

Public Meetings

Why?

How?

Who?

Puget Sound Factoids• Total area of land and water for Puget Sound is 2458 square miles.• 2500 miles of shorelines.• 10,000 rivers and streams that flow directly into Puget Sound. • Over 200 species of fish live in these waters • 12 counties surround its water bodies.• 3.5 million people living around Puget Sound • 10 million vehicles and over 21 million passengers are carried on ferries

annually• Over 750,000 people come through our waters by cruise ship each year• 15 Tribal nations• Over 10,000 vessel transits in and from our ports annually• 15 billion gallons of oil are transferred each year over our waters

Funding for Washington State Oil Spill Program

• Prevention and Preparedness activities funded by the Oil Spill Administration Tax (commonly known as the “barrel tax”).

• Response activities is funded by the State Toxics Control Account

5 cent barrel tax

Oil Spill Prevention Account (OSPA)

Oil Spill Response Account (OSRA)This account pays for oil spill response and cleanup when state costs exceed $50,000.

4 cents

1 cent

Program Overview – Prevention • Board and inspect covered cargo and passenger vessels.• Inspect oil refineries and marine terminals.• Improve waterway management including transboundary

tanker traffic and tank vessel escort.• Inspect oil transfer and pre-booming operations.• Promote voluntary “best achievable protection” for oil

tankers and oil barges.• Investigate the causes of vessels and facility spills.• Take action to eliminate intentional waste oil dumping by

ships.

Program Overview – Preparedness

• Review and approve industry contingency plans.

• Conduct oil spill drills.• Develop Geographic Response Plans

(GRPs).• Verify and test effectiveness of response

equipment.• Participate in Area Planning process.

Program Overview – ResponseProtect public health/safety, the environment and economy by:

• Rapidly and aggressively responding to and cleaning up oil and hazardous material spills - 24 hours/day from 6 offices.

• Building response capability at the local level.• Cleaning up methamphetamine drug labs.• Expanding remote sensing and spill tracking

capability.

Davy Crockett ResponseColumbia River (Camas, WA)January 27, 2011

Blewett Pass Truck Oil Spill December 6, 2010

Pettit Truck Gasoline SpillNear Forks, WAFebruary 23, 2011

BNSF Train DerailmentTacoma, WAFebruary 26, 2011

Program Overview – NRDA

Restore oil damaged environments through our Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) program by:

• Assessing the impact of spills on state natural resources in partnership with other state, tribal and federal trustee agencies.

• Using the Coastal Protection Account to fund and leverage environmental projects.

Thank You Dale Jensen, Program ManagerEcology Spill Prevention, Preparedness and Response ProgramEmail: dale.jensen@ecy.wa.govPhone: 360-407-7450