Reducing Duplicative Efforts in Oil Spill Contingency Planning

Developing a Cooperative Relationship

Passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA'90) and the delegation of authority under Executive Order 12777 gave the Bureau oil spill prevention and response authority for all offshore oil and facilities (except those associated with deep water ports). This created an overlap of authority for facilities in State waters. The California Department of Fish and Game, Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) created under SB 2040, is the State agency responsible for oil spill prevention and response in California State waters.

To cope with this overlapping authority, the Bureau and OSPR fashioned a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that fosters cooperation and facilitates coordination between the two agencies. The MOA, signed on April 24, 1995, allows the parties to exercise their respective authorities regarding oil spill planning, prevention, and response in a manner that ensures the best achievable protection for the State of California. A major focus of the MOA is coordinating oil spill contingency plan (OSCP) review.

OSCP Review and Approval Process

In the spirit of the MOA, the Bureau and OSPR have developed a joint OSCP review and approval process designed to provide a coordinated review of the OSCPs and eliminate duplication of effort. The process is simplified and streamlined; the needs of industry are addressed by allowing operators of offshore facilities to submit a single OSCP that meets the needs of both agencies.

The OSCP review process was depicted in a flow diagram form to simplify the procedures (fig. 1). The process has three main phases: the review, the revision, and the approval of a plan or update. Each phase of the review process requires coordination between the agencies and plan reviewers to discuss any deficiencies found in the plan or subsequent revisions.

Figure 1. The Bureau/OSPR Joint OSCP Review Process

In the first phase of the joint OSCP review process, the facility operator submits the OSCP or revision to the Bureau and OSPR for review (fig. 2). For facilities in Federal waters, the Bureau is the lead agency, and in State waters, the lead agency is OSPR. The secondary agency conducts a cursory review of the OSCP and provides the lead agency with comments. The lead agency then sends a comment letter to the operator. During this phase, other Federal and State agencies are provided copies of the OSCP for review and comment. Their comments are forwarded to the appropriate agency for consideration.

Figure 2. The review phase of the Joint OSCP Review Process

In the second phase of the review process, the facility operator submits revisions to the Bureau and the OSPR for review (fig. 3). If the revisions are not found acceptable by both agencies, it is remanded to the operator for additional revision and resubmittal.

Figure 3. The revision phase of the  Bureau/OSPR Joint OSCP Review Process

In the last phase of the process, the Bureau and OSPR approve the OSCP. As appropriate, the agency or agencies send the facility operator an approval letter and send a copy of the letter to the other agency (fig. 1).

The Bureau and OSPR joint OSCP review process provides a coordinated and organized review of a plan while reducing duplicative efforts for both the agencies and industry, fosters trust between the agencies, and provides a thorough review of the plans. This process provides the State of California with the best achievable protection from spills occurring at offshore facilities through the efficient use of Federal and State resources.