Contingency and Response Plans

Regional and State Contingency Plans - Marine and Inland

Map of California depicting the Area Contingency Plans’ and Geographic Response Plans’ boundaries - click for larger map
ACP-GRP boundaries map - Click for larger image

Regional Response Team IX is responsible for ensuring that state and federal resources are available when needed for emergency response within the states of Arizona, California and Nevada and the 146 tribal nations, and that the multi-agency relationships and coordination systems exist to support these emergency response efforts. The Region IX Regional Contingency Plan (RCP)(opens in new tab) has been published to best support the deployment of those response resources. The most recently approved RRT IX Dispersant Use Plan for California and the RRT IX On-Water In-Situ Burn Plan for California may be directly accessed at the links below.“

The California State Oil Spill Contingency Plan (PDF)(opens in new tab) is an independent document regarding discharges of oil to all marine or inland surface waterways of California, and for oil spills to land. All state and local agencies must carry out spill response activities consistent with this Plan and other applicable federal, state, or local spill response plans.

Area Contingency Plans (ACP) - Marine

The statutes (OPA 90 and SB 2040) enacted in consequence of the catastrophic oil spills of 1989, required contingency planning by both State and Federal Governments. The U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) and CDFW Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) agreed to joint preparation of six contingency plans through co-chairing the three Port Area Committees for Contingency Planning: USCG Port Areas for San Francisco, Los Angeles / Long Beach, and San Diego.

The Area Committee planning process is a proactive effort to deal with potential oil releases. It is open to all stakeholders and has involved representatives from over 50 agencies, including federal, state, local, industry and environmental participants. The three Port ACPs provide guidance for the first 24 hours of response, and each of the six coastal planning areas have provided detailed evaluation and recommendations for protection of regional shoreline resources. Shoreline Protection Tables (2013) (PDF)(opens in new tab) set forth planning requirements for shoreline protection for vessels in California's marine waters.

ACPs are updated on a regular schedule (currently every five years), and the respective Area Committees meet regularly to discuss lessons learned from spills, drills and exercises to inform updates to the ACPs. Between revision cycles, annual updates to the ACPs may be posted.

Geographic Response Plans (GRP) - Inland

Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) are being updated and developed by OSPR in conjunction with other federal, state, and local government, industry and other partners for priority inland waters of the state with higher risk of an oil spill. GRP’s will be driven by access to sites along river systems and lakes where response activities are feasible. The intention is that GRPs will be vetted through the regional Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) comprised of industry representatives, federal, State, and local government agencies, public health agencies, tribal representatives and other stakeholders, and may utilize local subcommittees to the LEPCs to provide further input and review of the GRPs.

Industry Contingency Plans

Oil Spill Contingency Plans submitted to OSPR for approval are available for review. A Public Records Act request shall be submitted for review of a plan. Publicly disclosable pages of plans either may be reviewed in person at an Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) office or copies of the plans will be provided at the cost of duplication, consistent with the Public Records Act. A list of currently available plans for public review are listed in the link below.

Facility Plan Submittal

OSPR has established a FacilityCPlans@wildlife.ca.gov email account to help streamline communications and document submittal. Please utilize this account to submit your California Oil Spill Contingency Plans, renewals, updates, general correspondence or any questions. We also have established a large file transfer site (FTP) so that documents too large for email can be still submitted electronically. To use the large file transfer site, please send a request to the FacilityCPlans@wildlife.ca.gov email address.

Vessel Contingency Plan Program

The California Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) has developed a comprehensive vessel contingency plan program to prevent and manage oil spills in California waters. Please visit the Vessel Contingency Plan Program page for program information. If you need information on federal response plans, please visit the USCG Vessel Response Plans(opens in new tab) website.

Contacts

Office of Spill Prevention and Response
Mailing: P.O. Box 944209, Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
(916) 375-8580 for OSPR Information

Report Oil Spills
(800) 852-7550 or (800) OILS-911

Email OSPR | Office Locations

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