Final Approval of Regulations for Response to Spills of Non-Floating Oils
December 9, 2022
In accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act, on November 28, 2022, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved OSPR's regulatory action to amend sections 790, 815.01 through 818.03, 817.04, and 819.01 through 819.04 pertaining to the definitions for non-floating oil, contingency plan requirements, and oil spill response organization ratings, implementing Assembly Bill 936.
The effective date of these regulations is January 1, 2023.
The OAL regulatory file number for this rulemaking action is 2022-0621-06. The approval and final rulemaking documents are below:
15-Day Continuation Notice for Proposed Changes
August 22, 2022
The Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) is proposing to adopt changes to the originally proposed regulatory text of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. These proposed changes are available for public comment for 15 calendar days.
In February 2022, concurrent with this standard rulemaking action, OSPR noticed a separate rulemaking action proposing changes to several sections of Title 14, California Code of Regulations, which were approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) on July 5, 2022, and that will be effective October 1, 2022 (OAL Matter No. 2022-0525-04SR; General Provisions). That rulemaking changed a few of the same sections being proposed for amendment in this current Non-floating Oils rulemaking action. However, it is important to note none of the regulation text approved on July 5, 2022 overlap with the changes being proposed in this Non-floating Oils rulemaking action. Nevertheless, OAL advises that this additional 15-day comment period is required in this rulemaking action to notice the changes approved on July 5, 2022.
The following itemizes only the relevant subsections that were revised and approved on July 5, 2022, and which are the subject of this additional 15-day notice.
- 817.02(c)(3)(B)(4)
- 817.04(c)(2)(B); (e)(5)(A) through (E); (f)(4)(A) through (C); (u)(7); (w)
- 819.02(a); (b)(6); (c)(2)(E); (g)
Written Comment Period
OSPR will accept written comments pertaining only to the above itemized proposed changes between August 23, 2022, and September 6, 2022. All written comments must be received by OSPR no later than 11:59:59 p.m. (Pacific Time) on September 6, 2022, by mail or e-mail as follows:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Office of Spill Prevention and Response
Attn: Regulations Unit
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
Email: OSPRRegulations@wildlife.ca.gov
The proposed changes consist of the following documents:
Revised Regulation Text:
Proposed Rulemaking to Amend Regulations for Response to Spills of Non-Floating Oils
June 23, 2022
The Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) is proposing to amend regulations in title 14 of the California Code of Regulations to implement the statutory changes created by Assembly Bill 936. The proposed regulatory amendments pertain to the definitions for non-floating oil, contingency plan requirements, and oil spill response organization ratings.
In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, OSPR submitted the Notice of Proposed Regulatory Action to the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register on July 1, 2022.
Written Comment Period
Any interested person, or his or her authorized representative, may submit written comments on this proposed action to OSPR. All written comments must be received no later than midnight (Pacific Standard Time) on Tuesday, August 15, 2022. Comments may be submitted by mail or e-mail as follows:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Office of Spill Prevention and Response
Attn: Regulations Unit
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
Email: OSPRRegulations@wildlife.ca.gov
The current rulemaking file for this proposed action consists of the following documents:
Additional Information
OSPR created a spill response to non-floating oil page(opens in new tab) after hosting a multi-agency informational meeting on November 15, 2017 for the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) with the goal of providing a forum to address California’s risk of and readiness to respond to spills of non-floating oil. Attendees of the public meeting included appointed TAC members and representatives from the California Energy Commission, United States Coast Guard (USCG), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), OSPR, and the response contractor community.