Washington Administrative Code

Every plan holder, including each person enrolled in a plan covering multiple persons, is required to implement the Washington approved plan in any response to a spill and drill. A decision to use a different plan must first be approved by the state and federal on-scene coordinat…

Plan holders are required to conduct post-spill review procedures to review both the effectiveness of the plan and make plan improvements. Debriefs with ecology and other participating agencies and organizations may be appropriate if unified command has been established during a …

(1) Plan holders shall format and maintain plans to maximize their usefulness during a spill. Information shall be readily accessible and plans will contain job aids, diagrams and checklists for maximum utility.(2) Plans shall be divided into a system of numbered, tabbed chapters…

(1) Each plan shall contain a written statement binding the contingency plan submitter to its use. The person(s) signing the agreement shall be authorized to make expenditures to implement the requirements in subsection (2) of this section. The binding agreement shall be signed b…

(1) Contingency plans must include all of the content and meet all the requirements in this section.(2) In Washington state, the NWACP serves as the statewide master oil and hazardous substance contingency plan required by RCW 90.56.060. Plan holders shall write plans that refer …

(1) Approved umbrella plans provide an efficient and cost-effective mechanism for enrolling vessel owner and operators in contingency plan coverage. Umbrella plans provide response resources to meet the requirements of this chapter. The umbrella plan may be approved for more than…

(1) Each plan shall contain a field document which lists time-critical information for the initial emergency phase of a spill and a substantial threat of a spill. The owner or operator of the covered vessel or facility shall make the field document available to personnel who part…

(1) Covered vessels that transit to or from a Washington port through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, except for transits extending no further west than Race Rocks Light, on Vancouver Island, Canada, must include the following information in their contingency plan:(a) Documentation o…

(1) Plan holders and responsible parties are required to document their initial spill actions and the plan shall include the forms that will be used for such documentation.(2) The plan shall describe what equipment will be used to conduct initial spill assessment, including equip…

(1) Each plan shall include procedures which will be taken to immediately notify appropriate parties that a spill has occurred. The plan shall identify the central reporting office or individuals responsible for implementing the notification process.(2) Each plan shall include a …

(1) The owner or operator of a covered vessel must notify the state through the Washington emergency management division of a discharge or substantial threat of a discharge. Notification must be made within one hour of the discharge or substantial threat of a discharge, or as soo…

(1) Facility plans shall contain procedures for notifications for spills to ground and to permeable secondary containment that threaten to impact waters of the state.(a) All spills are considered reportable spills except;(i) Spills which are known to be less than forty-two gallon…

(1) Plan holders and PRCs are required to maintain response equipment in a state of constant readiness, and in accordance with manufacturer specifications.(2) Plan holders and PRCs that own equipment shall develop schedules, methods, and procedures for equipment maintenance. Main…

(1) Each plan shall contain information on the personnel (including contract personnel as applicable) who will be available to manage an oil spill response. To meet the requirement, the plan shall include:(a) An organizational diagram depicting the chain of command for the spill …

(1) Ecology shall apply a planning standard when determining the ability of a plan holder to meet the purposes of these regulations. Each planning standard is subject to being verified at scheduled or unannounced drills. In an actual spill event, initial deployment shall be guide…

Each facility plan holder shall plan to obtain nondedicated work boats and operators that will be available to deploy GRPs, enhance skimming, and to provide logistical support or other uses during a spill. At a minimum, the plan shall describe a plan that will support the worst c…

(1) This section applies to owners and operators of covered vessels and covered vessel plan holders who are required to have a plan for the use of VOO. In order to enhance the ability to respond to spills using nondedicated resources, Washington state approved PRCs cannot be iden…

Each facility plan shall provide for aerial oil tracking resources capable of being on-scene within six hours of spill notification. At a minimum, these resources must be capable of supporting oil spill removal operations for three, ten-hour operational periods during the initial…

Covered vessels operating or transiting the lower Columbia River, Grays Harbor, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, or Washington coast, shall document the following aerial surveillance capability through the plan:(1) Access to a helicopter or fixed wing, under contract or other…

(1) Plan holders carrying, handling, storing, or transporting oils that may weather and sink when spilled to the environment must have a contract with a PRC that maintains the resources and/or capabilities necessary to respond to a spill of nonfloating oils. Examples of these typ…

(1) Plan holders carrying, handling, storing, or transporting Group 2, 3, or 4 persistent oil that is known to be dispersible and that may impact when spilled in any area where preapproval or case-by-case use of dispersants is available as per the NWACP, must plan for the use of …

(1) Based on the NWACP in situ burning policy, plan holders operating in areas where in situ burning may be considered as a response option shall plan for the use of in situ burning as appropriate to the oil types handled and operating environments covered under the plan.(2) The …

(1) Plan holders shall identify both on-water devices and shoreside interim storage locations.(a) For marine waters, shoreside storage can be identified to meet fifty percent of storage requirements in the tables in WAC 173-182-355 through 173-182-450, if the plan holders can dem…

Plan holders and PRCs that own equipment shall provide information for ecology to determine the effectiveness of the recovery systems and how the equipment meets the planning standards. To avoid duplication, plan holders relying upon a PRC to meet the necessary planning standards…

(1) Plan holders and PRCs that own recovery equipment shall request an EDRC using the following procedures and the criteria in Title 33 C.F.R. 155, Appendix B, Section 6, "Determining Effective Daily Recovery Capacity for Oil Recovery Devices."(2) When calculating the EDRC, the f…

(1) Each covered vessel plan holder that operates or transits in the Neah Bay, Cathlamet, or San Juan Islands planning standard areas must provide a technical manual that includes all of the equipment appropriate for the operating environment that is necessary to meet the recover…

The plan holder shall describe how the planning standards found in this chapter are met.(1) Each plan shall provide a spreadsheet on the resources intended to meet the planning standards as described in this chapter. This spreadsheet shall account for boom, recovery systems, stor…

Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursMinimum Storage2A safety assessment of the spill by trained crew and appropriate air monitoring, with 1,000 feet of boom could have arrived 4At least an additional 200 feet of boom and temporary stora…

Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursMinimum Storage in Barrels1A safety assessment of the spill by trained crew and appropriate air monitoring could have arrived 22,000 feet of boom available at the spill source or downstream of the sou…

Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursMinimum Storage in Barrels1A safety assessment of the spill by trained crew and appropriate air monitoring could have arrived 22,000 feet of boom available at the spill source or downstream of the sou…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate within San Juan County must meet this standard. The resources to meet the two and three hour standards must be resident.Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursMinimum S…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate north of State Highway 20, east of a line drawn from Shannon Point on Fidalgo Island to Kelly's Point on Guemes Island, south of a line drawn from Clark Point on Guemes Island and William Point on Samish Islan…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate within a five nautical mile radius of a point at Lat. 47°19'29"N Long. 122°27'23"W (WGS 1984) must meet the following standards.Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursM…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate within a five nautical mile radius of a point at Lat. 47°06'43"N Long. 122°41'53"W (WGS 1984) must meet the following standards.Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursM…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate within a five nautical mile radius of a point at Lat. 48°10'56"N Long. 123°06'38"W (WGS 1984) must meet the following standards.Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursM…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate within a five nautical mile radius of a point at Lat. 48°23'06"N Long. 124°35'59"W (WGS 1984) must meet the following standards. This area is very rugged, in order to accomplish deployment of resources logisti…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate within the jurisdictional waters of Washington state east of the Three Nautical Mile Line and north of latitude 47°06'00"N, and south of latitude 48°09'00"N (WGS 1984) must meet the following standards. This a…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate within Washington waters in a five nautical mile radius of a point at Lat. 46°54'52.25"N Long. 124°10'26.45"W (WGS 1984) outside the entrance to Grays Harbor must meet these standards.Time (hours)Boom/Assessme…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate within Washington waters in a five nautical mile radius of a point at Lat. 46°41'31.2"N Long. 124°5'41.99"W (WGS 1984) outside the entrance to Willapa Bay must meet these standards.Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentM…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate on the Columbia River between statute mile 36 and statute mile 42 must meet the following standards. The resources to meet the two and three hour planning standards must be resident.Time (hours)Boom/Assessment…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate on the Columbia River between statute mile 99 and statute mile 107 must meet the following standards.Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursMinimum Storage Volume2A saf…

Those covered vessel and facility plan holders that transit or operate on the Columbia River between statute mile 316 and statute mile 322 must meet the following standards.Time (hours)Boom/AssessmentMinimum Oil Recovery Rate% of WCS volume per 24 hoursMinimum Storage Volume2A sa…

These standards apply to covered vessels that enter Washington waters at the Columbia River, Grays Harbor or the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and offshore facilities.Plan holders shall be capable of sustaining a worst case spill response and shall develop an addendum specific to Washi…

(1) Plan holders shall have methods to track and contain spilled oil and enhance the recovery and removal operations that are described in the plan.(2) Each plan shall include a description of how environmental protection will be achieved, including:(a) Protection of sensitive sh…

(1) Plan holders shall create and maintain a geographic information planning tool that supports the plan holder in mapping and tracking spilled oil, decision making, and enhancing the recovery and removal operations that are described in the plan.(2) The tool must include the fol…

(1) Each contingency plan shall include procedures for identifying shoreline types that could be impacted by an oil spill and procedures to determine appropriate response tactics for the potentially impacted shorelines during spills. The plan should describe contracted access to …

(1) Each facility plan shall include a description of the methods to be used to immediately assess groundwater spills.(2) Facility plan holders shall include contact information in the plan for resources typically used to investigate, contain and remediate/recover spills to groun…

Plans will include a narrative description of applicable federal, state, and local requirements and the plan holder's resources for conducting air monitoring to protect oil spill responders and the public, including:(1) A description of how initial site safety assessment for resp…

Plan holders must plan to respond to and care for wildlife injured or endangered by oil spills. Wildlife response actions shall be conducted in accordance with applicable federal and state regulations and the Northwest Area Contingency Plan.(1) The plan must include contact infor…

Plan holders shall prepare a plan that demonstrates capability, to the maximum extent practicable, of promptly and properly removing oil and minimizing environmental damage from a variety of spill sizes, up to and including worst case spills. Ecology will evaluate plans based on …