in conjunction with the National Response Team in light of both operating experience under the 1971 Plan and new requirements contained in Public Law 92-500.

The plan is effective for all United States navigable waters, their tributaries, and adjoining shorelines. This includes inland rivers, the Great Lakes, coastal territorial waters, the contiguous zone, and high seas where there exists a threat to U. S. waters, shore-face, or shelf-bottom.

Implementation of the objectives of the National Contingency Plan requires that a nationwide net of detailed regional contingency plans be developed. The U. S. Department of Transportation (Coast Guard) is responsible for regional plans for coastal waters and the Environmental Protection Agency 1 (EPA) is responsible for regional plans for inland waters. The regional plan covering the Santa Barbara Channel waters will be discussed in detail inasmuch as it is the plan likely to be involved should a spill result from Santa Barbara Channel operations.

d. Region Nine Multi-Agency Oil and Hazardous Materials
Pollution Contingency Plan

The Region Nine Contingency Plan, prepared by the Coast

Guard, is effective for coastal waters within the Standard Federal Administrative Region Nine, which is the area of California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samona and the U. S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The Region Nine Contingency Plan was issued by the Commander, Twelfth Coast Guard District, December 1970 and revised December 1971.

This plan provides for a pattern of coordinated and integrated response by departments and agencies of the Federal Government to protect the environment from damaging effects of spills. It also promotes the coordination and direction of Federal, State, and local response systems and encourages the development of local government and private capabilities to handle spills. The Region Nine Contingency Plan provides for and describes the functions of a Regional Response Team (RRT) and an on-Scene Coordinator (OSC).

1The Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency have an agreement as to geographic areas of responsibility relating to coastal waters and inland waters.

The roles of the RRT and the OSC as related to spills resulting

from oil and gas operations will be further discussed later in this section.

Region Nine is divided into sub-regions and zones for pollution planning purposes. Therefore the Region Nine Contingency Plan contains five appendices, one for each sub-region. The California Sub-region is divided into two zones, southern California (includes the Santa Barbara Channel) and northern California. The Appendix

for California (Appendix I) is divided into two sections. The five appendices, one for each State and Territory are listed below:

Appendix III - American Samoa (Sub-region Three)

Appendix IV - Territory of Guam (Sub-region Four) • Appendix V

The Trust Territories of the Pacific

Islands (Sub-region Five)

There are three Coast Guard districts within Region Nine: the Eleventh headquarters in Long Beach which is responsible for Appendix I, zone one; the Twelfth headquarters in San Francisco

1

Appendix I, Sub-region One, Zone One Section contains detailed, specific data that would be applicable to a Santa Barbara Channel spill.

which is responsible for Appendix I, zone two; and the Fourteenth

Coast Guard District, Honolulu, which is responsible for Appendices II, III, IV, and V.

For Sub-region One, zone one (the Southern California zone including the Santa Barbara Channel) the pre-designated On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) is the Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District. In order to more effectively coordinate cleanup activities and to expeditiously establish and maintain liaison with local communities, the Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District has delegated the responsibility of OSC as follows:

Captain of the Port, San Diego - for waters adjacent

The Eleventh Coast Guard District, with the help of State and Federal agencies such as the California Department of Fish and and the Bureau of Sports Fisheries & Wildlife, has compiled hundreds of pages of data for the southern California area, to aid the OSC in advising and making decisions during an oil-spill emergency. These data consist of such information as: coastline characteristics (shore and shoreline, accesses, outfall and inlets, beach usage, property owners controlling beach access, etc.), critical water uses,

marine biological factors, meterological and climatological factors, oceano

graphic factors (i.e., current patterns, water characteristics). A portion

of these data are physically incorporated into the Regional Contingency

Plan; the remainder are on file and readily available.

These data would be

used to predict the movement of an oil spill and to determine the order of priority for protection and clean-up of certain areas.

(1) Regional Response Team and On-Scene
Coordinator Functions

In the event of a spill originating from an oil and

gas operation, the spiller is responsible for combating the spill. The Coast Guard OSC is to determine pertinent facts about the particular spill and give advice and assistance. If it is determined by the OSC and the RRT that the spiller is not capable of, or is not willing to, adequately combat the spill, the OSC will take over control of the operation and become the On-Scene Commander rather than On-Scene Coordinator.

The Commanders of the Coast Guard Districts are responsible for chairing the regular RRT meetings and activating the RRT in the event of a spill situation meriting such action. The RRT consists of regional representatives of the primary and selected advising agencies, as appropriate. Twice in 1972, the RRT Chairman has arranged similated oil spills (one in the San Francisco Bay and one in the Santa Barbara Channel) to determine how the RRT and private concerns, such as oil companies and Clean Seas, Inc., would respond. These practices pointed out the need for more efficient communication and coordination between Federal agencies, State agencies, and private organizations such as Clean Seas, Inc. Appropriate private organizations are frequently invited.

to attend the regular RRT meetings. The Coast Guard and Navy are Government members of the RRT with capability to supply oil-spillcombating equipment, and will do so for spills originating from oil and gas operations if the situation justifies such action.

The RRT advises the OSC during time of emergency and performs review and advisory functions relative to the regional plan. Additionally the RRT helps to determine if and when the On-Scene Coordinator should take over a spill-combating operation. The OSC is to fully inform and coordinate closely with the RRT to ensure the maximum effectiveness of the Federal effort to protect the natural resources and the environment from pollution damage.

A memorandum of understanding between the

Departments of the Interior and Transportation outlines the respective
responsibilities of the Geological Survey and the Coast Guard as to
spills originating from oil and gas operations. It spells out that
the Geological Survey is responsible for the coordination and direc-
tion of measures to abate the source of pollution. The Coast Guard
is responsible for containment and removal operations.

In 1973 it was determined that the Geological Survey and Coast Guard
areas of responsibilities should be more specifically covered in
the Regional Contingency Plan. A section (designated as Tab J) has
added to Appendix I of the Region Nine Contingency Plan,

been

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