National Contingency Plan for Oil Spills
Overview:
USDA supports the US Coast Guard (USCG) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their response efforts for oil spills and hazardous substances releases through the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP, 40 CFR 300) – this plan is over 35 years old and works in conjunction with the National Response Framework through Emergency Support Function 10 – Oil and Hazardous Substances. Departmental Management’s Office of Procurement and Property Management is delegated the responsibility to represent USDA on the USCG/EPA National Response Team (NRT). The U.S. Forest Service represents all of USDA on the 13 USCG/EPA Regional Response Teams (RRT). These work in close coordination with the Departmental Management's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Coordination during a spill event.
National Contingency Plan (NCP) oil spill events differ from FEMA-led responses under the Stafford Act because of the nature of the disaster. Oil spills are covered under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) developed as a response to the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989. The responsible party, BP in a recent case, is responsible for the cleanup and reimbursement of those responding to the cleanup. Once liability thresholds have been met, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund may be tapped for response costs. Any company responsible for a spill is also responsible to pay for the cleanup and any use of federal assets up to their limit of liability ($75M), and they may have additional liability up to $1B depending on negligence etc. The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) covers the balance up to $1B which can be increased with Congressional approval. The OSLTF is funded by a tax on oil. This is the primary difference between a Stafford Act response and a National Contingency Plan response under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA). The National Response Framework structure may be used to coordinate response activities when the President declares the spill as a disaster or after the oil impacts land.
USDA should not be using appropriated funds to support response activities. All USDA response should be funded through a Pollution Removal Funding Authorization (PRFA) coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard prior to the start of work. Costs should be tracked per the requirements of the PRFA. PRFAs do include base-eight salary costs.