During the Macondo 252 incident in 2010, it became apparent that the lack of clear guidance to effectively manage the flood of response assistance offered and required from other nations and organizations. To help address these concerns, the U.S. Coast Guard hosted an international ad hoc workgroup after the 2011 International Oil Spill Conference to discuss challenges and issues associated with sharing equipment, technology and expertise among nations and organizations to support a national response authority faced with a significant oil spill exceeding the domestic response capacity. Ideas and recommendations were captured and the need for the development of a comprehensive set of guidelines for International Offers of Assistance (IOA) was formed. The U.S. Coast Guard recognized the importance of establishing these guidelines with a broad, global perspective and proposed the concept to the International Maritime Organization's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). In July 2011, MEPC approved the proposal submitted by the United States, and added this item to the work program of the Technical Working Group of the IMO Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances (OPRC-HNS TG). The OPRC-HNS TG began this work during its 13th session in March 2012, and continues to conduct the bulk of guideline development during intersessional periods via an International Correspondence Group, comprised of a range of national response authorities, spill contractors and industry representatives from around the world. These international guidelines will be available for use by nations as a tool to assist in managing a multitude of requests for and offers of assistance from other countries, regional coordinating bodies, or other entities. This paper summarizes work already completed and still in progress on the development of the IMO International Offers of Assistance Guidelines for oil spills. The ultimate goal for these Guidelines, once completed within the OPRC-HNS TG and approved by MEPC, will be adoption and utilization by IMO Member States, particularly those that are party to OPRC Convention and to the OPRC-HNS Protocol which require States to establish procedures for international cooperation during pollution incidents.
On 12 April 2013, the Makah Tribal Council Chairman and the District Commander of the 13th Coast Guard District (D13) signed into effect the “Memorandum of Agreement between the United States Coast Guard and the Makah Indian Tribe Regarding Interoperability and Coordination”. The purpose of this “Makah-USCG MOA” is to establish terms by which the two parties will coordinate and collaborate in the fulfillment of their mutual trust responsibility. The MOA's focus is to enhance consultation, improve leveraging of resources within each party's authorities, and improve collective all-hazards prevention and response posture in the Makah Treaty Area. Such an agreement between a federal agency and an Indian tribe is authorized by Executive Order 13175 - Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, signed in 2000 and is consistent with the 2011 Department of Homeland Security Tribal Consultation Policy. This groundbreaking document represents a 20 year relationship between key members of the Makah Tribe and the oil spill response members of CG D13 and Sector Puget Sound, and the trust developed over that period while working together to mutually support each party's oil spill prevention, preparedness and response readiness, as well as the desire to help and support each other by harmonizing efforts. With recent legislation such as the 2010 Coast Guard Authorization act, authorizing resources to engage tribes into training, exercises and other spill response preparedness activities particularly in the Northwest, it became clear there was a need to memorialize the strong supportive working relationship between the Makah and the CG, and provide some structure to our planning and development efforts. The MOA lays out a minimum of semi-annual meetings during which the two parties discuss overarching items of mutual interest and determine a work list of concrete, achievable goals to complete within the next 6 month period. An initial work list of common interest issues and responsibilities are outlined in the MOA, and fall into three general categories: Prevention; Preparedness and Response. The MOA also addresses the importance of Communication with the goal of enhancing mutual situational awareness via improved communication protocols between the Coast Guard and the Makah Tribe.
This paper will describe the online cataloging of oil spill equipment that has taken place on the West Coast of the United States. A collaborative effort, the cataloging project was developed as a Northwest ad hoc undertaking to meet the equipment-listing requirement of the Area Contingency Plan. The intent was to assemble Oil Spill Response Organizations (OSROs) equipment lists into an Excel® spreadsheet format. Project participants in Washington and Oregon began equipment listing and over time, the process expanded to new members in California and Canada. Individual owners of equipment keep the data up-to-date. All equipment-location moves and acquisition changes are posted to the Internet site, yielding a current resource inventory that can be easily accessed 2417. The computer allows this equipment to be displayed, sorted by type, location, and tracked by date/time. The Excel® spreadsheet data can easily be manipulated to accurately tabulate, among other things, how much boom is available or in use, how much oil can be recovered, and how much oil storage is available. Hard copy equipment lists, which soon became outdated, are a thing of the past. The spreadsheets are used on a weekly basis for drill and spill applications as a tool to assist the Incident Command System's (ICS) Operation, Planning and Logistic sections to assemble, track and order specialized response equipment. The states of Washington and Oregon are using the list as a “database of record.” This is a great tool for the ICS Situation Unit when filling out the Incident Status Summary (ICS Form 209). In addition, individual lines of equipment or equipment systems can easily be printed onto ICS T-cards from Excel® by using a mail-merge program. A uniform Excel®-formatted response-equipment list is flexible, simple to use and easy to access. Undoubtedly, it has contributed to improving response management in the Pacific Northwest.
Oil spill response equipment typing provides responders with necessary information to support selecting the best resource for the job. Simply stated, “kind and type” are the description and capability of an identified asset based on its capabilities, size, and use. “Kind and type” help guide Operations and Logistics personnel to a specific asset. Though the front-end argument for resource typing as an effective means of communicating capability for resource ordering has been a major focus, using “kind and type” also pays dividends on the back-end of the resource acquiring process when assets are summarized and tabulated to complete the Resource Summary or the ICS Form 209. Incident Commanders who do not insist on a strict “kind and type” routine may see misleading entries on their 209s. For example, mechanical recovery skimmers can be referred to as portable skimmers, OSRVs, skimming vessels, ocean skimmers and so on. Ultimately, on the ICS 209, the total number of all skimmers must be able to be categorized and counted so that the Effective Daily Recovery Capacity can be summarized. Correctly framing “kind and type” in the world of oil spill response equipment and personnel has been an elusive target. Several initiatives have paved the path to where we are today. Most recently, The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) release of Guidance for International Offers of Assistance in Response to Marine Oil Pollution Incidents, Appendix 12 Equipment Lexicon Glossary provides an internationally recognized equipment and personnel capability reference. Members of the response community in the Pacific Northwest have further refined the IMO Equipment Lexicon into regionally specific guidance, which is used to classify over 5,000 pieces of oil spill response equipment listed on the Western Response Resource List (WRRL). The WRRL is a web accessible response equipment database. The authors will describe the process of incorporating the IMO's Equipment Lexicon into the WRRL structure to create an enhanced list of “resources” and corresponding “kind and type” designations suitable for the equipment listed by resource owners. Additionally, the presenters will discuss how the enhanced WRRL can be used to; Locate and order response equipment during a drill or spill, Provide an overall picture of the region's response resources, Support the development and review of oil spill contingency plans, Assist in cost accounting, Track organization resources. For additional Information: www.wrrl.us/
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