Download Appendix F

F.1 Introduction

F.2 Description Of Phases

F.3 Resources For Developing Environmental Strategies

F.3.1 Federal / Regional
F.3.2  Local
F.3.3 Documents and References

F.4 Phase I - Development

F.4.1 Determination of Spill Risk
F.4.2 Definition and Identification of Sensitive Areas
F.4.3 Establishment of Priorities
F.4.4 Development of Protection Strategies
F.4.5 Development of Emergency Response Action Maps

Table F-1 SPILL RISKS WITHIN COMXXXX AOR

Table F-2 PROTECTION PRIORITY CRITERIA

Table F-3 Ranked ESI Codes for Various Types of Shorelines Sensitive to Oil

Table F-4 Gasoline Products: Summary of Relative Environmental Impact from Response Methods for Spills in Water Environments.

Table F-5 Gasoline Products: Summary of relative environmental impact from response methods for spills in shoreline habitats.

Table F-6 Diesel-Like Oils: Summary of Relative Environmental Impact from Response Methods for Spills in Water Environments

Table F-7 Diesel-Like Oils: Summary of Relative Environmental Impact from Response Methods for Spills in Shoreline Habitats.

F.5 Phase II - Validation Of Strategies

F.6 Phase III - Emergency Response Prioritization Of Strategies

F.6.1 Location of Spill and Slick Movement
F.6.2 Sensitive Areas Impacted
F.6.3 Reorganization of Priorities

Table F-8 ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE STRATEGY REFERENCES FOR COMXXXX NOSC

Appendix F: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES

Selecting appropriate oil spill response techniques during a spill is critical in order to minimize the environmental impacts and costs resulting from a spill. Response strategies should be developed that have minimal ecological impact and that reduce the overall impact of the oil spill on the environment. The development of these strategies is broken down into three phases:

• Phase I - preplanning;

• Phase II- validation; and

• Phase III- emergency response prioritization.

Phases I and II should be completed and constantly updated prior to a spill. Phase III should draw upon the work completed in Phases I and II to ensure that the best priorities are established and that decisions are based on sound data and analyses ahead of time. Overall, environmental response strategies should be considered prior to a spill so that minimal time is spent in response preparation during the spill. In the event of an emergency response, go to section F.6 to begin Phase III.

F.2 Description Of Phases [top]

The development of sound response strategies to protect shorelines and sensitive areas is a crucial step in spill response pre-planning. In the event of a major Navy spill, the NOSC must be aware of potentially sensitive areas and verify that methods for protecting them have been developed within his or her area of responsibility (AOR). The following steps form the first phase, plan preparation, and are necessary to develop environmental strategies for the COMXXXX NOSC plan:

Note: These actions should be completed in the Facility Response Plans (FRP) and Area Contingency Plans (ACP) for each facility under the NOSC’s jurisdiction. Efforts should not be duplicated in the development of COMXXXX NOSC plan.

Once these steps have been completed, the strategies must be validated through training, drills, and exercises. This second phase is essential since it identifies gaps in response resources for any Navy activities within COMXXXX AOR as well as areas where coordination with other federal agencies may be necessary.

The third phase consists of using these environmental strategies during an emergency response to a spill incident. In this stage, the environmentally sensitive areas are prioritized based on the potential for spill impact on these areas. Once these areas are prioritized, corresponding environmental strategies are developed by evaluating pre-planned strategies.

F.3 Resources For Developing Environmental Strategies [top]

A variety of resources within the oil spill response community are available to assist COMXXXX in developing environmental response strategies. Federal and state agencies have statutory and regulatory mandates to fulfill this requirement based on in-house expertise and experience. These agencies' responsibilities and capabilities are identified in the NCP.

F.3.1 Federal / Regional [top]

To ensure consistency among federal agencies, the NOSC must communicate with the appropriate elements of the National Response System structure. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires that Area Committees be established for joint oil and HS spill response efforts. Area Committee Plans (ACPs) and RRT plans should be consulted when developing strategies for COMXXXX. Most Area Committees have completed the first phases of resource identification, prioritization, and protection strategy identification, and have proceeded into subsequent phases of validation and review based on exercises and actual incidents. The NOSC must ensure that the sensitive areas and protection strategies identified in the ACPs are incorporated into this plan. Appendix A lists contacts for the COMXXXX RRT(s) and Area Committee representatives. Appendix D provides for specific information on data from the onclick="alertToPopup();" ACP for (appropriate USCG COTP(s) and/or EPA region(s)).

Another federal asset available to the NOSC is the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC), a member of the Regional Response Team (RRT). The Scientific Support Coordination Branch is part of the Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division (HAZMAT) of NOAA's Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment. Under the National Contingency Plan (NCP), the SSCs are responsible for coordinating the flow of scientific advice to the OSCs on spill response operations in coastal waters. Each regional SSC is available on a 24 hour basis to respond immediately to pollution incidents and to commit additional HAZMAT technical resources. The HAZMAT headquarters provide additional support to the OSC through a centralized computer information system (see Appendix A for federal POCs).

F.3.2 Local [top]

Spill response expertise can also be found locally in state wildlife officials and oil spill removal organizations (OSROs) which can provide input to the location of sensitive areas and environmental protection strategies. Contacts for these technical specialists are found in Appendix A.

F.3.3 Documents and References [top]

Most guidance on developing environmental strategies focuses on shoreline protection of oil spills. The following documents contain valuable information to develop these strategies:

F.4 Phase I - Development

F.4.1 Determination of Spill Risk [top]

When determining the spill risk within COMXXXX NOSC's area of responsibility, the significant and substantial Naval facilities are the primary focus. For COMXXXX AOR, several facilities have been classified as significant and substantial harm facilities based on calculations of their worst case discharge (see Table F-1).

Appendix I contains the worst case discharge scenarios for COMXXXX area of responsibility. The scenarios were developed for each COTP zone, which include (corresponding COTP(s)). These scenarios were developed for Navy facilities which had the highest spill potential in each COTP and which could cause the most damage to environmentally and economically sensitive areas.

F.4.2 Definition and Identification of Sensitive Areas [top]

Sensitive areas differ for each Naval facility since they are specific to the local region. In general, the level of sensitivity of a habitat is due to a combination of factors such as natural removal processes, biological productivity in the area, human use of the area, and level of the response effort. Areas in the water or on shore which are sensitive to oil may be impacted by the spill. The primary environments considered when determining sensitive areas are water environments and shoreline habitats. Water environments include: near shore, open ocean, large rivers; small lakes and ponds; small lakes; and streams. Shoreline habitats include: bedrock; manmade structures; sand; mixed sand and gravel; vegetated shorelines; exposed and sheltered tidal flats; swamps, marshes, and mangroves; and others identified in Guidance for Facility and Vessel Response Plans Fish and Wildlife and Sensitive Environments (Dept. of Commerce Notice, Federal Register, Tuesday, March 29, 1994).

Sensitive areas should be identified in the ACP(s) through the area committee planning process. This ensures that all area environmental specialists have been involved in the decision making process for employing all steps in establishing environmental strategies. Areas that are not identified in the ACP(s) or in the facility response plans (FRPs) are identified by the NOSC. The scope of the area being covered in the ACP may be too large to address in detail areas close to Navy facilities or on DoD property. It then becomes incumbent upon the Navy to fill in these gaps and establish appropriate strategies.

F.4.3 Establishment of Priorities [top]

Prioritization of sensitive areas has been developed at a national level. The National Response System (NRS) has been adopted as the standard and is reflected in mapping techniques used for oil spill response. Area prioritization done in addition to ACP priorities should be in accordance with this system to maintain consistency within the NRS.

Table F-2 lists the criteria on which the priority for protection decisions are based in the ACPs within COMXXXX AOR. Priorities are separated into three categories: high (C); higher (B); and highest (A). The sensitive areas to be protected during a spill incident may vary depending on the spill detection time, tide, current, weather, personnel available on-site to respond, etc. Constant surveillance and analysis must be made in order to maximize the protection of identified sensitive areas and to make intelligent response decisions.

F.4.4 Development of Protection Strategies [top]

The next step during the pre-planning phase is to develop protection strategies, taking into consideration the expected ranges of environmental conditions and equipment available in the region. Once protection strategies are developed, they will assist in determining gaps in the NOSC response resources. Protection tactics are closely examined to determine if the strategies developed are realistic.

Specific protection strategies for the worst case scenario in COMXXXX AOR are in Appendix I. The FRP for each facility should contain protection strategies within the facility's planning distance. In general, these protection strategies are based on a variety of oil spill response and cleanup methods (natural, chemical, bioremediation, or mechanical). Spill response techniques discussed in NOAA's publication, Options for Minimizing Environmental Impacts of Freshwater Spill Response , include protection, recovery, and cleanup methods in all these areas. However, since Navy fuels are light and volatile, some methods of response may not be possible due to fire hazards for the responders. Tables F-3 through F-7 are provided to indicate the possible impacts of various response methods on sensitive areas.

F.4.5 Development of Emergency Response Action Maps [top]

Once environmental strategies are developed, the end product should be a simple easy reference map with clarifying text that can be quickly understood by all responders. The map illustrates the high sensitivity areas and initial response protection strategies. The most modern techniques for oil spill mapping have been developed by NOAA with the assistance of RPI. These maps, known as Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps, use standardized terms, symbols, and formats. Because of this, they are used by most Area Committees for plan development.

NOAA has developed ESI maps for most of the U.S. coastline. The SSC for each COTP zone has all of the ESI maps for his/her given area of jurisdiction. ESI maps are the primary resource used by the SSC and FOSC at a spill site. These documents depict the distribution of valuable coastal habitats and resources, and characterize shorelines according to their vulnerability to an oil spill. Potential locations are also identified where booms or other mitigation actions might be deployed to best protect the coast in the event of a spill.

ESI atlases are in hard copy for most of the coastal U.S. including Alaska, Hawaii, and the trust territories. These maps are used by spill responders of all levels, and within HAZMAT as an integral planning tool for the SSC, which in turn can be referenced and used by the NOSC. The Navy and NOAA have agreed that the most effective use of ESI maps is in consultation with the SSC who has the experience and expertise to interpret the maps.