(a) General information and introduction. This section of the response plan must include -
(1) A list of tank barges covered by the plan, which must include the country of registry, call sign, IMO international numbers (if applicable), and official numbers of the listed tank barges;
(2) The name, address, and procedures for contacting the barge's owner or operator on a 24-hour basis;
(3) A list of the COTP zones in which the tank barges covered by the plan intend to handle, store, or transport oil;
(4) A table of contents or index of sufficient detail to permit personnel with responsibilities under the response plan to locate the specific sections of the plan; and
(5) A record of change(s) page used to record information on plan reviews, updates or revisions.
(b) Notification procedures. This section of the response plan must include the following notification information:
(1) A checklist with all notifications. The checklist must include notifications required by MARPOL 73/78, 33 CFR part 153, and any applicable State, including telephone or other contact numbers, in the order of priority and the information required for those notifications to be made by the -
(i) Towing vessel;
(ii) Vessel owner or operator; or
(iii) Qualified individual.
(2) Identification of the person(s) to be notified of a discharge or substantial threat of a discharge of oil. If the notifications vary due to the location of the barge, the persons to be notified also must be identified in a geographic-specific appendix. This section must separately identify -
(i) The individual(s) or organization(s) to be notified by the towing vessel; and
(ii) The individual(s) or organization(s) to be notified by shore-based personnel.
(3) The procedures for notifying the qualified individuals designated by the barge's owner or operator.
(4) Identification of the primary and, if available, secondary communications methods by which the notifications will be made, consistent with the requirements of paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
(5) The information that is to be provided in the initial and any follow-up notifications required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
(i) The initial notification information must include at least the following information:
(A) Towing vessel name (if applicable);
(B) Tank barge name, country of registry, and official number;
(C) Date and time of the incident;
(D) Location of the incident;
(E) Course, speed, and intended track of towing vessel (if applicable);
(F) Radio station(s) frequencies guarded by towing vessel (if applicable);
(G) Date and time of next report;
(H) Type and quantity of oil on board;
(I) Nature and details of defects, deficiencies, and damage (e.g., grounding, collision, hull failure, etc.);
(J) Details of pollution, including estimate of oil discharged or threat of discharge;
(K) Weather and sea conditions on scene;
(L) Barge size and type;
(M) Actions taken or planned by persons on scene;
(N) Current condition of the barge; and
(O) Details of injuries, if any.
(ii) After the transmission of the initial notification, as much as possible of the information essential for the protection of the marine environment as is appropriate to the incident must be reported to the appropriate on-scene coordinator in a follow-up report. This information must include -
(A) Additional detail on the type of cargo on board;
(B) Additional details on the condition of the barge and ability to transfer cargo, ballast, and fuel;
(C) Additional details on the quantity, extent and movement of the pollution and whether the discharge is continuing;
(D) Any changes in the on-scene weather or sea conditions; and
(E) Actions being taken with regard to the discharge and the movement of the vessel.
(6) Identification of the person(s) to be notified of a vessel casualty potentially affecting the seaworthiness of a vessel and the information to be provided by the towing vessel personnel or tankermen, as applicable, to shore-based personnel to facilitate the assessment of damage stability and stress.
(c) Shipboard spill mitigation procedures. This section of the response plan must include -
(1) Procedures to be followed by the tankerman, as defined in 46 CFR 35.35-1, to mitigate or prevent any discharge or a substantial threat of such a discharge of oil resulting from operational activities and casualties. These procedures must address personnel actions in the event of a -
(i) Transfer system leak;
(ii) Tank overflow; or
(iii) Suspected cargo tank or hull leak;
(2) Procedures in the order of priority for the towing vessel or barge owner or operator to mitigate or prevent any discharge or a substantial threat of such a discharge of oil in the event of the following casualties or emergencies:
(i) Grounding or stranding;
(ii) Collision;
(iii) Explosion or fire, or both;
(iv) Hull failure;
(v) Excessive list; and
(3) Procedures for tankermen or towing vessel crew to employ discharge removal equipment required by subpart B of this part;
(4) The procedures for the internal transfer of cargo in an emergency;
(5) The procedures for ship-to-ship transfers of cargo in an emergency:
(i) The procedures must identify the response resources necessary to carry out the transfers, including -
(A) Fendering equipment (ship-to-ship only);
(B) Transfer hoses and connection equipment;
(C) Portable pumps and ancillary equipment; and
(D) Lightering vessels (ship-to-ship only).
(ii) Reference can be made to separate oil transfer procedures or a lightering plan provided that safety considerations are summarized in the response plan.
(iii) The location of all equipment and fittings, if any, to perform such transfers must be identified;
(6) The procedures and arrangements for emergency towing, including the rigging and operation of any emergency towing equipment, including that required by subpart B of this part aboard the barge;
(7) The location and procedures for use of equipment stowed aboard either the barge or towing vessel to mitigate an oil discharge;
(8) The responsibilities of the towing vessel crew and facility or fleeting area personnel, if any, to initiate a response and supervise shore-based response resources;
(9) Damage stability, if applicable, and hull stress considerations when performing on board mitigation measures. This section must identify and describe -
(i) Activities in which the towing vessel crew or tankerman is trained and qualified to execute absent shore-based support or advice;
(ii) The individuals who shall be notified of a casualty potentially affecting the seaworthiness of the barge; and
(iii) The information that must be provided by the towing vessel to facilitate the assessment of damage stability and stress; and
(10)
(i) Location of barge plans necessary to perform salvage, stability, and hull stress assessments. A copy of these barge plans must be maintained ashore by either the barge owner or operator or the vessel's recognized classification society. The response plan must indicate the shore location and 24-hour access procedures of the following plans:
(A) General arrangement plan.
(B) Midship section plan.
(C) Lines plan or table of offsets, as available.
(D) Tank tables; and
(ii) Plans for offshore oil barges must identify the shore location and 24-hour access procedures for the computerized shore-based damage stability and residual structural strength calculation programs required by § 155.240.
(d) Shore-based response activities. This section of the response plan must include the following information:
(1) The qualified individual's responsibilities and authority, including immediate communication with the Federal on-scene coordinator and notification of the oil spill removal organization(s) identified in the plan.
(2) If applicable, procedures for transferring responsibility for direction of response activities from towing vessel personnel or tankermen to the shore-based spill management team.
(3) The procedures for coordinating the actions of the barge owner or operator of qualified individual with the action of the predesignated Federal on-scene coordinator responsible for overseeing or directing those actions.
(4) The organizational structure that will manage the barge owner or operator's response actions. This structure must include the following functional areas and must further include information for key components within each functional area:
(i) Command and control;
(ii) Public information;
(iii) Safety;
(iv) Liaison with government agencies;
(v) Spill response operations;
(vi) Planning;
(vii) Logistics support; and
(viii) Finance.
(5) The responsibilities of, duties of, and functional job descriptions for each oil spill management team position within the organizational structure identified in paragraph (d)(4) of this section.
(e) List of contacts. The name, location, and 24-hour contact information for the following key individuals and organizations must be included in this section or, if more appropriate, in a geographic-specific appendix and referenced in this section:
(1) Barge owner or operator.
(2) Qualified individual and alternate qualified individual for the tank barge's area of operation.
(3) Applicable insurance representatives or surveyors for the barge's area(s) of operation.
(4) Person(s) within the oil spill removal organization to notify for activation of that oil spill removal organization for the spill scenarios identified in paragraph (j)(5) of this section for the barges's area(s) of operation.
(5) Person(s) within the identified response organization to notify for activating that organization to provide:
(i) The required emergency lightering required by §§ 155.1050(j), 155.1052(g), 155.1230(g), and 155.2230(g), as applicable to the type of service of the barge(s); and
(ii) The required salvage and fire fighting required by §§ 155.1050(j), 155.1052(e), 155.1230(e), and 155.2230(e), as applicable to the type of service of the barge(s).
(6) Person(s) to notify for activation of the spill management team for the spill response scenarios identified in paragraph (j)(5) of this section for the vessel's area of operation.
(f) Training procedures. This section of the response plan must address the training procedures and programs of the barge owner or operator to meet the requirements in § 155.1055.
(g) Exercise procedures. This section of the response plan must address the exercise program carried out by the barge owner or operator to meet the requirements in § 155.1060.
(h) Plan review, update, revisions amendment, and appeal procedure. This section of the response plan must address -
(1) The procedures to be followed by the barge owner or operator to meet the requirements of § 155.1070; and
(2) The procedures to be followed for any post-discharge review of the plan to evaluate and validate its effectiveness.
(i) On board notification checklist and emergency procedures. This portion of the response plan must be maintained in the documentation container aboard the unmanned barge. The owner or operator of an unmanned tank barge subject to this section shall provide the personnel of the towing vessel, fleeting area, or facility that the barge may be moored at with the information required by this paragraph and the responsibilities that the plan indicates will be carried out by these personnel. The on board notification checklist and emergency procedures must include -
(1) The toll-free number of the National Response Center;
(2) The name and procedures for contacting a primary qualified individual and at least one alternate on a 24-hour basis;
(3) The name, address, and procedure for contacting the vessel's owner or operator on a 24-hour basis;
(4) The list of information to be provided in the notification by the reporting personnel;
(5) A statement of responsibilities of and actions to be taken by reporting personnel after an oil discharge or substantial threat of such discharge; and
(6) The information contained in paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(j) Geographic-specific appendices for each COTP zone in which a tank barge operates. A geographic-specific appendix must be included for each COTP zone identified. The appendices must include the following information or identify the location of such information within the plan:
(1) A list of the geographic areas (port areas, rivers and canals, Great Lakes, inland, nearshore, offshore, and open ocean areas) in which the barge intends to handle, store, or transport oil within the applicable COTP zone.
(2) The volume and group of oil on which the required level of response resources are calculated.
(3) Required Federal or State notifications applicable to the geographic areas in which the barge operates.
(4) Identification of the qualified individuals.
(5) Identification of the oil spill removal organization(s) that are identified and ensured available, through contract or other approved means and the spill management team to provide the response resources necessary to respond to the following spill scenarios:
(i) An average most probable discharge.
(ii) A maximum most probable discharge.
(iii) A worst case discharge to the maximum extent practicable.
(6) The organization(s) identified to meet the provisions of paragraph (j)(5) of this section must be capable of providing the equipment and supplies necessary to meet the provisions of §§ 155.1050, 155.1052, 155.1230, and 155.2230, as appropriate, and sources of trained personnel to continue operation of the equipment and staff the oil spill removal organization(s) and spill management team identified for the first seven days of the response.
(7) The appendix must list the response resources and related information required under §§ 155.1050, 155.1052, 155.1230, 155.2230, and Appendix B of this part, as appropriate.
(8) If the oil spill removal organization(s) providing the necessary response resources has been evaluated by the Coast Guard and their capability has been determined to equal or exceed the response capability needed by the vessel, the appendix may identify only the organization and their applicable classification and not the information required in paragraph (j)(7) of this section.
(9) The appendix must include a separate listing of the resource providers identified to provide the salvage, vessel firefighting, and lightering capabilities required in this subpart.
(10) The appendix must include a separate listing of the resource providers and specific resources necessary to provide, if appropriate, the dispersant capabilities required in this subpart. The dispersant resources to be listed within this section must include:
(i) Identification of a primary dispersant-staging site or sites to be used by each dispersant-application platform that is ensured available, through contract or other approved means, to meet the requirements of § 155.1050(k);
(ii) Identification of the type, resource provider, location, and dispersant payload for each dispersant-application platform identified and ensured available. Location data must identify the distance between the platform's home base and the identified primary dispersant staging sites for this section; and,
(iii) For each unit of dispersant stockpile required to support the effective daily application capacity (EDAC) of each dispersant-application platform necessary to sustain each intended response tier of operation, identification of the dispersant product resource provider, location, and volume. Location data must include the stockpile's distance to the primary staging sites where it will be loaded onto the corresponding platforms. If an oil spill removal organization has been evaluated by the Coast Guard and its capability has been determined to equal or exceed the response capability needed by the owner or operator, the appendix may identify only the oil spill removal organization, and not the information required in paragraphs (j)(10)(i) through (j)(10)(iii) of this section.
(11) The appendix must include a separate listing of the resource providers and specific resources necessary to provide oil-tracking capabilities required in this subpart. The oil tracking resources listed within this section must include:
(i) The identification of a resource provider; and,
(ii) The type and location of aerial surveillance aircraft that have been ensured available, through contract or other approved means, to meet the oil tracking requirements of § 155.1050(l) of this chapter.
(k) Appendices for barge-specific information. Because many of the tank barges covered by a response plan may be of the same design, this information does not need to be repeated provided the plan identifies the tank barges to which the same information would apply. The information must be part of the response plan unless specifically noted. This section must include for each barge covered by the plan the following information:
(1) List of the principal characteristics of the vessel.
(2) Capacities of all cargo, fuel, lube oil, and ballast tanks.
(3) The total volumes and cargo group(s) of oil cargo that would be involved in the -
(i) Maximum most probable discharge; and
(ii) Worst case discharge.
(4) Diagrams showing location of all tanks aboard the barge.
(5) General arrangement plan (can be maintained separately providing that the location is identified).
(6) Midships section plan (can be maintained separately providing that the location is identified).
(7) Cargo and fuel piping diagrams and pumping plan, as applicable (can be maintained separately providing that the location is identified).
(8) Damage stability data, if applicable.
(9) Location of cargo and fuel stowage plan for barge(s) (normally maintained separately).
(10) Location of information on the name, description, physical and chemical characteristics, health and safety hazards, and spill and firefighting procedures for the oil cargo aboard the barge. A material safety data sheet meeting the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1200, SOLAS 74 regulation VI/5-1, cargo information required by 33 CFR 154.310, or equivalent will meet this requirement. This information can be maintained separately.
[CGD 91-034, 61 FR 1081, Jan. 12, 1996, as amended by USCG-2001-8661, 74 FR 45027, Aug. 31, 2009; USCG-2010-0351, 75 FR 36285, June 25, 2010; USCG-2010-0194, 80 FR 5933, Feb. 4, 2015]