The Governor shall require the administrator, not in conflict with the National Contingency Plan, to amend the California oil spill contingency plan to provide for the best achievable protection of waters of the state. “Administrator” for purposes of this section means the administrator appointed by the Governor pursuant to Section 8670.4. The plan shall consist of all of the following elements:
(a) A state response element that specifies the hierarchy for state and local agency response to an oil spill. The element shall define the necessary tasks for oversight and control of cleanup and removal activities associated with an oil spill and shall specify each agency’s particular responsibility in carrying out these tasks. The element shall also include an organizational chart of the state oil spill response organization and a definition of the resources, capabilities, and response assignments of each agency involved in cleanup and removal actions in an oil spill.
(b) A regional and local planning element that shall provide the framework for the involvement of regional and local agencies in the state effort to respond to an oil spill, and shall ensure the effective and efficient use of regional and local resources, as appropriate, in all of the following:
(1) Traffic and crowd control.
(2) Firefighting.
(3) Boating traffic control.
(4) Radio and communications control and provision of access to equipment.
(5) Identification and use of available local and regional equipment or other resources suitable for use in cleanup and removal actions.
(6) Identification of private and volunteer resources or personnel with special or unique capabilities relating to oil spill cleanup and removal actions.
(7) Provision of medical emergency services.
(8) Consideration of the identification and use of private working craft and mariners, including commercial fishing vessels and licensed commercial fishing men and women, in containment, cleanup, and removal actions.
(c) A coastal protection element that establishes the state standards for coastline protection. The administrator, in consultation with the Coast Guard and Navy and the shipping industry, shall develop criteria for coastline protection. If appropriate, the administrator shall consult with representatives from the States of Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, the Province of British Columbia in Canada, and the Republic of Mexico. The criteria shall designate at least all of the following:
(1) Appropriate shipping lanes and navigational aids for tankers, barges, and other commercial vessels to reduce the likelihood of collisions between tankers, barges, and other commercial vessels. Designated shipping lanes shall be located off the coastline at a distance sufficient to significantly reduce the likelihood that disabled vessels will run aground along the coast of the state.
(2) Ship position reporting and communications requirements.
(3) Required predeployment of protective equipment for sensitive environmental areas along the coastline.
(4) Required emergency response vessels that are capable of preventing disabled tankers from running aground.
(5) Required emergency response vessels that are capable of commencing oil cleanup operations before spilled oil can reach the shoreline.
(6) An expedited decisionmaking process for dispersant use in coastal waters. Prior to adoption of the process, the administrator shall ensure that a comprehensive testing program is carried out for any dispersant proposed for use in California marine waters. The testing program shall evaluate toxicity and effectiveness of the dispersants.
(7) Required rehabilitation facilities for wildlife injured by spilled oil.
(8) An assessment of how activities that usually require a permit from a state or local agency may be expedited or issued by the administrator in the event of an oil spill.
(d) An environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas element that shall provide the framework for prioritizing and ensuring the protection of environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas. The environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas element shall be developed by the administrator, in conjunction with appropriate local agencies, and shall include all of the following:
(1) Identification and prioritization of environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in state waters and along the coast. Identification and prioritization of environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas shall not prevent or excuse the use of all reasonably available containment and cleanup resources from being used to protect every environmentally and ecologically sensitive area possible. Environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas shall be prioritized through the evaluation of criteria, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Risk of contamination by oil after a spill.
(B) Environmental, ecological, recreational, and economic importance.
(C) Risk of public exposure should the area be contaminated.
(2) Regional maps depicting environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in state waters or along the coast that shall be distributed to facilities and local and state agencies. The maps shall designate those areas that have particularly high priority for protection against oil spills.
(3) A plan for protection actions required to be taken in the event of an oil spill for each of the environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas and protection priorities for the first 24 to 48 hours after an oil spill shall be specified.
(4) The location of available response equipment and the availability of trained personnel to deploy the equipment to protect the priority environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas.
(5) A program for systemically testing and revising, if necessary, protection strategies for each of the priority environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas.
(6) Any recommendations for action that cannot be financed or implemented pursuant to existing authority of the administrator, which shall also be reported to the Legislature along with recommendations for financing those actions.
(e) A reporting element that requires the reporting of spills of any amount of oil in or on state waters.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 35, Sec. 3. (SB 861) Effective June 20, 2014.)