Section 18 AAC 75.485 - Discharge exercises(a) The department may conduct announced and unannounced discharge exercises appropriate to the plan holder's current status of operations to ensure that an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan or the initial response actions in a streamlined plan for a noncrude oil tank vessel or barge are adequate in content and execution.(b) At a minimum, a plan holder must conduct the following exercises as appropriate to the plan holder's current status of operations: (1) for an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan,(A) one operations-based discharge exercise for each five-year plan approval cycle in coordination with the department, based on the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program methodology described in the department's Oil Spill Response Exercise Manual, adopted by reference in (f) of this section, and(B) the department may require not more than one additional operations-based exercise in each 12-month period; and(2) for each noncrude oil tank vessel or barge with a streamlined plan, the plan holder must conduct one exercise on board the vessel in each 12-month period to ensure ongoing familiarity with onboard response equipment and response actions required under 18 AAC 75.429(a) and capability to conduct initial emergency response actions required under 18 AAC 75.426(5), as follows; (A) the exercise must be an operations-based initial emergency response actions drill as described in the department's Oil Spill Response Exercise Manual, adopted by reference in (f) of this section, and must include documentation of onboard personnel training and of readiness of onboard response equipment;(B) the plan holder shall sell-certify the exercise conduct, lessons learned, and any corrective actions taken as a result on a form supplied by the department;(C) the plan holder shall retain documentation of each exercise in retrievable form for five years and shall provide a copy to the department upon request; and(D) the department may conduct not more than one additional onboard operations-based initial emergency response actions exercise in each 12-month period,(c) Execution of an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan during an operations-based discharge exercise will be considered inadequate if the readiness for response and response performance described in the plan are significantly deficient due to inadequate mobilization or performance of personnel, equipment, other resources, or other factors, including the mobilization or performance of an oil spill primary response action contractor identified under 18 AAC 75.451(i).(d) Execution of onboard initial emergency response actions during an operations-based exercise for a streamlined plan will be considered inadequate if the plan holder is not able to conduct initial response actions in a timely and effective manner or if the plan holder fails to complete and retain the required self-certification form for each onboard exercise as required under (b)(2)(B) of this section.(e) If a plan holder cannot adequately execute the plan or streamlined plan during an exercise conducted under this section, the department may (1) notwithstanding the limitations in (b)(1)(B) or (2)(D) of this section, require additional exercises until the department is satisfied the plan or the streamlined plan and its execution are adequate; or(2) take other appropriate action in accordance with 18 AAC 75.490.(f) The department will consider a regularly scheduled training exercise or a Preparedness for Response Exercise Program exercise initiated by a plan holder to be a discharge exercise, as required under (b)(1) of this section, if the exercise is operations-based, if the department participates in the planning and evaluation of the exercise, and if the exercise follows the procedures described in the department's Oil Spill Response Exercise Manual, {effective date}, adopted by reference.(g) In this section, "Preparedness for Response Exercise Program" means the April 2016 document that provides a mechanism for exercise compliance with federal pollution response exercise requirements mandated under 33 U.S.C. 2701- 2762 (Oil Pollution Act of 1990).Eff. 5/14/92, Register 122; am 11/27/2002, Register 164; am 3/23/2017, Register 221, April 2017; am 11/7/2020, Register 236, January 2021; am 2/5/2023, Register 245, April 2023Authority:AS 46.03.020
AS 46.04.030
AS 46.04.055
AS 46.04.070