You may have recently heard that The O'Brien's Group, a plan writing consultant and spill management company, announced their intentions to submit spill plans to the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) for their non-tank vessel clients operating in the State of Washington, indicating that once a company’s plan was approved, it would no longer be necessary to belong to WSMC.  While this may be true, there is much to consider prior to choosing this approach.  The purpose of this update is to share the salient facts, as we know them today, in an effort to provide the best service possible to our membership. 

First, it’s important to acknowledge that The O’Brien’s Group is not alone in its efforts to seek clarity regarding Washington State's planning standards.  Prompted by the new federal non-tank vessel response plan requirements, other companies are also naturally expressing interest in, and asking questions about, how they might efficiently and effectively satisfy both State and Federal response standards.  This represents somewhat of a challenge given the number of recent and pending changes, including the fact that both DOE and the Coast Guard are in the process of writing/modifying their contingency plan rules and requirements.

Department of Ecology Meeting:  In an effort to be accurately informed, representatives of the WSMC Board recently met with Dale Jensen, DOE Spill Program Manager, and Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, DOE Preparedness Supervisor.  In this meeting, we learned that:

·         The O’Brien’s Group has indeed expressed its intentions to submit plans for its clients to DOE for review and approval.  If the first plan were to gain approval, then each vessel owner/operator using O’Brien’s format could, in turn, tailor a plan to include their unique operations, vessel(s) particulars, and primary response contractor(s), and submit their company plan to the State. 

·         No plans have yet been submitted by non-tank vessel owner/operators or by spill management teams for approval.

·         While DOE cannot comment on the approval process of new plans, they pointed out that all plan holders must have direct and guaranteed contracts with the primary response contractors that satisfy the state rules and standards.

·         If a company chooses to be a plan holder with the State of Washington, then an associated exercise and drill program will have to be implemented and the amount of exercise credit plan holders will receive from DOE will be commensurate with the scope of the exercise and level of plan holder participation.

·         DOE agrees that recent changes to WSMC’s vessel enrollment method significantly strengthen both our organization and WSMC's contingency plan.

What WSMC does for its Members:  WSMC was established to provide an efficient and economic means for covered vessels to meet the unique pollution contingency plan laws and rules of Washington State. WSMC, as a “not-for-profit” corporation, maintains characteristics that derive certain benefits and provide significant value to its membership.  As members appropriately consider the approach they wish to pursue to satisfy regulatory mandates and their spill preparedness and response responsibilities, we believe that the following factors should be considered:

·         Only "not-for-profit" corporations such as WSMC can, by law, file a “blanket plan” in Washington.  Accordingly, a "for profit" company such as The O’Brien’s Group could submit a plan on behalf of the owner/operator, but it would not be a blanket plan holder.  The advantages of a “not-for-profit” corporation (WSMC) and associated blanket plan include:

~         The WSMC industry membership has better opportunity over time to control its own costs of pollution contingency planning.

~         The WSMC blanket plan allows for short notice decisions for vessels to enter the state waters and for local business to compete for the short-time spot charters.  Absent the blanket plan, operators would be subject to the DOE's 65 day minimum advance plan review process for vessels entering the state.

~         WSMC provides a State-approved contingency plan, local spill response resources, local spill management team, and the required 3-year cycle exercise and deployment drill programs, all in one package and for all its members.

~         WSMC covers vessels going to Gray's Harbor.  Without WSMC, Gray’s Harbor will need to find another way to keep response equipment in place.

~         The WSMC reciprocal arrangement with Canadian responders for the Strait of Juan de Fuca saves our members the costs of registering for coverage while transiting Canadian waters.

·         The WSMC system provides an immediate response for member vessels involved in commerce in Washington waters, should a discharge of oil occur.  In the event of an oil spill or threatened spill, the response may include, but is not limited to, response vessel(s), boom equipment, skimmers, qualified incident commander, incident command system, command post, response personnel, and wildlife care centers.

·         WSMC Incident Commanders are on standby to immediately represent the responsible party in the event of a spill, are not affiliated with spill contractors or other cooperatives hired to mitigate the spill, and can take all reasonable and appropriate actions available and possible to minimize the spill impact from the outset in order to prevent further harm to the environment and save added costs associated with unnecessary spreading. 

·         The WSMC Incident Command System will be staffed with WSMC employees, contracted consultants, directors/ members, and primary response contractor employees.  WSMC has over 60 local and Washington based personnel that are designated for staffing its incident command staff.

·         WSMC has an intrinsic value to the maritime community in Puget Sound, providing timely response to all spills, resulting in saved clean-up costs and reduced environmental damage, plus potential cost avoidance by preventing additional regulations subsequent to an ineffective spill response.

·         The WSMC model of in-state on call response management meets, or exceeds, the expectation of DOE, and may prove to be in the best interest of covered vessel operators given the high expectation of Washington State in response to a spill incident.

In Conclusion:  It is important for WSMC members to understand that if the plan writers and spill management contractor(s) are successful in obtaining State-approved plans on behalf of their clients, there will necessarily be an impact on WSMC and how contingency planning is done in Washington State.  The WSMC Board is doing its best to monitor the ongoing issues and will continue to thoroughly consider the options available while keeping our member’s interests at the forefront.   All WSMC members are cautioned not to cancel membership in the cooperative until they have an approved vessel specific contingency plan in hand.