Article 3.5. Oil Spills of California Government Code >> Division 1. >> Title 2. >> Chapter 7. >> Article 3.5.
In addition to any other authority conferred upon the
Governor by this chapter, the Governor shall establish a California
oil spill contingency plan pursuant to this article.
Any plan established pursuant to this article shall provide
for an integrated and effective state procedure to combat the
results of major oil spills within the state. Such plan shall provide
for specified state agencies to implement the plan.
State agencies granted authority to implement a plan
adopted under this article may use volunteer workers. The volunteers
shall be deemed employees of the state for the purpose of workers'
compensation under Article 2 (commencing with Section 3350) of
Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 4 of the Labor Code. Any payments for
workers' compensation under this section shall be made from the
account specified in Section 8574.4.
State agencies designated to implement the contingency plan
shall account for all state expenditures made under the plan with
respect to each oil spill. Expenditures accounted for under this
section from an oil spill in waters of the state shall be paid from
the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund created pursuant to Section
8670.46. All other expenditures accounted for under this section
shall be paid from the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement
Account in the State Water Quality Control Fund provided for in
Article 3 (commencing with Section 13440) of Chapter 6 of Division 7
of the Water Code. If the party responsible for the spill is
identified, that party shall be liable for the expenditures accounted
for under this section, in addition to any other liability that may
be provided for by law, in an action brought by the Attorney General.
The proceeds from any action for a spill in marine waters shall be
paid into the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund.
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.
(a) The administrator shall submit to the Governor and the
Legislature an amended California oil spill contingency plan
required, pursuant to Section 8574.7, by January 1, 1993. The
administrator shall thereafter submit revised plans every three
years, until the amended plan required pursuant to subdivision (b) is
submitted.
(b) The administrator shall submit to the Governor and the
Legislature an amended California oil spill contingency plan required
pursuant to Section 8574.7, on or before January 1, 2017, that
addresses marine and inland oil spills. The administrator shall
thereafter submit revised plans every three years.