Oil Pollution Emergency Planning - Terminals and Ports

• International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (OPRC Convention) 1990

The OPRC Convention which entered into force 13th of May 1995 requires the UK to ensure that operator's have a formally approved Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (OPEP) in place for each offshore operation, or agreed grouping of facilities. All parties must prepare for and respond to an oil pollution incident. The convention applies to all facilities which present a risk of an oil pollution incident and includes, inter alia, all sea ports, oil terminals, pipelines and other oil handling facilities. All Oil Pollution Emergency Plans must be coordinated with the national system and approved in accordance with procedures established by the competent national authority.

• The Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation Convention) Regulations 1998

These regulations created under the provision of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, serve to implement in UK law the oil spill planning requirements of the OPRC Convention.

Regulation 3 of the above defines harbours and oil handling facilities are required to have oil spill emergency plans in place, and includes;

1. Any oil handling facility offering berths alongside, on buoys or at anchor, to ships over 400 Gross Registered Tonnes (GRT) or oil tankers over 150 GRT;
2. Any oil handling facility in respect of which the Secretary of State (SoS) has served the operator with a notice stating that he is of the opinion that maritime activities are undertaken at that harbour or facility which involve a significant risk of discharge of over 10 tonnes of oil; and
3. Any other oil handling facility in respect of which the SoS has served the operator a notice stating that he is of the opinion that it is located in an area of significant environmental sensitivity, or in an area where a discharge of oil could cause significant economic damage.

All facilities as defined above must complete an emergency Oil Pollution Emergency Plan in accordance with requirements of the regulations and secure formal approval of the plan from the national Competent Authority, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), conforming to the National Contingency Plan.

• Dangerous Vessel Act 1985

Requires harbour authorities to have a contingency plan to deal with the threat posed by dangerous vessels and should cover the treat of marine pollution from such vessels.

• Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987

These regulations dictate that harbour authorities have a duty to prepare emergency plans for dealing with substances which are dangerous, owing to their condition or to the condition of their packaging, or of the vessel on which they are being carried where this is such as to create a risk to Health and Safety.

• The Merchant Shipping (Reporting of Pollution Incidents) Regulations 1987 (POLREP)

Require that the master of a ship involved in an incident involving actual or probable discharge of oil, noxious substance carried in bulk or marine pollutant in packaged form, report the particulars of the incident without delay.

• The Merchant Shipping Act 1995

Serves to implement in UK legislation the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (OPRC Convention) 1990, by allowing the creation of the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response) Regulations 1998. Additionally the act makes it an offence to discharge oil or mixture containing oil into UK national waters from a ship or from a ship transferring oil to another ship or to the land; and allows Her Majesty to implement the provisions of the OPRC Convention and as a result of this the National Competent Authority (MCA) was appointed under the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Pollution) Regulations 1996.

• The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations 1996

These regulations consolidate the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations 1983 and subsequent amendments, and give effect to MARPOL 73/78 Annex 1. All UK tankers of 150 GRT and other ships of 400 GRT or above must carry a Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) as approved by the MCA. These regulations also set various conditions on where tankers can discharge oil or oily mixtures to sea.

• The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous or Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 2004

• Contingency Planning for Marine Pollution Preparedness and Response - Guidelines for Ports (MCA March 2002) (pdf)

No consent is required but operators must produce and maintain an Oil Pollution Emergency Plan as outlined below.

To be effective a plan must be clearly laid out and user friendly and it should contain certain essential elements;

• Details of the responsible authority and boundary of the plans operation;
• Command and control arrangements;
• Notification procedures;
• Communications plan;
• Evidence of adequate risk assessment;
• Details of local environmental sensitivities;
• Pre-agreed response strategies;
• Detailed actions for individuals during an incident;
• Health and Safety aspects;
• Response capability listing (personnel and equipment);
• Contacts directory;
• Interface with other plans e.g. plans maintained by local authorities, countryside agencies (NE, CCW, SNH, EHS) environmental agencies and estuary management plans;
• A disposal plan;
• Training and exercise programme ;
• A system for updating and revision.

The MCA is the National Competent Authority and undertakes approval of harbour authority and oil handling facility plans on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

Plans should be compiled in consultation with adjacent ports, local authorities, the Scottish Executive, Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). In England and Wales the equivalent bodies should be consulted (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE))

The MCA will not accept any plan for approval unless the following points have been addressed:

• The plan has been prepared following consultation with the statutory consultees;
• The plan has been agreed with the statutory consultees and a statement from each body is included within the plan;
• Where the plan covers more than one port, harbour and/or oil handling facility, each party to the plan is in agreement with its contents and will co-operate in exercising the plan and implementing it following an incident;
• A contract is in place with a British Oil Spill Control Association (BOSCA) Level 3(2) accredited Tier 2 contractor or a proposed in-house tier 2 capability has received MCA approval.

In the case where an Plan includes the suggested use of oil dispersants or other oil treatment products, these substances are subject to control and approval must be gained from either DEFRA or FRS.

New harbours, oil handling facilities shall submit a plan at least two months before coming into being. Every harbour authority and operator shall fully review its oil pollution plan no later than 5 years after submission of the plan. Where any major changes occur which affects or could affect the validity or effectiveness of the plan, the harbour authority or operator is required to submit a new plan, or amend the existing plan within 3 months of such changes becoming known. The MCA has powers under the Regulations to direct that plans be altered to meet the National Contingency Plan or requirements for responding to an oil pollution incident in the harbour authority or operator area of jurisdiction.

See Consent Application and Reporting Requirements.

Not Applicable.

An individual having charge of an oil handling facility who observes or is made aware of any oil handling facility involving a discharge of, or probable discharge of oil, shall without delay report the event. Depending on the size and type of the spill different reporting procedures will apply.

Under The Merchant Shipping (Reporting of Pollution Incidents) Regulations 1987 (POLREP) it is an offence for the master of a ship not to report an incident where a release of oil or noxious substances occurs or in probable. Failure to do so may result in being guilty of an offence punishable by summary conviction, by a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or on conviction on indictment by a fine. Where a ship is in UK waters, incidents must be reported to HM Coastguard, out with UK waters and incident must be reported to the nearest coastal state.

The exact information to be reported shall be detailed in the Oil Pollution Emergency Plan, but will usually include;

• Date and time pollution observed;
• Position and extent of pollution (estimated);
• Tide and wind (speed and direction);
• Weather characteristics and sea state;
• Characteristics of pollution (e.g. type of oil, liquid, solid, tarry lumps, weathered, etc.);
• Source and cause of pollution if known;
• Details of remedial action taken.

It is a statutory offence to:

• Fail to submit an emergency Oil Pollution Emergency Plan
• Fail to renew/revise plan when appropriate
• Fail to implement the plan in the event of an oil pollution incident
• Failure to prepare an Oil Pollution Emergency Plan that meets legal requirements

In a case of non-compliance with reporting the MCA are likely to prosecute. In cases of noncompliance with Oil Pollution Emergency Plan the MCA will require a legal content/format oil spill plan to be prepared.

A full review of the plan must be submitted no later than five years after submission. This is usually undertaken 1 year prior to the expiry date to allow time for statutory consultees approval.

Where a major change occurs which could affect the validity or effectiveness of the plan then a new plan must be submitted, or amendments made to the plan, within 3 months of the changes becoming known.