§ 118.11 - Facility response plan requirements.

§ 118.11 Facility response plan requirements.

(a) General requirements. A written plan that complies with other Federal contingency plan regulations or is consistent with the approach in the National Response Team's Integrated Contingency Plan Guidance (“One Plan”) and that includes the elements provided in this section shall satisfy the requirements. The owner or operator may augment an existing plan with these required elements. All facility response plans must include the following:

(1) Consistency With National Contingency Plan, Area Contingency Plans, and Regional Contingency Plans. Plans must be consistent with the requirements of the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan (40 CFR part 300) and applicable Area Contingency Plans prepared pursuant to section 311(j)(4) of the Clean Water Act and Regional Contingency Plans as per 40 CFR 300.210.

(i) The owner or operator shall review relevant portions of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan and applicable Area Contingency Plan annually and, if necessary, revise the facility response plan to ensure consistency with these plans;

(ii) Include a signed affirmation that the owner or operator has reviewed relevant plans during facility response plan development and resubmission and;

(iii) Include a list of area plans and sub-area plans reviewed.

(2) Qualified individual. Identify the qualified individual or documented management system having full authority to implement response actions and require immediate communications between that individual and the appropriate Federal official and the persons providing personnel and equipment, with a description of duties including:

(i) Activate internal alarms and hazard communication systems to notify all facility personnel;

(ii) Notify all response personnel, as needed;

(iii) Identify the character, exact source, amount, and extent of the discharge, as well as the other items needed for notification;

(iv) Notify and provide necessary information to the appropriate Federal, State, and local authorities with designated response roles, including the National Response Center, State Emergency Response Commission or Tribal Emergency Response Commission, and Local Emergency Planning Committee or Tribal Emergency Planning Committee;

(v) Notify and provide necessary information to public water systems that may be impacted by a discharge;

(vi) Assess the interaction of the discharged CWA hazardous substance with water, solutes in water, water treatment chemicals, and/or other substances stored at the facility and notify response personnel at the scene of that assessment;

(vii) Assess the possible hazards to human health and the environment due to the worst case discharge. This assessment must consider both the direct and indirect effects of the discharge (i.e., the effects of any toxic, irritating, or asphyxiating gases that may be generated, or the effects of any hazardous surface water runoffs from water or chemical agents used to control fire and heat-induced explosion) and initiate appropriate monitoring;

(viii) Implement prompt response actions to contain and respond, to the maximum extent practicable, the CWA hazardous substance discharged;

(ix) Coordinate rescue and response actions as previously arranged with response personnel;

(x) Use authority to immediately access company funding to initiate cleanup activities;

(xi) Direct cleanup activities until properly relieved of this responsibility; and

(xii) Acquire and maintain incident commander training requirements consistent with 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6)(v).

(3) Response resources. Identify, and ensure by contract or other approved means, the availability of private personnel and equipment necessary to respond to the maximum extent practicable to a worst case discharge of CWA hazardous substances (including a discharge resulting from fire or explosion), and to mitigate or prevent a substantial threat of such a discharge;

(4) Training, testing, and drills. Describe the training, equipment testing, periodic unannounced drills, and response actions of persons at the facility to be carried out under the plan to ensure facility safety and to mitigate or prevent the discharge, or the substantial threat of a discharge; and,

(5) Plan updates. Review and update facility response plan periodically and resubmit to the Regional Administrator for approval of each significant change as required by 118.4(a)(6) and (b)(1).

(b) Emergency response information. The facility response plan shall include:

(1) Facility information. Facility details including the facility name; latitude and longitude; street address, with city, State, and zip code; telephone number; facility location information described in a manner that would aid a reviewer and a responder in locating the facility, EPA identification numbers, and indication if the facility is located in or drains into a wellhead protection area as defined by the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1986;

(2) Owner or operator information. Contact information to include name and preferred contact method;

(3) Hazard evaluation. Hazard evaluation for worst case discharge into or on the navigable waters or a conveyance to navigable waters and risk-based decision support system shall include:

(i) Chemical-specific information, including the response considerations, health hazards, fire hazards, chemical reactivity, hazard classifications, and physical and chemical properties; potential effects of a CWA hazardous substance worst case discharge as per 118.10; impacts to communities with environmental justice concerns; and impacts of climate change, including but not limited to the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, temperature fluctuations, rising seas, storm surges, inland and coastal flooding, drought, wildfires, and permafrost melt in northern areas. Illustrative diagrams of the hazard evaluation should be included.

(ii) This section of the plan must outline processes that will help responders make decisions relating to the identification, evaluation, and control of risks to human health and the environment following a CWA hazardous substance discharge. The processes outlined below do not need to be scenario-specific but can be generic in nature. At a minimum, the processes must include all the following:

(A) Risk identification —describe the process that will be used to determine the extent and route of CWA hazardous substance exposure to humans and the environment including location and age of containers and their contents;

(B) Risk characterization —describe the process that will be used to establish relative degrees of risk and prioritizing risks;

(C) Risk control —describe the process that will be used to determine feasible response methods to mitigate CWA hazardous substance discharge impacts on human health and the environment; and

(D) Risk communication —describe the process that will be used to communicate information resulting from paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of this section to parties internal and external to response activities.

(4) Reportable discharge history. Discharges reported under 40 CFR part 117.21 that reached navigable waters with additional data including date, time, and discharge duration; CWA hazardous substance(s) discharged; estimated quantity discharged in pounds; quantity discharged that reached navigable waters in pounds; the type of discharge event and its source; weather conditions; on-site impacts; offsite impacts; initiating event; description of how the discharge was detected; clean-up actions taken, steps taken to reduce the possibility of recurrence; and contributing factors with all data to be retained for the life of the facility;

(5) Response personnel and equipment. The identity and a description of response personnel, equipment, and response action implementation necessary to respond to the maximum extent practicable to a worst case discharge of a CWA hazardous substance described in § 118.10, and to mitigate or prevent a substantial threat of a worst case discharge;

(6) Contracts. Evidence of contracts or other approved means as per the definition in § 118.2 to ensure the availability of proper response personnel and equipment, including response resources with firefighting capability and the availability of resources if facility or mutual aid resources are not capable of handling a worst case discharge incident resulting from a fire or explosion. The owner or operator of a facility that does not have adequate firefighting resources located at the facility or that cannot rely on sufficient local firefighting resources through mutual aid agreements must identify adequate firefighting resources, including contracted resources. The response plan must also identify an individual located at the facility to work with the fire department in a response. This individual shall also verify that sufficient well-trained firefighting resources are available within a reasonable response time to a worst case scenario. The individual may be the qualified individual identified in the response plan or another appropriate individual located at the facility;

(7) Notifications. A list of the identities, contact information, and preferred communication method(s) of individuals or organizations to be notified in the event of a discharge so that immediate communications and liaising between the qualified individual identified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section and the appropriate Federal officials; State, local, or Tribal response organizations; and persons providing response personnel and equipment can be ensured, and a description of communication methods. Notification shall include but not be limited to the: National Response Center, qualified individual, facility response team, local response team (fire department or cooperatives), fire marshal, State Emergency Response Commission or Tribal Emergency Response Commission, State police, Local Emergency Planning Committee or Tribal Emergency Planning Committee, downstream public water systems, local media for evacuation notification, local hospitals, and any other potential receptor or interested party who could be impacted by a discharge;

(8) Discharge information. A description of information to pass to response personnel in the event of a reportable discharge, including specifics about the event, CWA hazardous substance name and quantity discharged, possible areas and receptors affected, potential routes of transport, distance(s) to nearby waterways and conveyances, any data on the characteristics of the CWA hazardous substance and other hazardous substances in proximity, ignition sources, explosion potential, and any other information that may be helpful to responders and the public, including updates on the scope and nature of the discharge as available;

(9) Personnel roles and responsibilities. A description of response personnel capabilities, including the duties of persons at the facility during a response action and their response times, training, and qualifications or a description of documented management system that can perform the stated functions, as appropriate;

(10) Response equipment information. A description of the facility's response equipment, including roles in response actions, location of the equipment, last inspection or response equipment test date, inspection frequency, last deployment drill date, deployment frequency, response times, and equipment testing;

(11) Evacuation plans. Facility-wide plans for evacuation including a diagram. Include identification and documentation of coordination with community evaluation plans, as appropriate, and consider locations of CWA hazardous substances and their risks when discharged; anticipated flow direction; water conditions; emergency response personnel and equipment arrival routes; limitations on evacuation routes; transportation of injured personnel to nearest emergency medical facility; location of alarm/notification systems; check-in areas for evacuation validation; command center location; and location of shelter at the facility as an alternative to evacuation;

(12) Discharge detection systems. Procedures and equipment used to detect discharges, as well as detect and monitor any hazardous air releases resulting from discharges into or on the navigable water or a conveyance to navigable waters as appropriate, including personnel (i.e., routine walk-around visual inspection) or automatic discharge detection for regular and afterhours operations by CWA hazardous substance, reliability checks, and inspection frequency;

(13) Response actions. This section should describe the response actions to be carried out by facility personnel or contracted personnel under the facility response plan to ensure the safety of the facility and to mitigate or prevent worst case discharges described in § 118.10 or the substantial threat of such discharges, including immediate response actions for personnel safety, personal protective equipment use, facility personnel responsibilities by job title, facility personnel actions, facility personnel information gathering assignments for response personnel, and facility responsibilities to mitigate a CWA hazardous substance worst case discharge. Identify the types of environmental monitoring data to be collected, collection methods, techniques for measuring the environmental parameters of interest (including established analytical methods when applicable), a description of the data's utility during a response (including procedures for sharing data with response personnel and the public), and required personal protection requirements and safety procedures during data collection and analysis. Include a description of actions to be taken within:

(i) One hour of discharge detection: Complete notifications; mobilize facility response personnel for immediate response actions; identify the scale of the incident and coordinate with SRO on appropriate response actions; complete cross-check of worst case discharge scenarios and resulting potential effects to begin tactical planning based on the scale of the incident; ensure containment and neutralization systems are operational; coordinate evacuation of facility, if necessary; coordinate with drinking water authorities; mobilize response equipment, as appropriate; and coordinate with local police and fire officials. Initiate community evacuation plan, if necessary, and evaluate if downstream (or upstream, if tidally influenced waterbody) public receptors that could be impacted and may require evacuation.

(ii) Two hours of discharge detection: As appropriate, deploy response resources identified in the response plan, including containment and recovery devices (such as containment dams, culvert plugs, underflow dams, containment booms, skimmer equipment or acid/base neutralization resources); and initiate any water, soil, and air monitoring as outlined in the response plan.

(14) Disposal plans. Plans to dispose of contaminated cleanup materials, if appropriate to the material, including how and where the facility intends to recover, reuse, decontaminate, treat, and dispose of materials after a discharge has taken place and plans for temporary storage of recovered materials as well as the appropriate permits required to manage recovered materials according to local, State, and Federal requirements. The disposal plan must account for recovered product; contaminated soil and water; contaminated equipment and materials including drums, tank parts, valves, and shovels; personal protective equipment; decontamination solutions; adsorbents; and spent chemicals including firefighting runoff management;

(15) Containment measures. Measures to provide adequate containment and drainage of discharged CWA hazardous substances including containment volumes, draining routes from storage and transfer areas, materials used to construct drainage troughs, number and types of valves and separators used in the drainage system, sump pump capacities, containment capacity of weirs and booms and their locations, and other cleanup materials;

(16) Training procedures. Training procedures as per § 118.13;

(17) Exercise procedure. Exercise procedures as per § 118.13 and the schedule set under § 118.12(c); and

(18) Self-inspection. Written procedures and records of inspections including an inspection checklist and method to record the inspection date and findings, to be retained for five years.

(c) Emergency response action plan. The response plan shall include an emergency response action plan that is maintained in the front of the response plan, or as a separate document accompanying the response plan, addresses the first two hours of the incident response followed by an outline of continued operations appropriate for Incident Command, and that includes the following information:

(i) The identity and telephone number of a qualified individual having full authority, including contracting authority, to implement removal actions;

(ii) The identity of individuals or organizations to be contacted in the event of a discharge so that immediate communications between the qualified individual identified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section and the appropriate Federal officials and the persons providing response personnel and equipment can be ensured;

(iii) A description of information to provide to response personnel in the event of a worst case discharge;

(iv) A description of the facility's response equipment and its location;

(v) A description of response personnel capabilities, including the duties of persons at the facility during a response action and their response times and qualifications;

(vi) Plans for evacuation of the facility and a reference to community evacuation plans, as appropriate;

(vii) A description of immediate measures to secure the source of the discharge, including the response actions to be taken in the first two hours of an incident as per paragraph (b)(13) of this section, and to provide adequate containment and drainage of discharged CWA hazardous substances;

(viii) A description of the potential discharge pathways of the CWA hazardous substances to public water systems, public receptors, and fish, wildlife, and sensitive environments, and estimated time of travel; and

(ix) A diagram of the facility including evacuation routes.