Sec. 509. Vessel response plans in the Arctic
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Title V of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 ( 33 U.S.C. 2731 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may not approve a vessel response plan under section 311(j)(5) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for a vessel operating in any area covered by the Captain of the Port Zone, as established by the Secretary, that includes the Arctic (as defined in section 112 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 ( 15 U.S.C. 4111 )), unless the Secretary verifies that— all equipment required to be available for response under the plan has been tested and proven capable of operating in the environment in which it is intended to be operated, as determined by the Secretary; and the oil spill removal organization identified in the vessel response plan under section 311(j)(5) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act— has records of training for equipment operators; and conducts a full equipment deployment exercise in the area covered by the vessel response plan at least once every 3 years, except that the Secretary may waive a required full equipment deployment exercise, upon request of the organization, if the organization implemented the vessel response plan (including the deployment of equipment and operators) during the preceding 3 years in response to a discharge or substantial threat of a discharge of oil. .
The table of contents in section 2 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5007 the following: Sec. 5008. North Pacific Marine Research Institute. Sec. 5009. Vessel response plans in the Arctic. . Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report on the oil spill prevention and response capabilities available for the area covered by the Captain of the Port Zone, as established by the Secretary, that includes the Arctic (as defined in section 112 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 ( 15 U.S.C. 4111 )).
The report shall include— a description of equipment and assets available for response under the vessel response plans approved for vessels operating in the area covered by such Captain of the Port Zone; a description of the locations of such equipment and assets, including an estimate of the time necessary to deploy such equipment and assets; a determination regarding how effectively such equipment and assets are distributed throughout such Captain of the Port Zone; a determination regarding whether the ability to deploy such equipment and assets is taken into account when measuring the equipment and assets available; a validation of the port assessment visit process and a verification of the response resource inventory; and a description of the resources needed by the Coast Guard to conduct port assessments, exercises, response plan review, and spill responses in such Captain of the Port Zone.
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