Ohio River Umbrella Plan
“A Fork in the Road”
Art Smith, EPA OSC
Region 4 RRT Meeting
Covington, KY
Feb. 16, 2011
Background
• Region 4 RRT Initiative
• In 2004, EPA published final draft document
– “Ohio River Umbrella Planning Document”
• Policy document – NOT an ACP (per se)
• Never Finalized
• Put on back burner (Graniteville, Katrina, Major Oil and
HS Spills in KY, etc.)
• On Region 4 “Bucket List”
Contains Elements of an ACP
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Purpose and Scope
Authorities, Roles, and Responsibilities
Multi-Regional Response
Concept of Operations
Emergency Notification
Missing Essential ACP Elements
• Equipment List
• Fish & Wildlife & Sensitive Environments Plan
• Approval Procedures for Oil Spill
Countermeasures
Example - Descriptions of Who’s In
Charge and Where
Response
Authority
FOSC
State OSC
Agency in Charge
Conditions for Authority
EPA Region IV –Louisville, KY Outposted FOSC
Region IV will respond as FOSC to spills into or on the Ohio River. This includes
all releases or discharges from the Kentucky shoreline and those
occurring on the river itself (excluding those incidents that are under
USCG purview [see below]).
EPA Region V – Cleveland, OH FOSC
EPA Region V will respond as the pre-designated FOSC to spills that originated
from fixed facilities on the Ohio shoreline.
US Coast Guard – MSU Huntington
Only for discharges or releases that originate from a commercial vessel or from
the marine transportation-related portion of a facility within the AOR for
MSU Huntington.
Kentucky – Region IV
KY DEP is the State agency charged with investigating releases of oil and
hazardous substances from both fixed and mobile facilities.
Ohio – Region V
OH EPA’s spill response program is responsible for receiving reports of releases
to all environmental media, aid in chemical identification, containment,
cleanup, public safety, and the identification of responsible parties.
Choices to Make
(1) Complete development as a policy document
governing response at a macro-scale.
OR
(2) Use existing document to develop “Area Plan”
for Ohio River (and major tributaries).
Ohio River Policy Document
• Least resource-intensive option
• Document can be circulated among various
stakeholders (i.e., RRT member agencies) for
review and approval.
• Can be added as Annex to EPA Area Plans (i.e,
Regional Contingency Plans).
Ohio River Area Plan
• Provides overarching coverage of watershed from a
response planning perspective
• Currently, many gaps exist except where subarea
planning is underway.
– e.g., Pittsburgh, Huntington, Cincinnati
• Entire watershed is mapped one county in on both
sides with “essential features”
– Region 5 Inland Sensitivity Atlases
• Technology advances make it relatively easy to provide
users with digital maps
Ohio River Area Plan
• ORSANCO – has agreed to serve as “focal
point”/organizing body for Area Committee
• Upper Mississippi River Basin Association
(UMRBA)
– “Spills Coordination Group” and “Spill Plan” as
possible model for Ohio River application
– UMRBA estimates that initial iteration of the Spill
Plan required level of effort = a full-time position
for one year
RRT Discussion Points