The Coast Guard issued Marine Safety Information Bulletin 08-15 to announce the transfer of the Vessel Response Plan and Facility Response Plan programs from the Offices of Commercial Vessel Compliance and Port and Facility Compliance to the Office of Marine Environmental Response.
This transfer was effective as of July 1, 2015.
Little change regarding the review and approval protocol for both VRPs and FRPs. Benefits of this shift include:
• Improved VRP coordination amongst VRPs, FRPs, Area Contingency Plans, Regional, Contingency Plans and the National Contingency Plan
• Improved activation of VRPs for response to spills and significant threats of spills
• Improved response resource identification and accessibility
• Eased implementation of the new PREP Guidelines
• Eased implementation of the new Oil Spill Removal Organization Classification Guidelines
• Synergized development of a national policy for Alternative Planning Criteria
• Improved marine environmental response in the United States
View MSIB 08-15 for full details.
This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official source documents, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These documents remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.
