Vessel Oil and Hazardous Substance Spill Response Plans (VRPs)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. COAST GUARD

Vessel and Facility Response Plans (Domestic and Int’l), and Additional Response Requirements for Prince William Sound, Alaska

OMB No. 1625-0066 Exp: 01/31/2024

Who must comply?	Owners and operators of vessels and facilities.
What is this collection about?	The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) required the development of Vessel Response Plans (VRP) and Facility Response Plans (FRP) to minimize the impact of oil spills. OPA 90 also required additional response requirements for Prince William Sound (PWS). International Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plans (SOPEP) and Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plans (SMPEP) are required of other vessels to minimize impacts of oil spills. This information is needed to ensure that vessels and facilities are prepared to respond in event of a spill incident.
Where do I find the requirements for this information?	Title 33 CFR 151, 154 & 155, are available at—https://www.eCFR.gov, select TITLE 33 – NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS, and follow to appropriate part. For FRP, see 33 CFR 154 subparts F, H & I For VRP, see 33 CFR 155 subparts D, F, G & I For NTVRP, see 33 CFR 155 subpart J For PWS, see 33 CFR 154 subpart G and 155 subpart E For SOPEP/SMPEP, see 33 CFR 151.26-28 and NVIC 03-04
When must information be submitted to the Coast Guard?	A vessel or facility response plan must be submitted to the Coast Guard (CG) in accordance with the regulations for review and approval prior to operation. An approved response plan must be reviewed annually by the owner/operator to determine if updates are needed, and resubmitted to the CG every 5 years for approval.
How is the information submitted?	For FRP and PWS, information may be submitted by mail or electronically via e-mail to the Captain of the Port (COTP) at the local CG Sector Office. Contact info for CG Sector Offices can be found at— https://www.uscg.mil/Units/Organization/. For VRP, NTVRP and SOPEP/SMPEP, information may be submitted to CG Headquarters by mail, electronically via e-mail (vrp@uscg.mil) or VRP Express. VRP status queries are made via https://homeport.uscg.mil > Missions, VRP Status Board.
What happens when complete information is received?	The CG reviews the response plan, and if the plan is in compliance with the requirements, issues an approval letter to the owner or operator of a vessel/facility.
For additional information—	Additional information about Vessel Response Plans is available at— https://homeport.uscg.mil > Missions, Environmental, VRP Program. Questions about Facility Response Plans should be directed to your local CG Sector Office. A list of CG sectors, as part of a comprehensive list of CG units, can be found at https://www.uscg.mil/Units/Organization/.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.

The Coast Guard estimates that the average burden per response for this report varies per information collection—about 10 min. for the VRP Search tool; 1-5 hours for an alternative/waiver request; 2-10 hours for an annual plan review, 3-15 hours for a 5-yr resubmit, 20-100 hours for a new plan, and up to 1,200 hours for a SMFF Resource Provider voluntary submission. You may submit any comments concerning the accuracy of this burden estimate or any suggestions for reducing the burden to: Commandant (CG-MER), U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7516, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE, Washington, DC 20593-7516 or Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (1625-0066), Washington, DC 20503.