§ 300.910 Authorization for agent use.

Use of chemical or biological agents in response to oil discharges must be authorized by the OSC in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(a) Use of agents identified on the NCP Product Schedule or use of burning agents on oil discharges addressed by a preauthorization plan. Area Committees and RRTs shall address, as part of their planning activities, whether preauthorization of the use of chemical and biological agents listed on the NCP Product Schedule or the use of burning agents on certain oil discharges is appropriate. Area Committees and RRTs shall, as appropriate, include applicable approved preauthorization plans in ACPs and RCPs. When a preauthorization plan is approved in advance for the use of certain agents under specified discharge situations, then the OSC may authorize the use of agents listed on the NCP Product Schedule, or the use of burning agents, for the purpose for which they were specifically listed without obtaining the incident-specific concurrences and without the natural resource trustees consultations described in paragraph (b) of this section.

(1) Preauthorization plan development. For discharge situations identified where such agents may be used, the preauthorization plan must, at a minimum, specify limits for the quantities and the duration of use, and use parameters for water depth, distance to shoreline, and proximity to populated areas. In meeting the provisions of this paragraph, preauthorization plans should document how regional factors are addressed including likely sources and types of oil that might be discharged, various potential discharge scenarios, the existence and location of environmentally sensitive resources or restricted areas that might be impacted by discharged oil, and logistical factors including inventory, storage locations and manufacturing capability of available agents, availability of equipment needed for agent use, availability of adequately trained operators, and means to monitor agent use in the environment. Preauthorization plans are to be developed by the Area Committees or the RRT in consultation with the Area Committee(s).