It documents national response capability and is intended to promote overall coordination among the hierarchy of responders and contingency plans.
As required by the Clean Water Act of 1972, the NCP was revised the following year to include a framework for responding to hazardous substance spills and oil discharges.
Following the passage of Superfund legislation in 1980, the NCP was broadened to cover releases at hazardous waste sites requiring emergency removal actions.
[2] Once a response has been triggered, the USCG or USEPA "is authorized to initiate and, in the case of a discharge posing a substantial threat to public health or welfare of the United States is required to initiate and direct, appropriate response activities when the Administrator or Secretary determines that any oil or CWA hazardous substance is discharged or there is a substantial threat of such discharge from any vessel or offshore or onshore facility into or on the navigable waters of the United States, on the adjoining shorelines to the navigable waters, into or on the waters of the exclusive economic zone, or that may affect natural resources belonging to, appertaining to, or under exclusive management authority of the United States.
Section 300.135(a) authorizes the predesignated On-Scene Coordinator to direct all federal, state, and private response activities at the site of a discharge.
Section 300.320 establishes the general pattern of response to be executed by the On-Scene Coordinator (OSC), including determination of threat, classification of the size and type of the release, notification of the RRT and the NRC, and supervision of thorough removal actions.
Section 300.322 authorizes the OSC to determine whether a release poses a substantial threat to the public health or welfare of the United States based on several factors, including the size and character of the discharge and its proximity to human populations and sensitive environments.
The responsible party is liable for federal removal costs and damages as detailed in section 1002 of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA).
Authorization for the use of these products is conducted by Regional Response Teams and Area Committees or by the OSC, in consultation with EPA representatives.
Decisions of action will be based on threats to human or animal populations, contamination of drinking water supplies or sensitive ecosystems, high levels of hazardous substances in soils, weather conditions that may cause migration or release of hazardous substances, the threat of fire or explosion, or other significant factors affecting the health or welfare or the public or the environment.