OSRO Coverage & Contingency Plans

Maintaining a Fleet of Comprehensive Vessel Services

Over the past 25 years, NRC has established itself as the leading supplier of emergency spill response and regulatory compliance services to the international shipping industry. Our vessel clients, who include tank and non-tank ship owners and barge operators, count on the full spectrum of value-added services that comes with being an NRC customer. We hold the highest OSRO classification offered by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) as defined by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA‘90) and OSRO Guidelines.

NRC maintains and operates an impressive contingent of specialized oil spill response equipment and vessels positioned and prepared for deployment around the globe. Our areas of expertise include response, resource and communications management; logistics and response planning; and environmental training. NRC’s unique, and cost-conscious, approach to spill response is supported by an array of specialized-response resources, an in-house team of technical experts and highly trained field operatives; and a skilled, and resourceful Independent Contractor Network (ICN), comprised of response and spill cleanup firms strategically positioned throughout the 550 locations that we serve. Our independent contractors have been screened and selected based on their level of resources, capabilities, and experience. Response equipment such as shallow-water portable barges; boom, high-capacity skimming systems; inland work boats; vacuum-transfer units; and mobile-communication centers are placed at ICN locations creating a large arsenal of response resources strategically positioned to respond to incidents throughout the U.S. Also strategically positioned throughout our area of service is a fleet of offshore response vessels and temporary storage barges strategically positioned to respond to a marine spill of any size. We coordinate and initiate responses out of our International Operations Center (IOC), manned 24/7 by full time NRC employees. This exceptional portfolio of available resources allows NRC to mount a remarkably comprehensive response to any incident or circumstance. Once on-scene, NRC’s logistics and communications specialists ensure that the entire response effort progresses efficiently and cost effectively.

NRC Washington State Contingency Plan (NRC Plan)

NRC is approved by Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) as a Primary Response Contractor (PRC) meeting Washington State oil spill response contingency planning requirements. The NRC Plan provides tank and non-tank vessel clients with Washington State regulatory compliance and a contingency plan in the event of an oil spill or threat of an oil spill in state waters.

The area of coverage for the NRC Plan is within the navigable waters of the State of Washington with the exception of the Columbia River system. In the event of an oil spill or threat of oil spill, tank and non-tank vessels over a certain size are required by Washington State regulations to take immediate action to protect life and property, and notify proper authorities. This includes, taking response actions to prevent further environmental damage, protecting wildlife resources, cleaning up the spill, and restoring the environment.

The NRC Plan provides covered vessels with response planning, emergency communications, spill management, and drill and exercise services, as well as the highest quality of spill response capabilities required for complete compliance with Washington State contingency planning requirements.

California Shoreline Protection (CASP)

California requires vessels transiting through state waters to have an oil spill contingency plan that ensures that on-water response resources are in place to protect shoreline and sensitive site areas. NRC’s vast response equipment resources are strategically located throughout coastal California to ensure the additional response capabilities are in place to meet and exceed state requirements including California’s Shoreline Protection (CASP) requirement of having on water response and recovery equipment in place within 6 hours of a spill incident in California coastal waters.

The shoreline protection requirement is an additional requirement over the boom, skimming, and temporary storage regulations required under the general state response plan requirements and is in addition to what is required under the federal OPA 90 regulations.

NRC Argentina and Uruguay Oil Spill Response Services

Through a strategic response alliance in Argentina and Uruguay, NRC can arrange OSRO compliance coverage for Tank vessels calling to this region in compliance with Argentine Annex 18 and Uruguay Maritime Law 157. Both regulations require tank vessels to have an approved OSRO at least 24 hours before entering an Argentine or Uruguayan port, or to anchor in Uruguayan waters.