Academic literature on the topic 'United States. Coast Guard. Office of Diversity Management'

ABSTRACT The Agreement of Cooperation Between the United States of American and the United Mexican States Regarding Pollution of the Marine Environment by Discharges of Hydrocarbons and Other Hazardous Substances signed in February 2000 by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Secretaria de Marina-Armada de Mexico, established the beginning of a successful bilateral cooperation between both countries for the preparation and response to pollution incidents that could affect the coastal waters of both countries. The agreement calls for joint pollution response exercises to be conducted to exercise the bilateral coordination and joint response system. In May 2004, the Shell Exploration and Production Company acted as the Responsible Party in such a joint exercise, denominated MEXUS GULF 2004. The exercise was conducted in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico May 25–27, 2004. Building on a previously conducted exercise in 2002, the objectives of the 2004 exercise were to exercise and identify joint response procedures following a significant impact to the shared shorelines. Specifically, the four identified objectives included:Identify Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) Procedures in Mexico.Address transboundary movement Procedures of collected waste and contaminated equipment with emphasis on movement from Mexico to the U.S.Identify joint procedures for clean-up and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife.Exercise Joint Command and Control Procedures including transboundary and field communications Shell Exploration and Production Company (SEPCo), working jointly with the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Mexican Secretaria de Marina—Armada de Mexico and with outstanding support from the National Ocaanographic and Atmospheric Administration, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Minerals Management Service and the Texas General Land Office designed and executed an outstanding exercise well lessons learned were captured and shared. This paper will cover the planning, logistical considerations, execution and lessons learned from the joint exercise as well as the successful use of the Incident Command System as an incident response management tool for bilateral cooperation.

ABSTRACT In May 2002, an oil spill exercise was led by Unocal Corporation - a major US based independent energy company, the U. S. Coast Guard, The Mexican Navy and members of several U.S. and Mexican government agencies. The objective of the exercise was to test the recently signed joint contingency plan between Mexico and the United States regarding pollution of the environment by discharges of hydrocarbons or other hazardous materials (MEXUS) and one of the associated geographic annexes; the MEXUS-Gulf. Participants and exercise design team members included representatives from U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Minerals Management Service, the Texas General Land Office, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Unocal Corporation, ERST/O'Brien's Inc., 1st Naval Zone of Mexico, Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (PROFEPA) and Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). This paper will describe the many lessons learned as the exercise was planned, conducted and evaluated. The exercise resulted in an exemplary show of cooperation between industry, U.S. and Mexican government officials in the desire to learn and understand the issues associated with hydrocarbon spills that cross or have the potential to cross the U.S./Mexico borders. Communications, language barriers, acceptable practices and standards for oil spill cleanup were all challenges faced by the teams in this unique exercise. Gaining a better understanding of these challenges and many other issues was invaluable and it was the consensus of all involved that this type of cooperative effort is the key to a successful cross-border response. Joint planning and training should continue in order to assure an effective implementation of the MEXUS plan should a real event ever occur.

ABSTRACT: #2017-026 The objective of this paper is to highlight Arctic planning and response collaboration initiative between the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) and United States Coast Guard (USCG) Office of Marine Environmental Response (MER) Policy on numerous spill preparedness and response topics. The paper focuses on engagement efforts between NCA and USCG MER on IOSC’s 2017 overarching themes of Prevent, Prepare, Respond, and Restore. The NCA and USCG MER signed a Letter of Intent to Cooperate in 2014 on spill preparedness and response topics. These collaboration efforts include sharing of exercise lessons learned during joint workshops, training opportunities, and response equipment testing. As a result of these collaboration efforts, USCG MER representatives attended the 2015 Norwegian Clean Seas Association (NOFO)/NCA annual test of new spill technologies and procedures. The exercise was hosted by NOFO/NCA and was held offshore in the North Sea approximately 140 miles northwest of Stavanger, Norway. The exercise was held June 9–11, 2015, at the abandoned Frigg Oilfield and included verification of the Marine Oil Spill (MOS) Sweeper I, Desmi Forlense, MOS Sweeper II, NorLense Oiltrawl, Current Buster 6, and NASA remote sensing equipment. Another result of this collaboration is that NCA will evaluate its present Incident Command System (ELS). As part of this evaluation, NCA sent two senior staff members to Yorktown in September 2015 to participate in two USCG courses: 1) OSC Crises Management, and 2) ICS-410 Advanced Incident Command.

California has approximately >10,000 vessels calling its ports each year, and 200–300 facilities state wide, many of which are required to have a California Oil Spill Contingency Plan (Contingency Plan) on file with Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). Spill Management Teams (SMT), either staffed by Contingency Plan holders' employees or contracted out, and the use of the Incident Command System (ICS) structure must be described in these plans. OSPR introduced an unannounced SMT drill program (Program) in 2012 to ensure that Contingency Plan holders can successfully complete the proper initial notifications, activate their SMT, and use ICS in accordance with their approved Contingency Plan and California Code 820.01, Drills and Exercises. There are multiple goals of this Program, including the enhanced capability of SMTs, OSPR, and other partners. This Program provides continued education and training for Contingency Plan holders and SMTs in an effort to bolster the initial response phase of an actual incident. Through these drills, SMTs must demonstrate that they could make proper notifications and decisions during an actual incident and be staffed with trained personnel in ICS to fill positions before State and Federal representatives respond. Additionally, SMTs should deploy resources listed in their approved Contingency Plans and ensure those resources are up to date, available, and sufficient. Furthermore, drills provide an opportunity for OSPR and SMTs to build relationships through testing these procedures, which should make the initial response more efficient and effective. Lastly, the drills are often conducted with representatives from United States Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency, both of which have their own drill programs. Working in conjunction with federal partners ensures continuity and fewer required drills of SMTs. Since the beginning of the Program, SMTs continue to improve their response capabilities, validated by more successfully completed unannounced drills. OSPR has conducted 30 unannounced drills, all of which were on SMTs for marine facilities and vessels. With the expanded authority of OSPR to regulate facilities statewide in 2015, this Program will continue to grow. Ultimately, a more comprehensive Program should lead to enhanced SMT capability statewide, and therefore better protection of the State's natural resources overall. The goal of this poster will be to describe: 1) the history and purpose of this Program; 2) the lessons learned and improvements of SMTs and Contingency Plans; and 3) the expansion of the Program from marine to statewide.