Quad Cities Sub-area Contingency Plan
VI. Notification
Just as a discharge of oil or a hazardous substances release can emanate from numerous sources, the discovery of a spill and initiation of notification procedures can proceed along a number of paths. As examples, RP's, private citizens or the news media may notify agencies at the local, state or federal level or by calling 911, a state spill line, an EPA spill line, or the National Response Center. Depending upon the severity of a spill or discharge, notification may not only be required by statute, but may be essential to protecting human health and the environment. In other instances, notification by and of various agencies may be done as a matter of courtesy. The following sections describe how notifications will be made among those responsible for responding to releases of oil or hazardous substances in the Quad Cities area in most cases.
A. Protocol
Prompt notification is critical for an effective coordinated response among all organizations that might be involved during an incident. Each organization that first becomes aware of a release of oil or a hazardous substance in the Quad Cities area has the responsibility to notify other appropriate and potentially affected agencies. All initial notifications should be by voice telephone, not by facsimile copy. Each organization is to consider itself the first agency aware of a release, if it has not previously been notified of the release according to this protocol. When an agency is notified by another responding organization, it must confirm that other agencies that it is responsible for notifying have been contacted, and then proceed to notify those agencies that have not yet been made aware of the release. The following criteria shall be used in determining whether to make notifications:
B. Notification of Natural Resource Trustees
The appropriate state and/or federal natural resource trustee(s) should be notified in the event of any discharge or release affecting or threatening to affect environmentally sensitive areas, migratory waterfowl or state or federally listed threatened or endangered species. Responsibility for notification will rest with the respective OSC, i.e., SOSCs will notify their state's trustees and FOSCs will notify USFWS. SOSCs and FOSCs will coordinate notifications affecting state and federal resources.
C. Quad Cities SACP Notifications
Figure 1 (PDF) indicates notifications that would be made by each agency, unless it has been determined that the other parties have already been contacted. Voice phone and FAX numbers are provided in the Spill Notification Call Roster, Section VII.
D. Responsibilities for Notifications Under QC SACP