USCG announced the release of a new Area Continency Plan architecture

The United States Coast Guard has published a marine safety information bulletin announcing the release of a new Area Continency Plan (ACP) architecture for ACPs covering the coastal zones of the United States and its territories.

This new ACP architecture marks the first major update in over 25 years and is essential for compliance with the Clean Water Act.

ACPs play a crucial role in the National Response System (NRS), managing response plans for oil and hazardous incidents at local and coastal levels.

Developed through extensive collaboration, surveys, and field testing, the draft was open for public feedback from December 2022 to January 2023 and received expert review.

The U.S. Coast Guard aims to modernize coastal ACPs, enhance usability, and achieve national consistency within the Maritime Transportation System.

This standardized structure will help industry plan writers align their response plans with Coast Guard-approved ACPs, a fundamental aspect of the NRS.

It will reduce confusion, improve response efficiency, and support the development of a mobile ACP product.

The U.S. Coast Guard will collaborate with coastal Area Committees to implement this new architecture, with the transition expected to be complete by October 2026.

While some local variability is acknowledged, the Coast Guard will provide additional policy guidance to support this ACP update.

This bulletin was published on 10 October 2023.

The new architecture can be found on the U.S. Coast Guard’s Homeport site:

https://homeport.uscg.mil/missions/environmental/area-contingency-plans

For more information, please see the document below (available only to subscribers):

Release of New Coastal Zone Area Contingency Plan Architecture