ORS 468B.395 Department duties

The Department of Environmental Quality shall:

In cooperation with other natural resource agencies, develop a method of natural resource valuation that fully incorporates nonmarket and market values in assessing damages resulting from oil discharges;

Work with other potentially affected states to develop a joint oil discharge prevention education program for operators of fishing vessels, ferries, ports, cruise ships and marinas;

Review the adequacy of and make recommendations for improvements in equipment, operating procedures and the appropriateness of west coast locations for transfer of oil;

In cooperation with industry and the United States Coast Guard, develop local programs to provide oil discharge response training to fishing boat operators and marinas;

Act as the state agency responsible for the overall management of the environmental cleanup of oil or hazardous material spills or releases, which shall include:

Adoption of an incident command system to enhance the department’s ability to manage responses to a major oil or hazardous material spill or release; and

Appointment of a state on-scene coordinator for any major incident involving an oil or hazardous material spill or release or threatened spill or release;

Coordinate oil spill research with other west coast states and develop a framework for information sharing and combined funding of research projects;

Annually review and revise the interagency response plan for oil and hazardous material spills or releases in navigable waters of the state developed under ORS 468B.495 and 468B.500;

On the Oregon coast, assist affected local agencies and industry groups to complete an inventory of existing plans and resources and to identify or establish an organization to coordinate oil spill contingency planning as part of the alternative schedule adopted for the Oregon coast described in ORS 468B.355 (1);

Where adequate resources do not exist to prevent, contain, clean up and mitigate oil spills or threatened spills, assist local agencies and industry groups to secure necessary funds and equipment; and

In its annual review and revision of the plan developed under ORS 468B.495 and 468B.500:

Consult with all affected local, state and federal agencies, municipal and community officials and representatives of industry;

Provide training in the use of the plan; and

Conduct spill exercises to test the adequacy of the plan.