Nontank Vessel Oil Spill Response Plan Guidance

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a Notice announcing the availability of interim guidelines for the development and review of plans for responding to a discharge, or threat of a discharge, of oil from nontank vessels. The guidance, Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 01-05, applies to all self-propelled vessels of 400 gross tons or greater, other than tank vessels, that carry oil of any kind as fuel for main propulsion and that are either vessels of the United States or foreign vessels operating on U.S. navigable waters (internal waters or within the 3-nm territorial sea). Tonnage is measured in accordance with the International Tonnage Convention (ITC). 70 Fed. Reg. 7955 (HK Law).