The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Coast Guard, and Environmental Protection Agency are seeking input on Change Two to the Aleutians Subarea Contingency Plan (SCP) for Oil and Hazardous Substance Spills and Releases. This plan supplements the Unified Plan and provides subarea-specific information to familiarize spill responders about the most likely contaminant sources; local community and government response resources; subarea specific response protocols; sensitive areas, and other resources at potential risk. Together, the Aleutians SCP and Unified Plan describe strategies for coordinating federal, state, tribal, community, and industry participation prior to, and during, a hazardous substance discharge (or substantial threat of discharge) within Alaska’s Aleutians Subarea.
The Subarea Committee updated each section of the SCP to reflect the most current information. Significant changes included: adding 19 new Geographical Response Strategies; adding new geomorphology data for threatened and endangered species’ habitat; reevaluating the sensitivity of certain National Park Service-managed lands and native allotments; and adding a “Marine Response and Salvage Recovery” sub-section to the Response section. This sub-section summarizes six Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment reports, including the U.S. Coast Guard's Alternative Planning Criteria (APC) program. A short annex was added to outline: a policy promoting coordination between APCs and the Aleutians Subarea Committee about response resource buildup; APC history; and APC expectations. A draft of the updated SCP is available for review at: http://dec.alaska.gov/spar/perp/plans/scp_al/Al_SCP_draft2015.pdf.
We request interested parties to review the updated draft and provide feedback prior to May 15, 2015. Comments received after this date will be considered during the next Aleutians SCP update cyclein 2020. Written comments are public records and are publicly available. The ADEC, USCG and EPA comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If you require special accommodations to participate in this process, please contact Natalie Wolfe at (907) 269-0291; dial TDD Relay Service at 1-800-770-8973/TTY; or dial 711 to ensure accommodations are provided.
Feedback can be submitted electronically to: http://alaskarrt.org/comment/Default.aspx; by e-mail to decsparplanning@alaska.gov; or by mail to: Kion Evans, ADEC, 555 Cordova Street, Anchorage, AK 99501.