PREPAREDNESS ASSESSMENT… STILL THE KEY TO ACQUIRING AND MAINTAINING, “RIGHT MIX” CAPABILITIES

Abstract

ABSTRACT The most recent national study of the adequacy of government owned versus private sector oil spill removal capability, known as the capability limits or (CAPS) review, is currently seven years old. While oil spill response preparedness assessments have continued via the National Strike Force Coordination Center Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) assessment visits, the Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP), and the Spills of National Significance (SONS) exercises, the outdated CAPS review stands as a great impediment to the Coast Guard's ability to continue to make sound overarching policy decisions regarding known national oil spill removal equipment inventories and expertise levels as they pertain to oil spill risks. The CAPS review established a baseline by which regulatory decisions pertaining to the “Right government/private Mix” of capabilities for oil spill response could be made. The ability to accurately assess this mix is a critical component of the Preparedness model that has been used for oil spill response and should continue to be used for Preparedness for all contingency response. This model is depicted below in Figure 1.FIGURE 1PREPAREDNESS (TO RESPOND) MODELFIGURE 1. PREPAREDNESS (TO RESPOND) MODEL Prior to Sept 11, 2001, it was assumed that the costly and cumbersome to complete findings of the CAPS review would remain valid for an extensive period of time. This was a valid assumption given the stability of Post OPA 90 oil spill response capability at the time. When Sept 11, 2001 shifted government and private response priorities away from oil spills, the validity of the assumption began to degrade. Unfortunately, a request for an update must now compete for funding and support with security-related studies. Further, just as this study provides appropriate support for overarching oil spill regulatory decisions, so too could it be used as the national preparedness assessment model for any developing Hazardous Substance or Weapons of Mass Destruction legislation. The oil spill response communities' inability to promote the value of having an easily updated thorough CAPS review process ensures the model will be overlooked or dismissed in the development of a healthy national all contingency response capabilities assessment program. All of this negatively impacts national preparedness pertaining to either oil or HAZMAT response. To bolster my assertions this paper will first define and discuss impressions of the 1998 CAPS review. Secondly, the paper will review some of the long-standing response principles that have established assessment as crucial to preparedness in the oil spill response field. Lastly, the paper will outline an assessment model that incorporates the successes of the oil spill response program and explain the value that adoption of such a model would have for a national all-contingencies preparedness assessment program.