Notice to Lessees 2013-N02

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT

NTL No. 2013-N02 Effective Date: August 26, 2013

NATIONAL NOTICE TO LESSEES AND OPERATORS OF FEDERAL OIL AND GAS LEASES AND PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY HOLDERS

Significant Change to Oil Spill Response Plan Worst Case Discharge Scenario

Purpose

This Notice to Lessees and Operators and Pipeline Right-of-Way Holders (NTL) is intended for owners or operators of oil handling, storage, or transportation facilities located seaward of the coast line. It clarifies what the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) considers a significant change in your Oil Spill Response Plan (OSRP) worst case discharge (WCD) scenario that requires you to submit a revised OSRP for BSEE approval.

Authority

30 CFR 254.30(b)(2) requires you to submit an OSRP revision for BSEE approval within 15 days whenever a significant change occurs in the WCD scenario.

OSRP WCD Scenario

A significant change in a WCD scenario determination may occur when you calculate a new WCD volume based on: (1) an addition of a new facility installation or well, (2) a modification to an existing facility, or (3) a change in any assumptions and calculations that you used to estimate your WCD volume in accordance with 30 CFR 254.47.

We recommend that you assess the impact of a new WCD volume on your OSRP WCD scenario as soon as you identify that a source covered under the approved OSRP may potentially produce a higher volume than initially described. In order to determine if you must revise your approved OSRP after a new WCD volume is identified, you should include the new volume in the trajectory analysis and update the list of resources of special economic or environmental significance that could potentially be impacted, in accordance with 30 CFR 254.26(b) and (c). If this process identifies the need for additional response equipment beyond the equipment identified in the approved OSRP WCD planning scenario in accordance with 30 CFR 254.26( d)(l ), BSEE considers this a significant change to the WCD scenario.

It is the owner/operator's responsibility to make this determination and to submit the OSRP revision to BSEE within 15 days of the significant change, as established in 30 CFR

254.30(b)(2). The 15-day deadline begins no later than the date you submit an Application for Permit to Drill with the new volume.

Guidance Document Statement

The BSEE issues NTLs as guidance documents in accordance with 30 CFR 250.103 to clarify or provide more detail about certain BSEE regulatory requirements and to outline the information you must provide in your various submittals to comply with those regulatory requirements. Under that authority, this NTL sets forth a policy on and an interpretation of a regulatory requirement to provide a clear and consistent approach for complying with that requirement.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Statement

The information collection referred to in this NTL provides clarification, description, or interpretation of requirements contained in 30 CFR 254. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the information collection requirements for these regulations and assigned OMB Control Number 1014-0007. This NTL does not impose any additional information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Contacts

If you have any questions regarding this NTL, please contact the Chief, Oil Spill Response Division, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, 381 Elden Street, HE3227 Herndon, Virginia 20191, by writing, or by telephone at (703) 787-1637.