United StatesEnvironmentalProtection Agency

EnvironmentCanada

United StatesEnvironmentalProtection Agency

EnvironmentCanada

CANADA-UNITED STATES JOINT INLAND POLLUTION

CONTINGENCY PLAN

• Signed by Canada and the US in 1994• Divided the common border into 5 segments we

– Southern border of British Columbia and the US is called “CANUSWEST”

• Tasked regional Environment Canada (EC) & EPA offices to develop regional annexes– CANUSWEST Plan

• Complements the Canada-U.S. Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan

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GEOGRAPHIC AREA

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CROSS-BORDER WORKING GROUP

• Formed in 1995; co-chaired by EPA & EC• Quarterly meetings• Drafted, reviewed, published and distributed

CANUSWEST

Participants and special advisors:• Tribes/First Nations• County/Municipal• State/Provincial• Other Federal

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MAJOR TRANSBOUNDARY ISSUES IDENTIFIED

• Response roles and responsibilities• Integration with other plans• Movement of people and equipment across the border• Worker health & safety• Worker compensation• First responder training requirements• Communications• Information Management (Joint Information Center)

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PURPOSE

• Facilitate effective joint response to cross-border incidents

• Address response issues unique to international hazmat & oil releases along the inland border

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PRIMARY OBJECTIVES

• Establish international coordination mechanism and the Regional Joint Response Team (RJRT)

• Ensure timely notification

• Ensure timely and meaningful information sharing with responders and public

• Facilitate efficient international movement of equipment and personnel

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SUPPORTING CONTINGENCY PLANS

• CANUSWEST is intended to complement existing plans– Northwest Area Contingency Plan– International Hazardous Materials Response

Plan for Whatcom County and Lower Mainland British Columbia

– BC Major Industrial Emergency Plan– BC Emergency Program Act

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RESPONSE OPERATIONS

Principle of Escalation• Local responders

• State/Provincial

• Federal

Responsible Party (RP) is always expected to take full operational and functional responsibility

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RESPONSE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION

• Incident Command System (ICS), based on U.S. National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS) uses five major functional groups

– Unified Command

– Finance

– Logistics

– Operations

– Planning