254.6—Definitions.
For the purposes of this part:
Adverse weather conditions means weather conditions found in the operating area that make it difficult for response equipment and personnel to clean up or remove spilled oil or hazardous substances. These include, but are not limited to: Fog, inhospitable water and air temperatures, wind, sea ice, current, and sea states. It does not refer to conditions such as a hurricane, under which it would be dangerous or impossible to respond to a spill.
Area Contingency Plan means an Area Contingency Plan prepared and published under section 311(j) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA).
Coast line means the line of ordinary low water along that portion of the coast which is in direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the seaward limit of inland waters.
Discharge means any emission (other than natural seepage), intentional or unintentional, and includes, but is not limited to, spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping.
District Manager means the MMS officer with authority and responsibility for a district within an MMS Region.
Facility means any structure, group of structures, equipment, or device (other than a vessel) which is used for one or more of the following purposes: Exploring for, drilling for, producing, storing, handling, transferring, processing, or transporting oil. The term excludes deep-water ports and their associated pipelines as defined by the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, but includes other pipelines used for one or more of these purposes. A mobile offshore drilling unit is classified as a facility when engaged in drilling or downhole operations.
Maximum extent practicable means within the limitations of available technology, as well as the physical limitations of personnel, when responding to a worst case discharge in adverse weather conditions.
National Contingency Plan means the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan prepared and published under section 311(d) of the FWPCA, (33 U.S.C. 1321(d)) or revised under section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9605 ).
National Contingency Plan Product Schedule means a schedule of dispersants and other chemical or biological products, maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, that may be authorized for use on oil discharges in accordance with the procedures found at 40 CFR 300.910.
Oil means oil of any kind or in any form, including but not limited to petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse, and oil mixed with wastes other than dredged spoil. This also includes hydrocarbons produced at the wellhead in liquid form (includes distillates or condensate associated with produced natural gas), and condensate that has been separated from a gas prior to injection into a pipeline. It does not include petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof, which is specifically listed or designated as a hazardous substance under paragraphs (A) through (F) of section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U. S. C. 9601) and which is subject to the provisions of that Act. It also does not include animal fats and oils and greases and fish and marine mammal oils, within the meaning of paragraph (2) of section 61(a) of title 13, United States Code, and oils of vegetable origin, including oils from the seeds, nuts, and kernels referred to in paragraph (1)(A) of that section.
Oil spill removal organization (OSRO) means an entity contracted by an owner or operator to provide spill-response equipment and/or manpower in the event of an oil or hazardous substance spill.
Outer Continental Shelf means all submerged lands lying seaward and outside of the area of lands beneath navigable waters as defined in section 2 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301) and of which the subsoil and seabed appertain to the United States and are subject to its jurisdiction and control.
Owner or operator means, in the case of an offshore facility, any person owning or operating such offshore facility. In the case of any abandoned offshore facility, it means the person who owned such facility immediately prior to such abandonment.
Pipeline means pipe and any associated equipment, appurtenance, or building used or intended for use in the transportation of oil located seaward of the coast line, except those used for deep-water ports. Pipelines do not include vessels such as barges or shuttle tankers used to transport oil from facilities located seaward of the coast line.
Qualified individual means an English-speaking representative of an owner or operator, located in the United States, available on a 24-hour basis, with full authority to obligate funds, carry out removal actions, and communicate with the appropriate Federal officials and the persons providing personnel and equipment in removal operations.
Regional Response Plan means a spill-response plan required by this part which covers multiple facilities or leases of an owner or operator, including affiliates, which are located in the same MMS Region.
Regional Supervisor means the MMS official with responsibility and authority for operations or other designated program functions within an MMS Region.
Remove means containment and cleanup of oil from water and shorelines or the taking of other actions as may be necessary to minimize or mitigate damage to the public health or welfare, including, but not limited to, fish, shellfish, wildlife, public and private property, shorelines, and beaches.
Spill is synonymous with “discharge” for the purposes of this part.
Spill management team means the trained persons identified in a response plan who staff the organizational structure to manage spill response.
Spill-response coordinator means a trained person charged with the responsibility and designated the commensurate authority for directing and coordinating response operations.
Spill-response operating team means the trained persons who respond to spills through deployment and operation of oil-spill response equipment.
State waters located seaward of the coast line means the belt of the seas measured from the coast line and extending seaward a distance of 3 miles (except the coast of Texas and the Gulf coast of Florida, where the State waters extend seaward a distance of 3 leagues).
You means the owner or the operator as defined in this section.