The Federal Register of August 31, 2009 has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require owners and operators of non-tank vessels to prepare and submit oil spill response plans.  "Non-tank vessels" are defined in the Federal Water Pollution Act as self-propelled vessels of 400 gross tons or greater that operate on the navigable waters of the United States, carry oil of any kind as fuel for main propulsion, and are not tank vessels.

The regulations have been proposed largely in response to three significant non-tank vessel spills in recent years:  the M/V New Carissa off the Oregon Coast in 1999, which resulted in the loss of the vessel and a spill of 70,000 gallons of Bunker C; the M/V Selendang Ayu lost off the Aleutians Islands in 2004 and spilling 336,000 gallons of fuel oil and diesel fuel; and most recently the allision of the M/V Cosco Busan with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge which caused a 53,000 gallon fuel oil spill in the Bay.

The proposed rule would specify the content of a response plan, and among other issues, address the requirement to plan for responding to a worst case discharge and a substantial threat of such a discharge. Additionally, this proposed rule would update the international
Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) requirements that apply to certain non-tank vessels and tank vessels. Finally, this proposed rule would require vessel owners and operators to submit their vessel response plan control number as part of already required notice of arrival information.

The deadline for comments is November 30, 2009.