Oil spill drills

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Amendments to Chapter 173-180 WAC and Chapter 173-184 WAC

Amendments to Chapter 173-180 WAC, Facility oil handling standards and Chapter 173-184 WAC, Vessel oil transfer advance notice and containment requirements were adopted on June 6, 2023. This webpage will be updated with new requirement information on the effective date for the respective requirements.

Oil spill drills help response personnel understand the strengths and weaknesses of oil spill contingency plans, equipment, and procedures. Lessons learned from drills are used to improve contingency plans. Learn about designing and planning spill drills, the schedule cycle, and self-certification.

To successfully meet oil spill drill requirements in Washington you must:

Scheduling requirements

To allow enough time for drill design and planning, the regulation requires:

  • Deployment drills be scheduled 30 days in advance.
  • Tabletop drills be scheduled 60 days in advance.
  • Worst-case drills and out-of-state drills for vessel plan holders be scheduled 90 days in advance.

View the drill calendar and/or schedule a drill

Drill evaluation tools

We evaluate deployment, tabletop, and worst-case oil spill drills. Evaluation tools include: