- (a) An owner or operator of a ship to which this subpart applies must review the shipboard oil pollution emergency plan annually and submit a letter to Commandant (CG-MER) certifying that the review has been completed. This review must occur within 1 month of the anniversary date of Coast Guard approval of the plan.
- (b) The owner or operator shall submit any plan amendments to Commandant (CG-MER) for information or approval.
- (c) The entire plan must be resubmitted to Commandant (CG-MER) for reapproval 6 months before the end of the Coast Guard approval period identified in § 151.27(e) of this subpart.
- (d) A record of annual review and changes to the plan must be maintained in the last appendix of section six of the plan.
- (e) Except as provided in paragraph (f) of this section, revisions must receive prior approval by the Coast Guard before they can be incorporated into the plan.
- (f) Revisions to the seventh section of the plan and the appendices do not require approval by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard shall be advised and provided a copy of the revisions as they occur.
- (g) Plans, including revisions, should be submitted electronically by using the Vessel Response Plan Electronic Submission Tool available at https://vrp.uscg.mil/homeport-vrp/vrp-express/ for registered users or by mail to Commandant (CG-MER), Attn: Vessel Response Plans, U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7516, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20593-7516 or by email to vrp@uscg.mil.
[CGD 93-030, 59 FR 51342, Oct. 7, 1994, as amended by CGD 96-026, 61 FR 33665, June 28, 1996; USCG-2008-0179, 73 FR 35014, June 19, 2008; USCG-2008-1070, 78 FR 60122, Sept. 30, 2013; USCG-2020-0304, 85 FR 58280, Sept. 18, 2020; USCG-2023-0759, 89 FR 22947, Apr. 3, 2024]