Workshops for Geographic Response Plans

Each year the public is invited to provide written feedback to help update the contents of Chapter 4 for Geographic Response Plans for one or two specific marine and/or inland regions of interest.

A Workshop for the Grays Harbor GRP will be held:

10:30am–12pm (ending before noon if Q&A ends early)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
at the Timberland Library
 121 E Market Street, Aberdeen

The Washington Department of Ecology, U.S. Coast Guard and other partners involved in oil spill prevention, preparedness and response will host the workshop. The session is scheduled to occur in advance of the planned complete update of Chapter 4 of the GRP for the Grays Harbor GRP in summer/fall 2009.

The goals of GRP workshops and the materials listed at right are to:

• Educate stakeholders on the use and expectations of GRPs during spill events.
• Invite input on local information to update GRPs, including site access, sensitive natural resources, cultural resources, and significant economic resources.
• Ensure that all stakeholders understand the update process and are given an opportunity to participate.

Public Workshops are held in the regions of interest to give the public a chance to learn more and ask pertinent questions about GRPs before they submit comments and suggestions for improvement.  Public comments are:

• Assembled and reviewed by a group of GRP Trustee organizations for the area.
• Used to plan upcoming field work and testing.
• Summarized and posted online in a preliminary (pre-field work) Responsiveness Summary.

After field testing is completed and a revised draft GRP is produced, the public is given another 30-day opportunity to submit comments on the final GRP draft.  Those comments and Ecology/USCG (marine) or Ecology/EPA (inland) responses are summarized in a second (near-final) Responsiveness Summary that is posted online.

If you have any questions about the process, please contact Todd Hass at (360) 407-6396 for more information.