Item 10 Report to Scrutiny Board Date: 30 March 2006 Report of: Director of Leisure and Environment Subject: SHORELINE RESPONSE IN RELATION TO OIL OR CHEMICAL SPILLAGES ON THE COAST SUMMARY At it’s meeting on 3 February 2005, the Scrutiny Board decided to include an item in the work programme for the meeting to be held on 30 March 2006, on chemical and oil spillages on the coast. This report reviews the current position, the issues which do, and could, affect the coastline around Fareham Borough and the development of the new shoreline response plan. The report outlines a proposed approach to the preparation of a draft Shoreline Response Plan, with estimated timescales, for which the Board’s endorsement is sought. $wgen0mff 2 INTRODUCTION 1. The Civil Contingencies Act was passed in November 2004, bringing together legislation concerned with Civil Protection. Part one deals with local arrangements for civil protection; part two with emergency powers. CIVIL CONTINGENCIES ACT 2004 2. At the meeting of the Scrutiny Board held on 9 June 2005, the Chief Health and Regulatory Services Officer submitted an information report which updated the Board on the new statutory duties and responsibilities that the Council had under the Civil Contingences Act 2004. The report advised that there was a need to develop robust and effective plans and procedures as part of the Council’s approach to Business Continuity Planning that would enable the Council to mitigate, respond and recover from any business interruption and this was being done through the Council’s Strategic Risk Management Group. It was agreed that the Board was satisfied with the direction of the arrangements proposed for meeting the Borough Council’s responsibilities under the provisions of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and that they covered the requirements for the duties which are being taken on board, in particular, the proposals for the Service Level Agreement with the Hampshire County Council and the work of the Strategic Risk Management Group. To inform the Board, a resume of the Act is given below. 3. The Act provides for the imposition of emergency powers, to enable first-responders and others to deal effectively with emergencies. An emergency is defined in the Act as an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare; the environment; or the security of the United Kingdom or of a place in the United Kingdom. 4. Two specific groups are identified by the Civil Contingencies Act. These are: Category 1 responders: local authorities, emergency services, health authorities and services, and some government departments and agencies. Category 2 responders: critical infrastructure owners such as the suppliers of electricity, gas, water, telecoms and transport. 5. Category 1 responders have a number of specific duties under the Act. They must: Assess the risk of emergencies occurring and use this to inform contingency planning; Put in place emergency plans; Put in place Business Continuity Management arrangements; Put in place arrangements to make information available to the public about civil protection matters and maintain arrangements to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency; Share information with other local responders to enhance co-ordination; Co-operate with other local responders to enhance co-ordination and efficiency; and Provide advice and assistance to businesses and voluntary organisations about business continuity management (Local Authorities only). $wgen0mff 3 6. Category 2 responders have only one statutory duty under the Act, which is to provide information to category 1 responders to help them in their business continuity planning and emergency response activities. However, the Act does leave the door open for future requirements. 7. The Act introduces two key new concepts: (a) Local Resilience Forum (LRF) – based on the local Police area, and chaired by the local Chief Constable or deputy, the LRF is to be the “principal forum for multi-agency cooperation under the Act.” The forum is not a statutory body, but it is a statutory process. Its purpose is to ensure effective delivery of those duties that need to be developed in a multi-agency environment. Category 1 responders should attend meetings or be “adequately represented”. Category 2 responders should be engaged “where they can add value”. (b) Community Risk Register – the Act introduces, for the first time, the concept of a systematic risk assessment of the various hazards and threats in a particular area. This will include national concerns such as terrorism and avian flu, through to a local assessment of the risks of flooding or specific industrial hazards. The assessment is a responsibility of the local LRF and must be done jointly between responders, providing a basis for the prioritisation of work programmes and allocation of resources. There is a requirement to publish the risk assessment, to the extent necessary to reduce the impact of an emergency on the community. 8. For the first time, it is possible to use emergency powers on a regional and/or devolved administration basis. This ensures any special temporary legislation will apply only in the part of the UK affected by the emergency, leaving those elsewhere unaffected. 9. There are restrictions in place which limit the extent of the emergency powers. It cannot, for example, prohibit industrial action or instigate military conscription or alter any aspect of criminal procedures. LINK WITH EMERGENCY PLANNING 10. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 requires local authorities to carry out risk assessments and to use these to inform their emergency planning arrangements. The central part of the main planning duty under the Act is to ensure that the organisation is prepared to perform its functions so as to prevent, reduce, control or mitigate the effects of an emergency. The action that it is practicable for an authority to take will be determined, in part, by the resources that each local authority has available and, for that reason, the Act does not specify the content of plans leaving local authorities a degree of autonomy as to the detail. $wgen0mff 4 INTERFACING OIL SPILL CONTINGENCY PLANS 11. There are a large number of plans which deal with protecting the coastline in the event of a chemical or oil population incident. These include: Fareham Borough Council Emergency Plan Portsmouth CC Oil & Chemical Pollution Plan Hampshire CC Coastal Oil & Chemical Pollution Plan Marine Pollution Control Unit Oil Spill Clean up of the Coastline Technical Manual Esso Petroleum Co Ltd Oil Spill Contingency Plan Fawley Refinery Oil Spill Contingency Plan National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution from Shipping & Offshore installations Hampshire CC Major Civil Emergency Plan BP Oil UK Ltd. Marine Oil Spill Plan – Hamble Port of Southampton – Oil Pollution Plan Eastleigh BC Oil & Chemical Pollution Plan SOLFIRE Marine Emergency Plan EXISTING OIL AND CHEMICAL POLLUTION PLAN 12. Fareham’s existing Oil and Chemical Pollution Plan (attached as Appendix A), has been in place for several years and has been implemented on a number of occasions to deal with all incidents relating to oil or chemical pollution of the Borough’s beaches. To date, only Tier One degree of severity has occurred. 13. In view of the changes introduced by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the organisational changes which have occurred within the organisations which are involved in the implementation of the plan, a new plan entitled ‘Shoreline Response Plan’ is required. CONSIDERATION OF THE ISSUES RELATED TO OIL POLLUTION OF THE COASTLINE 14. A brief outline of the “Sea Empress” incident has been included as Appendix B. EUROPEAN MARINE SITES AFFECTING FAREHAM 15. Since 1994, UK nature conservation legislation has included measures originating from the European Community. These measures provide extra protection for certain selected habitats and species through the use of site designations. To date, the following sites within Fareham have been identified; Portsmouth harbour (SPA), Titchfield Haven (SPA), the Solent shoreline (SPA and part of a candidate SAC) and the River Hamble (part of an SPA and a candidate SAC. The maps contained in Appendix C show that all of the Borough’s coastline is affected by these designations and hence establishes the importance of considering how best to protect the environment in the event of a major incident. $wgen0mff 5 PREPARATION OF THE SHORELINE RESPONSE PLAN 16. Officers from Hampshire’s coastal local authorities have been co-operating to identify a common approach to the development of Shoreline Response Plans. The agreed template is attached as Appendix D. There are a number of actions which have been identified for implementation during 2006. These are: (a) The identification of temporary storage sites for oil and contaminated material and to seek the approval of the Environment Agency to the identified sites; (b) To identify training needs and to access training for the relevant employees; (c) To identify options for the provision of personnel and equipment to deal with the incident; and (d) To prepare the financial working papers which would be required in the event of a major incident. CONSULTATION 17. There is a requirement to consult a number of local and national organisations on the Council’s Shoreline Response Plan and it is proposed to complete the consultation prior to a further report being presented to the Scrutiny Board to enable the Board to consider recommending the Plan for adoption by the Executive. RISK ASSESSMENT 18. The risk assessment has been attached as Appendix E. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 19. An overview of the financial implications of dealing with an oil spill is included in the existing oil and chemical pollution plan. However, in the event of a local authority dealing with a major oil spill, it is highly unlikely that all costs will be recovered. Depending on the severity of the issue, the unmet cost could be very considerable and it is not practical to make any provision for this beforehand.