Performance Details

Department of Environmental Conservation - Spill Prevention and Response

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Mission

Reduce unlawful oil and hazardous substance contamination in the environment.

Core Services

• Protect public health and the environment by identifying, overseeing, and conducting the cleanup, redevelopment, and management of contaminated sites in Alaska.
• Protect public safety, public health, and the environment and ensure that producers, transporters, and distributors of crude oil and refined oil products prevent oil spills and are fully prepared materially and financially to clean up spills.
• Manage the Oil and Hazardous Substance Release Prevention and Response Fund as a viable, long-term funding source for the state"s core spill prevention and response initiatives and provide administrative support services to the Divisions programs.

Mission Results	Core Services
A: Protect public health and the environment by identifying, overseeing, and conducting the cleanup, redevelopment, and management of contaminated sites in Alaska. Details >	A1: Protect public health and the environment by identifying, overseeing, and conducting the cleanup, redevelopment, and management of contaminated sites in Alaska. Details > TARGET #1: Achieve demonstrated annual progress on 100% of high priority ranked sites every two years.
Mission Results	Core Services
B: Protect public safety, public health, and the environment by preventing oil and hazardous substance releases, and mitigating the effects of those releases from regulated and non-regulated sources through planning, preparedness, and rapid response. Details >	B1: Protect public safety, public health, and the environment and ensure that producers, transporters, and distributors of crude oil and refined oil products prevent oil spills and are fully prepared materially and financially to clean up spills. Details > TARGET #1: 50% of high risk and 20% of non-high risk contingency plan holders are inspected or evaluated for oil discharge prevention annually.
Mission Results	Core Services
C: Manage the Oil and Hazardous Substance Release Prevention and Response Fund as a viable, long-term funding source for the state"s core spill prevention and response initiatives and provide administrative support services to the Divisions programs. Details >	C1: Manage the Oil and Hazardous Substance Release Prevention and Response Fund as a viable, long-term funding source for the state"s core spill prevention and response initiatives and provide administrative support services to the Divisions programs. Details >

Performance Detail

Target #1: Achieve demonstrated annual progress on 100% of high priority ranked sites every two years. Progress on High Priority (HP) Sites Fiscal Year Total HP Sites % HP Sites with Progress HP Sites - No Progress HP Sites with Progress FY 2024 452 60 183 269 FY 2023 472 61 182 290 FY 2022 402 50 203 199 FY 2021 434 46 236 198 FY 2020 472 59 158 279 FY 2019 454 70% 137 317 FY 2018 476 65% 166 310 FY 2017 508 65% 176 332 FY 2016 583 81% 111 472 Analysis of results and challenges: More than twenty-four hundred open sites remain in the Division`s inventory. To prioritize these sites and ensure resources are directed to sites with the highest risk, the Division of Spill Prevention and Response evaluates relative site risk by using a tool called the Exposure Tracking Model (ETM). The ETM summarizes the location of contamination, what environmental media (such as soil or groundwater) are impacted, and how the contamination may potentially reach humans or ecological receptors (exposure pathways). The Division`s mission is to focus its resources on the contaminated sites with the highest risk. By tracking biannual progress on high priority sites, the Division ensures these sites do not languish, that the highest risks to human health and the environment are addressed and controlled, and responsible parties for these sites are held accountable. The remaining high priority sites are some of the more challenging cases. Factors that continue to limit headway include complex contamination issues; absence or unwillingness of any responsible party; federal and state agency responsible parties that have other budgetary priorities beyond cleanup; and lack of a responsible party financially capable of conducting necessary site characterization and cleanup. During FY23 and FY24, CSP made significant progress at 60% of the high priority sites. Contaminated sites that are related to local governments and villages, such as tank farms, leaking underground storage tanks, and blighted properties, all pose real impacts to both human and economic health in communities. Local governments have few resources to clean up these properties. Likewise, forward progress is challenging on remote orphan sites such as abandoned mines, canneries, and dumpsites where no viable responsible party exists, but ecological, recreational, and subsistence impacts are present. The Department continues to work to increase progress by categorizing recalcitrant high priority sites by sector and identifying tailored mechanisms to move these forwards. Some of these mechanisms include department-led sampling and cleanup efforts using federal or capital appropriations; identifying candidate sites for brownfield funding; negotiating compliance order-by-consent agreements with responsible parties; inter-agency agreements with state and federal partners; or, as a last resort, enforcement. Target Last Modified: 11/15/2024

Target #1: 50% of high risk and 20% of non-high risk contingency plan holders are inspected or evaluated for oil discharge prevention annually. Methodology: Each fiscal year, a portion of Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plans (ODPCPs) are evaluated by DEC during exercises, drills, and facility inspections. This graph shows the percentages of ODPCPs that had exercises or inspections for two categories of Plans, High Risk (exploration, production, and transport of crude oil) and Non-high Risk (all other ODPCPs) during FY2018-FY2024. Analysis of results and challenges: Regulated facilities and vessel operators in Alaska are required to have an approved Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan (ODPCP) in place before they are allowed to operate. These ODPCPs outline the various steps and procedures in place to prevent oil discharges and the actions that would be taken in the event of a discharge for prompt and effective containment and cleanup of the spill. The department regularly inspects these plan holders` facilities to ensure the procedures in place are sufficient to prevent or respond to an oil spill. Preventing oil spills is the best means of protecting the environment and public health. In the event of a discharge, a prompt and effective detection and response significantly reduces the adverse impacts on the environment and public health. The department acknowledges all facilities or vessels required to have an ODPCP represent a level of inherent risk to the environment and public health in Alaska. For this performance measure, ODPCPs are categorized as High Risk and Non-High Risk. Facilities and vessels designated as High Risk in the state include those that are engaged in exploration, production, and transport of crude oil. All other ODPCPs are categorized as Non-High Risk. The exercising and inspecting of the Non-High Risk facilities and their contingency plans is also important and contributes to ongoing prevention and response readiness. This performance measure tracks inspections at the ODPCP level and does not capture all prevention efforts because a single ODPCP can cover multiple facilities for the same operator. Therefore, the performance measure doesn`t reflect inspections or exercises at multiple facilities under a single plan or multiple inspections at a single, complex, facility (i.e. the Trans Alaska Pipeline) during the fiscal year. During, FY2024 there were 126 ODPCPs operational in Alaska. Of these, 38 plans were classified as High Risk and 88 were classified as Non-high Risk. For High Risk ODPCPs, 58% were inspected or had an exercise and for ODPCPs classified as Non-High Risk, 45% were inspected or had an exercise during the reporting period. In FY2024 the target for this performance measure was exceeded. The department conducted 60 inspections and 36 exercises for a total of 96 prevention measures with ODPCP holders during the reporting period; of these 62 individual ODPCPs are represented in this reporting metric. Twenty-eight ODPCPs had more than one inspection and/or exercise at their facilities during the reporting period. Six ODPCPs including those for Vitus Energy`s Alaska tank barge operations (n=3), Alyeska Valdez Marine Terminal (n=2), and Andeavor`s Cook Inlet vessel operations (n=2) had a combination of inspections, and at least one exercise. The department routinely leveraged travel to conduct multiple facility inspections while traveling to conduct an exercise. Target Last Modified: 11/15/2024

Last refreshed: 05/22/2025 08:00 am