8 September 1999 TO ALL MEMBERS Dear Sirs OIL POLLUTION : UNITED STATES NEW LEGISLATION IN CALIFORNIA FOR DRY CARGO SHIPS ARRANGEMENTS WITH SPILL MANAGEMENT FIRMS/RESPONSE ORGANISATIONS Further to the circulars of 22 and 28 July, a letter received from the Administrator of California’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) is attached advising that the Non-tank Vessel Contingency Plan regulations and the Certificate of Financial Responsibility (COFR) regulations would not be approved by the 1 September 1999 regulatory deadline and therefore he would not expect the non-tank vessel industry to comply with the contingency plan submission requirements until 30 days after the regulations had been approved. The Managers have just received new information that he does not expect the regulations to be finalised until late September or early October. COFRs Members will see from the attached letter that the OSPR Administrator strongly recommends that applications for COFRs be made as soon as possible; and advises that the COFR application form can be accessed on the Internet at the following address: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/Ospr/regulation/ntcplans/index.html Members who do not have access to the Internet may request COFR application forms by faxing the OSPR at: +1 916 3233 4727. Oil Spill Contingency Plans Members were advised in the circular of 22 July that oil spill contingency plans may be prepared for an individual vessel, or on a fleet basis for several vessels which transit substantially the same route, or on a state-wide basis if prepared by a non-profit maritime association; and that a non-profit maritime trade association based in San Francisco, the Pacific Maritime Shipping Association (PMSA), was developing a “state-wide” fleet plan available for all owners or operators to join on a fleet basis. PMSA have advised that their charge for enrolment into this programme will be $165 per vessel visit to California. Members should be aware that the PMSA vessel enrolment agreement does not conform with International Group guidelines and nor do the majority of sub-contracts referred in this agreement. Since PMSA have advised the Group that they are not prepared to negotiate with their sub-contractors, it presently appears unlikely that the PMSA contract will be approved by the Group in the near future. P.T.O. - 2 In the earlier circulars, the Managers informed Members of offers received from spill management firms to provide non-tank vessel owners with a package of services in order to comply with the new California requirements, and also covering the whole of the United States, including the preparation of a vessel response or spill contingency plan, qualified individual and spill management team services, and arrangements with an oil spill response organisation (OSRO)/contractor of the owner’s choice. Response Organisations - MSRC and NRC Members were also advised in the circular of 22 July that some Clubs had negotiated membership or retainer agreements on behalf of all or any of their entered dry cargo ships with one or both of the two nation-wide spill response organisations, Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) and National Response Corporation (NRC), giving dry cargo ship Members access to these organisations, without cost to them individually, and the right to access their services and the right to name these organisations in their vessel response or spill contingency plans as their response contractors for the whole of the U