Emergency Response
EPA Region 9's Emergency Response Program - with federal on-scene coordinators (FOSCs) based in San Francisco and Signal Hill, California, and Carson City, Nevada - responds to environmental disasters, hazardous materials releases, and inland oil spills that threaten human health and/or the environment.
Other duties include participating in emergency preparedness drills, counter-terrorism drills and planning, and the Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures program. The EPA's Emergency Response Section is sometimes called to assist state and local government when an emergency requires additional resources and expertise.
Reporting Oil or Chemical Spills
The top priority of EPA's emergency response program is to eliminate any danger to the public and the environment posed by hazardous substance releases and oil spills. To help fulfill this mission, EPA requires that the person or organization responsible for a release or spill notify the federal government when the amount reaches a federally-determined limit. EPA has established reporting requirements for hazardous substance releases and oil spills to identify when the federal government should be notified. States also may have separate reporting requirements. All it takes is a single telephone call to the National Response Center at 1 (800) 424-8802.
Emergency Response & Removal Sites
You may find information about emergency response and removal sites in Region 9 at the On-Scene Coordinator site.