Just as oil tanker operators are required to submit oil spill response plans to the Coast Guard and refinery operators are required to submit the plans to the Environmental Protection Agency, oil pipeline operators are required to submit their facility response plans (FRPs) to OPS for review and approval. More than 1,500 facility response plans have been submitted to OPS. They represent 250 oil pipeline operators and lines that range from three inch gathering systems to thirty-six inch product lines and the forty-eight inch Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. OPS thoroughly reviews the plans, emphasizing the adequacy of the pipeline operator's response resources, incident command system, and ability to protect environmentally sensitive areas. OPS makes sure that pipeline operators' plans are consistent with the National Contingency Plan and the local Area Contingency Plan, which the Coast Guard and EPA write.

OPS seeks to better protect people and the environment by conducting table top and area exercises. OPS has conducted more than 80 table top and about six area exercises to test how well operators prevent and respond to oil spills. The scenarios present worst case scenarios. A team of Federal, State, and local environmental and emergency response agencies and company representatives design the area drills, which include equipment deployment. The working relationships built during drills helped government and industry workers better prevent and respond to oil spills from pipelines. OPS helps conduct and evaluate drills that the Coast Guard, EPA, and industry sponsor.

OPS works with the National Response Team and the eleven Region Response Teams that the EPA and Coast Guard lead. For example, OPS played a key role in drafting and implementing an Integrated Contingency Planning tool that won a Hammer Award for streamlining Federal contingency planning requirements. Rather than filing several contingency plans, operators could meet all Federal requirements with a single plan. OPS works closely with natural resource trustee agencies, including the Department of the Interior and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, to identify sensitive resources that need extra protection from oil spills. OPS responds to catastrophic pipeline spills by sending inspectors to investigate the accident and sending a liaison officer to represent OPS in the unified command structure. This practice provides a source of pipeline expertise for the EPA or Coast Guard on-scene coordinator.