While Guyana has in place a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP), Auditor General Deodat Sharma has concluded that the plan is littered with legal and operational gaps that could severely impact response efforts.
The conclusion was contained in the report of a performance audit of Guyana’s preparedness for a marine oil spill. The report was tabled at Monday’s sitting of the National Assembly.
Guyana’s National Oil Spill Contingency Plan was approved in August 2020 and implemented in October 2020. Under the plan, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) is designated the Competent National Authority and has overall responsibility for responding to oil spills, and the authority to make and implement decisions to mitigate the impacts of oil spills.
The Audit Office of Guyana said that it found that the regulations for spill response to protect human health and the environment are not in place. It explained that the government has not made or even identified all the legal changes required by international treaties, including those dating back to the 1990s. Moreover, not all identified legal gaps have been addressed.
“…for example, regulations to control the use of hazardous chemicals and the burning of oil during a spill incident are absent,” the report identified.
It added that no action was taken to approve draft regulations to protect against oil spills explaining that regulations for environmental protection and pollution control from petroleum activities in an offshore area were not finalised, five years after being drafted. The proposed regulations include requirements for emergency response procedures to be taken by operators during an oil spill incident.
Though an oil spill response plan is in place there are operational and resourcing gaps. The Auditor General said that government did not conduct an assessment to identify all the risks that may arise, to be covered by the plan.
“Where risks were identified, there are gaps that could hamper spill response. The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) has stated that the resources readily available are appropriate for responding only to small and medium size spills,” the report noted.
The 28-page report presents the results of a performance audit on the Government of Guyana’s preparedness through the responsible agencies to deal with oil spills at sea. It noted that planning for oil spills is critical since oil exploration, production, processing, storage, off-loading and transporting activities come with inherent risks which can result in spills.
Based on the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) submitted by ExxonMobil – Guyana’s only oil producer – should there be a significant oil spill, it has the potential to impact several regional neighbours.
With oil production happening in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the country’s entire coastline could be potentially affected should there be a spill. Also, Shell Beach which is located on the coastline and is a designated ‘protected area’, can be affected by oil spills. This area has the largest and most intact mangroves which serve as a natural barrier to reduce flooding in coastal communities by lessening the force of oncoming waves and storm surges. Also, it is the nesting site for four species of sea turtles of which two species are classified as vulnerable, one as endangered and another as critically endangered.
Already, ExxonMobil has reported a “one barrel” oil spill offshore Guyana and to date, the Environmental Protection Agency, CDC and other relevant bodies remain tightlipped about the investigation.
Inadequate legal
and regulatory
framework
Under the existing framework, the 25-member National Oil Spill Commit-tee was created and is maintaining, enforcing and recommending applicable improvements. The Committee is also responsible for overseeing the development of policy and draft legislation, and for making recommendations on relevant international conventions that will increase the nation’s capability to deal with pollution and minimise the incidents of pollution from oil spills in our environment.
The CDC is designated as the lead agency and has the overall responsibility for responding to oil spill emergencies.
The Auditor General’s report highlighted that Guyana is a signatory to and ratified six international and one regional conventions addressing marine oil spill preparedness, response and cooperation, and liability and compensation for oil pollution damage. However, the local legal and regulatory framework was not updated to address the requirements of the conventions despite the state having a legal obligation to do so.
Auditor General Sharma said that the legal and regulatory framework to establish response requirements for oil spills is inadequate. The report informed that a comprehensive review and gap analysis of the existing legal and regulatory framework to ensure the requirements for spill response preparedness were partially completed.
“The failure to complete the review of the legal and regulatory framework resulted in some laws remaining deficient and not aligned with industry best practices. For example, there are no specific regulations or test procedures for the approval of dispersants (chemicals). The Environmental Protec-tion Agency Act provides a broad mandate regarding the prevention and control of pollution however; it does not specifically cover offshore petroleum activities. The current regulations made under the Act do not cover the use of dispersants, which is an effective response tool to manage the impacts of major spill incidents,” the Auditor General said.
The report also highlighted that under the Guyana Shipping Act 1988, the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) is the agency mandated with responsibility for the regulation of ships including oil pollution matters in Guyana’s territorial sea. However, it was also identified that oil operations are happening in the EEZ which falls outside of Guyana’s territorial sea. Under the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan, MARAD is designated as the lead agency for marine spills and is responsible for the monitoring and detection of offshore oil spills. As a result of the limited jurisdiction, MARAD is dependent on the support of other agencies such as the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard and Air Corps to conduct patrols and report sightings of oil spills, the report notes.
Additionally, the Auditor General said that though draft regulations to update the 1986 Petroleum Act were completed since 2018, there has been no movement to update the law. It was noted that the purpose of the regulations was for environmental protection and pollution control from petroleum activities in an offshore area.
“The proposed regulations would have established some aspects of national requirements for oil spill response such as the emergency response procedures to be taken by operators during an oil spill incident. However, at the time of reporting, the draft regulations were not approved for publication,” the report stated.
In light of its findings, the Audit Office recommended that the government identify a lead agency and make the necessary arrangements to review the current legal and regulatory framework to identify and address the gaps.
The Auditor General said that a comprehensive risk assessment to inform the contingency planning was not done adding that it should have been the first step in crafting an oil spill response plan. It was noted that the assessment aims to identify measures to reduce and manage the risks of spills, and the impacts if a spill does occur.
“Results of the risk assessment should be summarised and how the results were used to inform the development of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan and response policies, explained. A comprehensive risk assessment was not conducted by the Civil Defence Commission to inform the development of Guyana’s National Contingency Plan. In the absence of this assessment, it could not be determined on what basis the National Plan was developed,” the report said.
The report also said that places of refuge during oil spills to protect human life and the environment were not identified along with total resources for responding to large oil spills.
