(a) A vessel owner or operator required by §§ 155.1035, 155.1040, 155.5035 to have a response plan shall conduct exercises as necessary to ensure that the plan will function in an emergency. Both announced and unannounced exercises must be included.

(b) The following are the minimum exercise requirements for vessels covered by this subpart:

(1) Remote assessment and consultation exercises, which must be conducted quarterly;

(2) Emergency procedures exercises, which must be conducted quarterly;

(3) Shore-based salvage and shore-based marine firefighting management team tabletop exercises, which must be conducted annually;

(4) Response provider equipment deployment exercises, which must be conducted annually;

(5) An exercise of the entire response plan, which must be conducted every three years. The vessel owner or operator shall design the exercise program so that all components of the response plan are exercised at least once every three years. All of the components do not have to be exercised at one time; they may be exercised over the 3-year period through the required exercises or through an area exercise; and

(6) Annually, at least one of the exercises listed in § 155.4052(b)(2) and (4) must be unannounced. An unannounced exercise is one in which the personnel participating in the exercise have not been advised in advance of the exact date, time, or scenario of the exercise.

(7) Compliance with the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) Guidelines will satisfy the vessel response plan exercise requirements. These guidelines are available on the Internet at https://Homeport.uscg.mil/exercises. Once on that Web site, select the link for “Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP)” and then select “Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) Guidelines”. Compliance with an alternate program that meets the requirements of 33 CFR 155.1060(a) and 155.5061, and has been approved under 33 CFR 155.1065 and 155.5065 will also satisfy the vessel response plan exercise requirements.