(1) Upon receipt of a plan, ecology shall evaluate whether the plan is complete, and if not, the plan holder shall be notified of any deficiencies within five business days. The public review and comment period does not begin until a complete plan is received.

(2) Once a plan has been determined to be complete, ecology shall notify interested parties, including local and tribal governments and make the plan available for public review and comment.

Ecology will accept comments on the plan no later than thirty days after the plan has been made publicly available. No later than sixty-five days from the date of public notice of availability, ecology will make a written determination that the plan is disapproved, approved, or conditionally approved. The written determination will be provided in the form of an order and subject to appeal as specified in chapter 43.21B RCW.

(a) If the plan is approved, the plan holder receives a certificate of plan approval and plan expiration dates. Approved plans shall be valid for five years.

(b) If a plan is conditionally approved, ecology may require a plan holder to operate under specific restrictions until unacceptable components of the plan are revised, resubmitted and approved. In the conditional approval ecology will describe:

(i) Each specific restriction and the duration for which they apply;

(ii) Each required item to bring the plan into compliance; and

(iii) The schedule for plan holders to submit required updates, including a reference to the regulatory standard in question.

(iv) Restrictions may include, but are not limited to, additional information for the plan, reducing oil transfer rates, increasing personnel levels, or restricting operations to daylight hours. Restrictions may also include additional requirements to ensure availability of response equipment.

(v) Conditional approval expires no later than eighteen months from date of issue before the plan holder must request an extension which is subject to public review.

(vi) Ecology shall revoke its conditional approval prior to the expiration date of a plan holder who fails to meet the terms of the conditional approval. The revocation will be in the form of an appealable order.

(c) If plan approval is disapproved, the plan holder shall receive an explanation of the factors.

(3) The owner or operator or plan holder shall not engage in oil storage, transport, transfer, or other operations without an approved or conditionally approved plan. Plan holders shall not enroll any persons in a plan that has not been approved or conditionally approved, by ecology.

(4) Ecology may review a plan following an actual spill or drill of a plan and may require revisions as appropriate.

(5) Public notice will be given of any plan approval, conditional approval, or disapproval of a plan.