(1) Rail plan holders will hold one basic tabletop drill once every three years. In Washington, a modified triennial cycle for drills, as found in the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (NPREP), is relied on to test each component of the plan.

(2) Tabletop drills are intended to demonstrate a rail plan holder's capability to manage a spill using the ICS. Role playing shall be required in this drill. The drill must involve some members of the SMT and WRSP described in the plan.

(3) Ecology's participation in drills: Rail plan holders shall ensure ecology is provided an opportunity to help design and evaluate the drill.

(4) Scheduling drills: The plan holder shall schedule the drill on the NWACP area exercise calendar at least ninety days in advance of the scheduled date.

(5) Evaluating drills: Ecology shall provide a written drill evaluation report to the rail plan holder following the drill. Credit will be granted for drill objectives that ecology determines to be successfully met.

(6) Objectives that are not successfully met shall be tested again in subsequent drills, except that significant failures will be retested within thirty days.

(7) Where plan deficiencies have been identified in the written evaluation, rail plan holders may be required to make specific amendments to the plan or conduct additional trainings to address the deficiencies.

(8) A rail plan holder may request an informal review with ecology of the ecology drill evaluation within thirty days of receipt of the report.