Polaris’s Travis Scott and Samantha Iliff recently worked alongside Ed Owens of Coastal Consulting and Connor Barnes, CHMP of Leading Edge to support a response exercise that placed a strong emphasis on the Shoreline Response Program (SRP).
At the drill, we had a few conversations with other players about why the term Shoreline Response Program (SRP) is used and how it’s different from SCAT. They’re related, but they’re not the same thing.
In a traditional response, shoreline work is split across ICS. Cleanup and recovery sit in Operations, while SCAT operates in the Environmental Unit, collecting data, assessing shoreline oiling, and developing treatment recommendations. Those recommendations (STRs) are reviewed, approved, and then handed off to Operations for implementation.
That system works, but it takes time to stand up. Shoreline response often ramps up after impacts are already occurring, and coordination between planning and field execution isn’t always direct.
The SRP concept is really about tightening that system.
An SRP doesn’t replace SCAT, it builds around it. It creates a more integrated framework within the Environmental Unit to coordinate shoreline data, planning, and communication with Operations from the start of a response.
In practical terms, that means:
-Shoreline response is considered earlier, often in parallel with on-water operations
-SCAT data, treatment recommendations, and operational planning are more closely linked
-Communication between planning and field teams is more direct (e.g., SCAT-OPS liaison roles)
The goal is straightforward: reduce delays, improve alignment, and make shoreline response more effective when timing matters most.
That said, this isn’t always a structural change. On smaller or well-coordinated responses, many of these functions are already happening, it may just not be labeled as an “SRP.”
The terminology matters less than the outcome: getting shoreline response moving early, and keeping planning and operations connected as the work progresses.