40 Proceedings Summer 2025 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Customs and Border Protection, in making critical contributions. From Canada, there is great par- ticipation from Environment Canada, Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Public Safety Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The coopera- tion and effort by all agencies are key to the CANUSLANT JRT being a well-established, close-knit team. The JRT meets twice annually, and the meeting locations rotate to various loca- tions on each side of the border. Maintaining the Relationship As for testing the CANUSLANT Annex, exercises are conducted every five to six years, with the last full-scale exercise held in 2019. During this exercise, command posts were established on each side of the border and a joint Area Command was established in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. The exercise also included equip- ment deployment along the border in Passamaquoddy Bay, where U.S. and Canadian vessels conducted joint boom and skimming operations. The next round of exercises will begin with a tabletop exercise in 2025 before building into a full-scale exer- cise the following year. The exercise scenario will focus on a large vessel fire causing the loss of containerized cargo, much of which is hazmat. Responders will need to address two events—containers washing ashore along the border between both countries and a burning con- tainer ship along the border. The 2025 workshop will focus on notification proce- dures and the CANUSLANT activation process, as well as discussions on hazmat and salvage response capa- bilities along the border. As with the 2019 exercise, it is anticipated that there will be an Incident Command Post (ICP) on each side of the border with a joint Area Command over the two ICPs handling political engage- ment and critical resource allocations during the 2026 full-scale exercise. Field operations for a joint hazmat response also are being planned. Each year, the CANUSLANT Annex plan is reviewed for accuracy and contact lists, and procedures are updated as needed. Every five years, or following a major exercise or real-world event, the plan is updated to reflect any lessons learned. Conclusion The Coast Guard Northeast District and the Canadian Coast Guard, Atlantic Region continue to work closely together to improve the safety of our waters. By conduct- ing regular planning, exercises, and meetings, relation- ships between agencies grow. With strong interagency relations, response capabilities improve, and better ser- vice is provided. About the author Joseph Boudrow serves as the incident management and preparedness advisor for the Coast Guard Northeast District. In this role, he serves as the U.S. Coast Guard co-chair for the Regional Response Teams for federal Regions 1 and 2 and serves as the U.S. Coast Guard co-chair for the JRT with the Canadian Coast Guard for CANUSLANT. For more information Read the CANUSLANT Annex of the Joint Contingency Plan at https://bit.ly/JCPConsolidated. U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard dignitaries, including ADM Linda L. Fagan and Commissioner Mario Pelletier, were on hand to observe a Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod H-60 helicopter performing a search-and-rescue demonstration with a rescue swimmer from the deck of the CGC William Chadwick in Penobscot Bay, Maine, in May 2023. Coast Guard photo
