CANUSWEST and CANUSWEST North were developed to assist Federal, State/Provincial, local, and Tribal/Aboriginal responders to mitigate the effects of oil and hazardous materials spills on human health and safety, environment, and property by specifying the processes needed to facilitate an effective response to environmental emergency incidents on either side of the British Columbia, Canada/USA border. This plan was developed pursuant to the July of 1994 the Canada-United States Joint Inland Pollution Contingency Plan (the Inland Plan) signed by the Administrator of EPA and the Minister for Department of the Environment which divided the common border between the countries into five regions. EPA Region 10 and Environment Canada Pacific and Yukon Regions developed the CANUSWEST and CANUSWEST NORTH Annexes to the Inland Plan to address issues unique to the area. CANUSWEST and CANUSWEST North are based on the principle of escalation and accordingly recognizes the roles of the local, state/provincial, and Tribal/Aboriginal responders. The draft CANUSWEST North plan was drafted in 2000 to address the border between Alaska and Canada.