NOAA's main role is to provide scientific support to the people who must plan for dispersant use in coastal regions around the US. As part of this work, we stay abreast of current research on dispersants, provide training about issues related to use of dispersants, and participate in developing dispersant monitoring programs (such as SMART).

We also produce software tools and manuals to help spill responders and planners. NOAA has collaborated with other agencies and private industry to create several response system planning tools, one of which is a tool that responders and planners can use to assess dispersant application system performance.

In addition, we produce the Dispersant Application Observer Job Aid, a field guide that helps people who are observing the application of chemical dispersants to oil spilled on the water.