# National Response Center
**Aliases:** NRC
**Entity class:** Federal incident-reporting center
## Definition
The **National Response Center** is the federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills and other incidents covered by federal reporting requirements. The Coast Guard also routes [[wiki/America's Waterway Watch|America's Waterway Watch]] reports through the center's 1-877-24WATCH number.
## Relationships
- **staffed by:** [[wiki/United States Coast Guard|United States Coast Guard]].
- **public reporting route:** [[wiki/America's Waterway Watch|America's Waterway Watch]].
- **distinct from:** [[wiki/National Counterterrorism Center|National Counterterrorism Center]].
## Sources / Provenance
- [National Response Center — official site, accessed September 23, 2026](https://www.nrc.uscg.mil/)
- [U.S. Coast Guard — America's Waterway Watch, reviewed June 26, 2017](https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Prevention-Policy-CG-5P/Inspections-Compliance-CG-5PC-/Port-and-Facility-Compliance-CG-FAC/Americas-Waterway-Watch/)