[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3305 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 518
111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3305

                          [Report No. 111-249]

To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require oil polluters to pay 
          the full cost of oil spills, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 4, 2010

 Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. 
 Cardin, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Brown of Ohio, 
  Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Kaufman, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Reed, Ms. Klobuchar, 
 Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Durbin, 
 Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Casey, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Franken, and Ms. 
   Mikulski) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

                             August 5, 2010

               Reported by Mrs. Boxer, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require oil polluters to pay 
          the full cost of oil spills, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Big Oil Bailout Prevention 
Liability Act of 2010''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. LIMITS ON LIABILITY FOR OFFSHORE FACILITIES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Section 1004(a)(3) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 
U.S.C. 2704(a)(3)) is amended by striking ``$75,000,000'' and inserting 
``$10,000,000,000''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act and the amendments made by this Act take effect 
on April 15, 2010.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Big Oil Bailout Prevention Unlimited 
Liability Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF LIMITS ON LIABILITY FOR OFFSHORE FACILITIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 1004(a)(3) of the Oil Pollution Act of 
1990 (33 U.S.C. 2704(a)(3)) is amended by striking ``plus $75,000,000'' 
and inserting ``and the liability of the responsible party under 
section 1002''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section takes 
effect on April 15, 2010.

SEC. 3. CLAIMS PROCEDURE.

    Section 1013(c)(2) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 
2713(c)(2)) is amended by striking ``settled by any person by payment 
within 90 days'' and inserting ``settled in whole by any person by 
payment within 30 days''.

SEC. 4. OIL AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE RESPONSE PLANNING.

    (a) National Response System.--Section 311(j)(5) of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(j)(5)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by adding at the end the 
        following:
                            ``(iii) The President shall ensure that the 
                        regulations promulgated pursuant to this 
                        paragraph are designed to prevent, to the 
                        maximum extent practicable, injury to the 
                        economy, jobs, and the environment, including 
                        to prevent--
                                    ``(I) loss of, destruction of, or 
                                injury to, real or personal property;
                                    ``(II) loss of subsistence use of 
                                natural resources;
                                    ``(III) loss of revenue;
                                    ``(IV) loss of profits or earning 
                                capacity;
                                    ``(V) an increase in the cost of 
                                providing public services to remove a 
                                discharge; and
                                    ``(VI) loss of, destruction of, or 
                                injury to, natural resources.
                            ``(iv) The President shall promulgate 
                        regulations that clarify the requirements of a 
                        response plan in accordance with subparagraph 
                        (D).'';
            (2) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(D) A response plan required under this paragraph 
                shall--
                            ``(i) be consistent with the requirements 
                        of the National Contingency Plan and Area 
                        Contingency Plans;
                            ``(ii) identify the qualified individual 
                        having full authority to implement removal 
                        actions, and require immediate communications 
                        between that individual and the appropriate 
                        Federal official and the persons providing 
                        personnel and equipment pursuant to clause 
                        (iii);
                            ``(iii) identify, and ensure by contract or 
                        other means approved by the President the 
                        availability of, private personnel and 
                        equipment in the quantities necessary, staged 
                        and available in the appropriate region to 
                        respond immediately to and sustain the response 
                        effort for as long as necessary--
                                    ``(I) to remove, to the maximum 
                                extent practicable, a worst-case 
                                discharge (including a discharge 
                                resulting from fire or an explosion);
                                    ``(II) to mitigate damage from a 
                                discharge; and
                                    ``(III) to prevent or reduce a 
                                substantial threat of such a discharge;
                            ``(iv) demonstrate the financial capability 
                        to pay for removal costs and damages;
                            ``(v) describe the training, equipment 
                        testing, periodic unannounced drills, and 
                        response actions of persons on the vessel or at 
                        the facility, to be carried out under the plan 
                        to ensure the safety of the vessel or facility 
                        and to meet the requirements of this 
                        subparagraph;
                            ``(vi) describe the environmental effects 
                        of the response plan methodologies and 
                        equipment;
                            ``(vii) describe the process for 
                        communication and coordination with Federal, 
                        State, and local agencies before, during, and 
                        after a response to a discharge;
                            ``(viii) identify performance standards for 
                        the quantity of oil or hazardous substance that 
                        will be removed under the response plan 
                        immediately following the discharge and at 
                        regular, identified periods, including 
                        provisions for reporting the degree to which 
                        actual removal meets the required performance 
                        standards;
                            ``(ix) in the case of oil production, 
                        drilling, and workover facilities, describe the 
                        specific measures to be used in response to a 
                        blowout or other event involving loss of well 
                        control;
                            ``(x) identify potential economic and 
                        ecological impacts of a worst-case discharge 
                        and response activities to prevent or mitigate, 
                        to the maximum extent practicable, those 
                        impacts in the event of a discharge;
                            ``(xi) be updated periodically; and
                            ``(xii) be resubmitted for approval of each 
                        significant change.''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (E), by striking clauses (i) through 
        (v) and inserting the following:
                            ``(i) require notice of the proposed 
                        response plan to be published in the Federal 
                        Register and provide for a public comment 
                        period for the plan of at least 30 days;
                            ``(ii) promptly review the response plan;
                            ``(iii) require amendments to any plan that 
                        does not meet the requirements of this 
                        paragraph;
                            ``(iv) approve any plan only after finding, 
                        based on evidence in the record, that--
                                    ``(I) the response plan meets the 
                                requirements of subparagraph (D);
                                    ``(II) there have been 1 or more 
                                field tests of the plan in the area in 
                                which the tank vessel, nontank vessel, 
                                or facility is proposed to operate, and 
                                the results of that field testing are 
                                publicly available;
                                    ``(III) the methods and equipment 
                                proposed to be used under the response 
                                plan are demonstrated to be 
                                technologically feasible in the area 
                                and under the conditions (including the 
                                depth of a well, in the case of an 
                                offshore facility) in which the tank 
                                vessel, nontank vessel, or facility is 
                                proposed to operate;
                                    ``(IV) the available scientific 
                                information about the area allows for 
                                identification of potential impacts to 
                                ecological areas and protection of 
                                those areas in the event of a 
                                discharge, including adequate surveys 
                                of wildlife; and
                                    ``(V) the response plan describes 
                                the quantity of oil likely to be 
                                removed in the event of a worst-case 
                                discharge;
                            ``(v) obtain the written concurrence of 
                        such other agencies as the President determines 
                        to be appropriate;
                            ``(vi) review each plan periodically 
                        thereafter; and
                            ``(vii) in the case of a plan for a nontank 
                        vessel, consider any applicable State-mandated 
                        response plan in effect on August 9, 2004, and 
                        ensure consistency to the maximum extent 
                        practicable.''.
    (b) Definitions.--Section 311(a)(24)(B) of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(a)(24)(B)) is amended by 
inserting ``, including from an unanticipated and uncontrolled blowout 
or other loss of well control,'' after ``foreseeable discharge''.

SEC. 5. REPORTS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act and 
every 90 days thereafter until all claims resulting from the blowout 
and explosion of the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon 
that occurred April 20, 2010, and resulting hydrocarbon releases into 
the environment, have been paid, the administrator of the fund 
described in paragraph (1) shall submit to Congress a report that 
describes--
            (1) the status of the compensation fund established by 
        British Petroleum Company to pay claims resulting from the 
        blowout and explosion; and
            (2) each claim that has been paid from that fund.
            Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to amend the Oil 
        Pollution Act of 1990 and the Federal Water Pollution Control 
        Act to require oil polluters to pay the full cost of oil 
        spills, and for other purposes.''.
                                                       Calendar No. 518

111th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 3305

                          [Report No. 111-249]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require oil polluters to pay 
          the full cost of oil spills, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             August 5, 2010

                       Reported with an amendment