[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3393 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3393

To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act to impose penalties and provide for the recovery of removal 
  costs and damages in connection with certain discharges of oil from 
            foreign offshore units, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 4, 2011

  Mr. Rivera (for himself, Mr. Sires, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and Mr. Diaz-
   Balart) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act to impose penalties and provide for the recovery of removal 
  costs and damages in connection with certain discharges of oil from 
            foreign offshore units, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Oil Spill Liability Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO OIL POLLUTION ACT OF 1990.

    (a) Liability of Owners and Operators of Foreign Offshore Units.--
Section 1002 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2702) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Foreign Offshore Units.--In any case in which there is a 
discharge, or substantial threat of discharge, of oil from a foreign 
offshore unit that reaches or threatens to reach the navigable waters 
or adjoining shorelines or the exclusive economic zone, the owner or 
operator of the facility--
            ``(1) is liable for the removal costs and damages specified 
        in subsection (b) that result from such incident; and
            ``(2) shall be treated as a responsible party with respect 
        to the incident for the purposes of this Act in the same manner 
        as a responsible party for an offshore facility.''.
    (b) State Sponsors of Terrorism.--Section 1004 of such Act (33 
U.S.C. 2703) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Foreign Offshore Units Located in Countries That Are State 
Sponsors of Terrorism.--
            ``(1) Increased liability amount.--If a foreign offshore 
        unit involved in an incident described in section 1002(e)(1) is 
        located in whole, or in part, in the territorial sea or on the 
        continental shelf of a foreign country that is a state sponsor 
        of terrorism, the liability limit specified in subsection 
        (a)(3) of this section shall be multiplied by 3 when applied 
        with respect to the incident.
            ``(2) State sponsor of terrorism defined.--In this 
        subsection, the term `state sponsor of terrorism' means any 
        country the government of which the Secretary of State has 
        determined has repeatedly provided support for acts of 
        international terrorism pursuant to--
                    ``(A) section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act 
                of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)) (as continued in 
                effect pursuant to the International Emergency Economic 
                Powers Act);
                    ``(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
                1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); or
                    ``(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 
                U.S.C. 2780).''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT.

    Section 311(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1321(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(13) Foreign offshore units.--
                    ``(A) Discharges of oil reaching navigable 
                waters.--In any case in which there is a discharge of 
                oil from a foreign offshore unit that reaches the 
                navigable waters of the United States, adjoining 
                shorelines, or waters of the contiguous zone--
                            ``(i) the discharge shall be subject to the 
                        prohibition in paragraph (3); and
                            ``(ii) the owner or operator of the unit 
                        shall be subject to the penalties established 
                        under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Foreign offshore units located in countries 
                that are state sponsors of terrorism.--If a foreign 
                offshore unit involved in an incident described in 
                subparagraph (A) is located in whole, or in part, in 
                the territorial sea or on the continental shelf of a 
                foreign country that is a state sponsor of terrorism, 
                each maximum penalty amount specified in paragraph (6) 
                or (7) shall be multiplied by 3 when applied with 
                respect to the incident.
                    ``(C) Definitions.--In this paragraph, the 
                following definitions apply:
                            ``(i) Foreign offshore unit.--The term 
                        `foreign offshore unit' has the meaning given 
                        that term in section 1001 of the Oil Pollution 
                        Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701).
                            ``(ii) State sponsor of terrorism.--The 
                        term `state sponsor of terrorism' has the 
                        meaning given that term in section 1004(e) of 
                        the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 
                        2702(e)).''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to a 
discharge, or substantial threat of discharge, of oil occurring after 
the date of enactment of this Act.
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