(13) because of the possible conflicts between exploitation of the oil and gas resources in the Outer Continental Shelf and other uses of the marine environment, including fish and shellfish growth and recovery, and recreational activity, the Federal Government must assume responsibility for the minimization or elimination of any conflict associated with such exploitation; (14) the oil and gas resources of the Outer Continental Shelf are limited, nonrenewable resources which must be developed in a manner which takes into consideration the Nation's long-range energy needs and also assures adequate protection of the renewable resources of the Outer Continental Shelf which are a continuing and increasingly important source of food and protein to the Nation and the world; and (15) funds must be made available to pay for damage to commercial fishing vessels and gear resulting from activities involving oil and gas exploration, development, and production on the Outer Continental Shelf. Purposes Sec. 102. The purposes of this Act are to (1) establish policies and procedures for managing the oil and natural gas resources of the Outer Continental Shelf which are intended to result in expedited exploration and development of the Outer Continental Shelf in order to achieve national economic and energy policy goals, assure national security, reduce dependence on foreign sources, and maintain a favorable balance of payments in world trade; (2) preserve, protect, and develop oil and natural gas resources in the Outer Continental Shelf in a manner which is consistent with the need (A) to make such resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs as rapidly as possible, (B) to balance orderly energy resource development with protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments, (C) to insure the public a fair and equitable return on the resources of the Outer Continental Shelf, and (D) to preserve and maintain free enterprise competition; (3) encourage development of new and improved technology for energy resource production which will eliminate or minimize risk of damage to the human, marine, and coastal environments; (4) provide States, and through States, local governments, which are impacted by Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas exploration, development, and production with comprehensive assistance in order to anticipate and plan for such impact, and thereby to assure adequate protection of the human environment; (5) assure that States, and through States, local governments, have timely access to information regarding activities on the Outer Continental Shelf, and opportunity to review and comment on decisions relating to such activities, in order to anticipate, ameliorate, and plan for the impacts of such activities; (6) assure that States, and through States, local governments, which are directly affected by exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas are provided an opportunity to participate in policy and planning decisions relating to management of the resources of the Outer Continental Shelf; (7) minimize or eliminate conflicts between the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas, and the recovery of other resources such as fish and shellfish; (8) establish an oilspill liability fund to pay for the prompt removal of any oil spilled or discharged as a result of activities on the Outer Continental Shelf and for any damages to public or private interests caused by such spills or discharges; (9) insure that the extent of oil and natural gas resources of the Outer Continental Shelf is assessed at the earliest practicable time; and (10) establish a fishermen's contingency fund to pay for damages to commercial fishing vessels and gear due to Outer Continental Shelf activities. TITLE II-AMENDMENTS TO THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT (This Title is omitted) (See Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended, elsewhere in this Compilation) 43 USC 1802. 43 USC 1811. TITLE III-OFFSHORE OIL SPILL POLLUTION FUND Definitions Sec. 301. For the purposes of this title, the term— (1) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Transportation; (2) "Fund" means the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund established under section 302 of this title; (3) "person" means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, or governmental entity; (4) "incident" means any occurrence or series of related occurrences, involving one or more offshore facilities or vessels, or any combination thereof, which causes or poses an imminent threat of oil pollution; (5) "vessel" means every description of watercraft or other contrivance, whether or not self-propelled, which is operating in the waters above the Outer Continental Shelf (as the term "outer Continental Shelf" is defined in section 2(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331(a))), or which is operating in the waters above submerged lands seaward from the coastline of a State (as the term "submerged lands" is described in section 2(a) of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(a)(2))), and which is transporting oil directly from an offshore facility; (6) "public vessel" means a vessel which (A) is owned or chartered by demise, and operated by (ii) a State or political subdivision thereof, or (iii) a foreign government; and (B) is not engaged in commercial service; (7) "facility" means a structure, or group of structures (other than a vessel or vessels), used for the purpose of transporting, drilling for, producing, processing, storing, transferring, or otherwise handling oil; (8) "offshore facility" includes any oil refinery, drilling structure, oil storage or transfer terminal, or pipeline, or any appurtenance related to any of the foregoing, which is used to drill for, produce, store, handle, transfer, process, or transport oil produced from the Outer Continenal Shelf (as the term "outer Continental Shelf” is defined in section 2(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331(a))), and is located on the Outer Continental Shelf, except that such term does not include (A) a vessel, or (B) a deepwater port (as the term "deepwater port" is defined in section 3(10) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1502)); (9) "oil pollution" means (A) the presence of oil either in an unlawful quantity or which has been discharged at an unlawful rate (i) in or on the waters above submerged lands seaward from the coastline of a State (as the term "submerged lands" is described in section 2(a)(2) of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(a)(2))), or on the adjacent shoreline of such a State, or (ii) on the waters of the contiguous zone established by the United States under Article 24 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone (15 UST 1606); or (B) the presence of oil in or on the waters of the high seas outside the territorial limits of the United States (i) when discharged in connection with activities conducted under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); or (ii) causing injury to or loss of natural resources belonging to, appertaining to, or under the exclusive management authority of, the United States; or (C) the presence of oil in or on the territorial sea, navigable or internal waters, or adjacent shoreline of a foreign country, in a case where damages are recoverable by a foreign claimant under this title; (10) "United States claimant" means any person residing in the United States, the Government of the United States or an agency thereof, or the government of a State or a political subdivision thereof, who asserts a claim under this title; (11) "foreign claimant" means any person residing in a foreign country, the government of a foreign country, or any agency or political subdivision thereof, who asserts a claim under this title; (12) "United States" includes and "State" means the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Nothern Mariana Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and any other territory or possession over which the United States has jurisdiction; (13) "oil" means petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction or residue therefrom; (14) "cleanup costs" means costs of reasonable measures taken, after an incident has occurred, to prevent, minimize, or mitigate oil pollution from such incident; (15) "damages" means compensation sought pursuant to this title by any person suffering any direct and actual injury proximately caused by the discharge of oil from an offshore facility or vessel, except that such term does not include cleanup costs; (16) "person in charge" means the individual immediately responsible for the operation of a vessel or offshore facility; (17) "claim" means a demand in writing for a sum certain; (18) "discharge" means any emission, intentional or unintentional, and includes spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emptying, or dumping; (19) "owner" means any person holding title to, or in the absence of title, any other indicia of ownership of, a vessel or offshore facility, whether by lease, permit, contract, license, or other form of agreement, or with respect to any offshore facility abandoned without prior approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the person who owned such offshore facility immediately prior to such abandonment, except that such term does not include a person who, without participating in the management or operation of a vessel or offshore facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect his security interest in the vessel or offshore facility; (20) "operator" means (A) in the case of a vessel, a charterer by demise or any other person, except the (B) in the case of an offshore facility, any person, except the owner, who is (22) "removal costs" means (A) costs incurred under subsection (c), (d), or (1) of section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and section 5 of the Intervention on the High Seas Act; and (B) cleanup costs, other than the costs described in subparagraph (A); (23) "guarantor" means the person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator; (24) "gross ton" means a unit of 100 cubic feet for the purpose of measuring the total unit capacity of a vessel; and (25) "barrel" means 42 United States gallons at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. 33 USC 1251 1487. Fund Establishment, Administration, and Financing Sec. 302. (a) There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States an Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund in an amount not to exceed $200,000,000, except that such limitation shall be increased to the extent necessary to permit any moneys recovered or collected which are referred to in subsection (b)(2) of this section to be paid into the Fund. The Fund shall be administered by the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury as specified in this title. The Fund may sue and be sued in its own name. (b) The Fund shall be composed of (1) all fees collected pursuant to subsection (d) of this section; and (2) all other moneys recovered or collected on behalf of the Fund under section 308 or any other provision of this title. (c) The Fund shall be immediately available for (1) removal costs described in section 301(22); (2) the processing and settlement of claims under section 307 of this title (including the costs of assessing injury to, or destruction of, natural resources); and (3) subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts, all administrative and personnel costs of the Federal Government incident to the administration of this title, including, but not limited to, the claims settlement activities and adjudicatory and judicial proceedings, whether or not such costs are recoverable under section 308 of this title. Offshore Oil 43 USC 1812. The Secretary is authorized to promulgate regulations designating the person or persons who Regulations. may obligate available money in the Fund for such purposes. (d) (1) The Secretary shall levy and the Secretary of the Treasury shall collect a fee of not to exceed 3 cents per barrel on oil obtained from the Outer Continental Shelf, which shall be imposed on the owner of the oil when such oil is produced. Regulations. Publication in Civil penalty. Violation, prosecution. Regulations. Audit and examination. Regulations. 31 USC 774. (2) The Secretary of the Treasury, after consulting with the Secretary, may promulgate reasonable regulations relating to the collection of the fees authorized by paragraph (1) of this subsection and, from time to time, the modification thereof. Any modification shall become effective on the date specified in the regulation making such modification, but no earlier than the ninetieth day following the date such regulation is published in the Federal Register. Any modification of the fee shall be designed to insure that the Fund is maintained at a level of not less than $100,000,000 and not more than $200,000,000. No regulation that sets or modifies fees, whether or not in effect, may be stayed by any court pending completion of judicial review of such regulation. (3) (A) Any person who fails to collect or pay any fee as required by any regulation promulgated under paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000, to be assessed by the Secretary of the Treasury, in addition to the fee required to be collected or paid and the interest on such fee at the rate such fee would have earned if collected or paid when due and invested in special obligations of the United States in accordance with subsection (e)(2) of this section. Upon the failure of any person so liable to pay any penalty, fee, or interest upon demand, the Attorney General may, at the request of the Secretary of the Treasury, bring an action in the name of the Fund against that person for such amount. (B) Any person who falsifies records or documents required to be maintained under any regulation promulgated under this subsection shall be subject to prosecution for a violation of section 1001 of title 18, United States Code. (4) The Secretary of the Treasury may, by regulation, designate the reasonably necessary records and documents to be kept by persons from whom fees are to be collected pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, and the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller General of the United States shall have access to such records and documents for the purpose of audit and examination. (e) (1) The Secretary shall determine the level of funding required for immediate access in order to meet potential obligations of the Fund. (2) The Secretary of the Treasury may invest any excess in the Fund, above the level determined under paragraph (1) of this subsection, in interest-bearing special obligations of the United States. Such special obligations may be redeemed at any time in accordance with the terms of the special issue and pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury. The interest on, and the proceeds from the sale of, any obligations held in the Fund shall be deposited in and credited to the Fund. (f) If at any time the moneys available in the Fund are insufficient to meet the obligations of the Fund, the Secretary shall issue to the Secretary of the Treasury notes or other obligations in the forms and denominations, bearing the interest rates and maturities, and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Redemption of such notes or other obligations shall be made by the Secretary from moneys in the Fund. Such notes or other obligations shall bear interest at a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of comparable maturity. The Secretary of the Treasury shall purchase any notes or other obligations issued under this subsection and, for that purpose, he is authorized to use as a public debt transaction the proceeds from the sale of any securities issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act. The purpose for which securities may be issued under that Act are extended to include any purchase of such notes or other obligations. The Secretary of the Treasury may at any time sell any of the notes or other obligations acquired by him under this subsection. All redemptions, purchases, and sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of such notes or other obligations shall be treated as public debt transactions of the United States. 43 USC 1813. Sec. 303. Damages and Claimants (a) Claims for economic loss, arising out of or directly resulting from oil pollution, may be asserted for (1) removal costs; and (2) damages, including— (A) injury to, or destruction of, real or personal property; (B) loss of use of real or personal property; (C) injury to, or destruction of, natural resources; (D) loss of use of natural resources; (E) loss of profits or impairment of earning capacity due to injury to, or destruction of, real or personal property or natural resources; and (F) loss of tax revenue for a period of one year due to injury to real or personal property. (b) A claim authorized by subsection (a) of this section may be asserted (1) under paragraph (1), by any claimant, except that the owner or operator of a vessel or offshore facility involved in an incident may assert such a claim only if he can show(A) that he is entitled to a defense to liability under section 304(c)(1) or 304(c)(2) of this title; or (B) if not entitled to such a defense to liability, that he is entitled to a limitation of liability under section 304(b), except that if he is not entitled to such a defense to liability but is entitled to such a limitation of liability, such claim may be asserted only as to the removal costs incurred in excess of that limitation; (2) under paragraphs (2)(A), (B), and (D), by any United States claimant if the property involved is owned or leased, or the natural resource involved is utilized, by the claimant; (3) under paragraph (2)(C), by the President, as trustees for natural resources over which the Federal Government has sovereign rights or exercises exclusive management authority, or by any State for natural resources within the boundary of the State belonging to, managed by, controlled by, or appertaining to the State, and sums recovered under paragraph (2)(C) shall be available for use to restore, rehabilitate, or acquire the equivalent of such natural resources by the appropriate agencies of the Federal Government or the State, but the measure of such damages shall not be limited by the sums which can be used to restore or replace such resources; (4) under paragraph (2)(E), by any United States claimant if the claimant derives at least 25 per centum of his earnings from activities which utilize the property or natural resource; (5) under paragraph (2)(F), by the Federal Government and any State or political subdivision thereof; (6) under paragraphs (2)(A) through (E), by a foreign claimant to the same extent that a United States claimant may assert a claim if— (A) the oil pollution occurred in or on the territorial sea, navigable waters or internal waters, or adjacent shoreline of a foreign country of which the claimant is a resident; (B) the claimant is not otherwise compensated for his loss; (C) the oil was discharged from an offshore facility or from a vessel in connection with activities conducted under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); and (D) recovery is authorized by a treaty or an executive agreement between the United States and the foreign country involved, or the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and other appropriate officials, certifies that such country provides a comparable remedy for United States claimants; (7) under paragraph (1) or (2), by the Attorney General, on his own motion or at the request of the Secretary, on behalf of any group of United States claimants who may assert a claim under this subsection, when he determines that the claimants would be more adequately represented as a class in asserting their claims. (c) If the Attorney General fails to take action under paragraph (7) of subsection (b) within sixty days of the date on which the Secretary designates a source under section 306 of this title, any member of a group described in such paragraph may maintain a class action to recover damages on behalf of that group. Failure of the Attorney General to take action shall have no bearing on any class action maintained by any claimant for damages authorized by this section. Sec. 304. Liability (a) Subject to the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, the owner and operator of a vessel other than a public vessel, or of an offshore facility, which is the source of oil pollution, or poses a threat of oil pollution in circumstances which justify the incurrence of the type of costs described in section 301(22) of this title, shall be jointly, severally, and strictly liable for all loss for which a claim may be asserted under section 303 of this title. (b) Except when the incident is caused primarily by willful misconduct or gross negligence, within the privity or knowledge of the owner or operator, or is caused primarily by a violation, within the privity or knowledge of the owner or operator, of applicable safety, construction, or operating standards or regulations of the Federal Government, the total of the liability under subsection (a) of this section incurred by, or on behalf of, the owner or operator shall be (1) in the case of a vessel, limited to $250,000 or $300 per gross ton, whichever is greater, except when the owner or operator of a vessel fails or refuses to provide all reasonable cooperation and assistance requested by the responsible Federal official in furtherance of cleanup activities; or (2) in the case of an offshore facility, the total of removal and cleanup costs, and an 43 USC 1814. |