Stellwagen Bank FEIS/MP Appendices Pqge B7 



responsible for the discharge, or the substantial threat of discharge, of oil into navigable waters or adjoining 

 shorelines or the Exclusive Economic Zone is liable for the removal costs and damages, including assessment 

 costs; for injury, destruction, loss or loss of use of natural resources, injury to, or economic losses resulting from 

 destruction of real or personal property; subsistence use of natural resources, net lost govenmient revenues, lost 

 profits or impairment of earning capacity; and net costs of providing increased or additional public services 

 during or after removal activities. NOAA has the responsibility of promulgating damage assessment regulations 

 and following the regulations will create a rebuttable presumption in favor of a given assessment. Sums 

 recovered by a trustee for natural resource damages will be retained in a revolving trust account to reimburse 

 or pay costs incurred by the trustee with respect to those resources. 



Title II makes numerous amendments to conform to other Federal statutes, particularly section 311 of the Clean 

 Water Act, to the provisions of the Oil Pollution Act. 



Title III encourages the estabUshment of an international inventory of spill removal equipment and personnel. 



Title IV is divided into three subtitles: A) Prevention; B) Removal; and C) Penalties and Miscellaneous. 

 Subtitle A gives added responsibihty to the Coast Guard regarding merchant marine personnel, including the 

 review of alcohol and drug abuse and review of criminal records prior to issuance and renewal of documentation. 

 It also amends the Ports and Waterways Safety Act to: require the Coast Guard to "require appropriate vessels 

 which operate in an area of a vessel traffic service to utilize or comply with that service." and 2) authorize the 

 construction, improvement and expansion of vessel traffic services. 



Further, Subtitle A establishes double hull requirements for tank vessels. Most tank vessels over 5,000 gross tons 

 will be required to have double hulls by 2010, while vessels under 5,000 gross tons will be required to have a 

 double hull or double containment systems by 2015. All newly constructed tankers must contain a double hull 

 (or double containment system if under 5,000 gross tons), while existing vessels are phased out over a period of 

 years. 



Subtitle B amends subsection 311(c) of the Clean Water Act, requiring the Federal Government to ensure 

 effective and immediate removal of a discharge, and mitigation or prevention of a substantial threat of a 

 discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance into or on the navigable waters, on the adjoining shorelines, into or 

 on the waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone, or that may affect natural resources belonging to, appertaining 

 to, or under the exclusive management authority of the U.S. It also requires a revision and repubUcation of the 

 National Contingency Plan within one year which will include, among other things, a Fish and Wildlife response 

 plan developed in consultation with NOAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Nothing in Subtitle B preempts 

 the rights of States to require stricter standards for removal actions. 



Subtitle C alters and increases civil and administrative penalties for illegal discharges and violations of regulations 

 promulgated under the Clean Water Act. 



Title VII authorizes an oil pollution research and technology development program, including the establishment 

 of an interagency coordinating committee that is chaired by Department Of Transportation and composed of 

 representatives from the Departments of Energy, the Interior, Transportation, Commerce (including NOAA), 

 and Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Aeronautics 

 and Space Administration, as well as such other Federal agencies as the President may designate. 



Title IX amends the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and increases from $500 million to $1 billion the amount that 

 can be spent on any single oil spill incident, of which no more than $500 miUion may be spent on natural 

 resource damage, assessments and claims. 



