372 



contract is placed after 1 January 1972, or in cases where no building contract 

 has been previously placed, if the keel is laid or the tanker is at a similar state 

 of construction, after 30 June 1972. Tankers constructed under the provisions of 

 this section shall carry on board a certificate, issued by the Secretary of the 

 Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, attesting to that compliance. 

 Tankers not required to be constructed in accordance with these provisions shall 

 carry on board a certificate to that effect issued l)y the Secretary. Tankers of 

 U.S. nationality are prohibited from engaging in domestic or foreign trade with- 

 out an appropriate certificate. Certificates issued to foreign tankers pursuant to 

 the Convention by other nations shall be accepted by the Secretary as of the 

 same force as certificates issiied by him. If the Secretary is satisfied tliat a 

 tanker does not comply with the provisions of the Convention, whether or not 

 the nation the vessel is registered in is signatory to the Convention, he may deny 

 this tanker access to U.S. ports or off-shore tenuinals under U.S. control or the 

 territorial seas of the United States. 



Proposed Penalties 



The proposed amendment will provide much stronger penalties than the exist- 

 ing law. Any person who willfully discharges oil or oily mixture from a ship in 

 violation of the 1961 Act as amended by this bill or the regulations thereunder 

 shall be fined not more than $10,000 for each violation or imprisoned not more 

 than one year, or both. In addition to any other penalty prescribed by law, any 

 person who willfully or negligently discharges oil or oily mixture from a ship in 

 violation of the 1961 Act as amended by this bill or any regulation thereunder 

 shall be liable to a civil i^enalty of not more than .$10,000 for each violation, 

 and any person who otherwise violates this Act or any regulation thereunder shall 

 be liable to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each violation. 



Nothing in the Act, as amended by this bill, or in regulations issued hereunder 

 shall be construed to modify or amend the provisions of section 311 of the Federal 

 Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, or of section 89 of Title 14. 



PROBABLE IMPACT OF PROPOSED ACTION 



This bill addresses itself to (1) intentional discharges, the single largest 

 source of oil pollution from marine operations, and (2) limiting the extent of 

 the release of oil during certain casualty situations. 



Oil Pollution Sources 



The sources and magnitudes of all oil pollution in the seas provide the general 

 background for evaluating the impact of tankers on the environment. Dr. Max 

 Blumer of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has estimated that "the 

 total annual influx to the ocean lies probably between five and ten million 

 tons." Other sources have placed this influx figure from as low as 1.64 million 

 tons to as high as 5 million tons.^ " 



The results of analysis of statistical data, extrapolitions, and casualties that 

 relate to oil in the ocean are given in tables 1 and 2. During calendar years 1969 

 and 1970, the average annual amount of oil pollution of the oceans from all 

 sources was estimated at 4.H97 million metric tons. Of this amount, 2.307 million 

 metric tons or 47.1 i)ercent of the oil was from ves.sels (including barges) or 

 vessel-related operations. Tankers (including tank barges) and tanker-related 

 operations account for 1.457 million metric tons (29.8 percent) of the annual 

 oil influx. 



1 "Man's Impact on the Global Environment — Report of the Study of Critical Environ- 

 mental Properties," Camhridee, Massachusetts, 1070. 



2T. A. Murphy, "Environmental Effects of Oil Pollution." paper presented to the 

 American Society of Civil Engineers, Boston, Massachusetts, .July 1970. 



