The Oil Pollution Act Of 1990: A History & Recent Developments

• Published date: 27 June 2022
• Subject Matter: Environment, Transport, Environmental Law, Marine/ Shipping, Clean Air / Pollution
• Law Firm: Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP
• Author: Ms Nicole L. Andrescavage

In 1851, the Limitation of Liability Act was passed in the U.S., which (among other things) applied to oil spills from vessels. Vessel owners were liable for incident-related costs only up to the post-incident value of the vessel. In 1924, Congress passed the first Oil Pollution Act, expanding vessel owner liability for intentional/deliberate discharges. Two very infamous and world-shocking incidents later evidenced the issues with this limited oil spill liability.

First, in 1967, the supertanker SS Torrey Canyon ran aground on the Seven Stones reef, spilling over 100,000 tons of crude oil into the English Channel. The vessel was, at the time, owned by a subsidiary of Union Oil Company, but Liberian-flagged and chartered out to British Petroleum. She was destroyed, and the owner's liability for the incident was limited to $5.00 - the value of the lone remaining lifeboat. In the 1960s and 1970s, this led to an international push for more regulation, leading to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. In the U.S., several laws were passed that provided some safeguards (Ports and Waterways Safety Act, Deep Water Port Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, etc.), but Congress couldn't agree on language for a bill that would comprehensively address oil pollution.

It took another disaster before Congress finally did agree. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground in the Prince Williams Sound off the coast of Alaska. As a result, she spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into the surrounding waters - the largest marine oil spill at that time. Alaska Governor Steve Cowper's 1989 commission investigated the spill and recommended a number of policy and legislative improvements. Almost all of these were included in what became the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, or OPA 90 (33 U.S.C. ' 2701-2761).

Through OPA 90, Responsible Parties are held liable for discharges or the substantial threat of a discharge of oil from a vessel or facility into covered areas. The Responsible Party or Parties are strictly, jointly, and severally liable for the cleanup costs as well as a limited amount of damages for certain categories of damages.

Proposed Amendments to OPA 90 Through the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022

The 117^th Session of the U.S. Congress brought the introduction of H.R. 6865, a bill which has already passed the House and is now with the Senate...