Oil Pollution Act
| Author | Environmental Law Reporter |
| Pages | 757-783 |
Oil Pollution Act
33 U.S.C. §§2701-2761
Subchapter I—Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation
§2701. [OPA §1001]
Definitions
For the purposes of this Act, the term—
(1) “act of God” means an unanticipated grave natural disaster or
other natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable, and irre-
sistible character the effects of which could not have been pre-
vented or avoided by the exercise of due care or foresight;
(2) “barrel” means 42 United States gallons at 60 degrees fahren-
heit;
(3) “claim” means a request, made in writing for a sum certain,
for compensation for damages or removal costs resulting from an
incident;
(4) “claimant” means any person or government who presents a
claim for compensation under this subchapter;
(5) “damages” means damages specified in section 2702(b) of
this title, and includes the cost of assessing these damages;
(6) “deepwater port” is a facility licensed under the Deepwater
Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1501-1524);
(7) “discharge” means any emission (other than natural seepage),
intentional or unintentional, and includes, but is not limited to, spill-
ing, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping;
(8) “exclusive economic zone” means the zone established by
Presidential Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10, 1983,
including the ocean waters of the areas referred to as “eastern spe-
cial areas” in Article 3(1) of the Agreement between the United
States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on
the Maritime Boundary, signed June 1, 1990;
(9) “facility” means any structure, group of structures, equip-
ment, or device (other than a vessel) which is used for one or more
of the following purposes: exploring for, drilling for, producing,
storing, handling, transferring, processing, or transporting oil. This
term includes any motor vehicle, rolling stock, or pipeline used for
one or more of these purposes;
(10) “foreign offshore unit” means a facility which is located, in
whole or in part, in the territorial sea or on the continental shelf of a
foreign country and which is or was used for one or more of the fol-
lowing purposes: exploring for, drilling for, producing, storing,
handling, transferring, processing, or transporting oil produced
from the seabed beneath the foreign country’s territorial sea or from
the foreign country’s continental shelf;
(11) “Fund” means the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, established
by section 9509 of title 26;
(12) “gross ton” has the meaning given that term by the Secretary
under part J of title 46 [46 U.S.C. 14101 et seq.];
(13) “guarantor” means any person, other than the responsible
party, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for a re-
sponsible party under this Act;
(14) “incident” means any occurrence or series of occurrences
having the same origin, involving one or more vessels, facilities, or
any combination thereof, resulting in the discharge or substantial
threat of discharge of oil;
(15) “Indian tribe” means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other
organized group or community, but not including any Alaska Na-
tive regional or village corporation, which is recognized as eligible
for the special programs and services provided by the United States
to Indians because of their status as Indians and has governmental
authority over lands belonging to or controlled by the tribe;
(16) “lessee” means a person holding a leasehold interest in an oil
or gas lease on lands beneath navigable waters (as that term is de-
fined in section 1301(a) of title 43) or on submerged lands of the
Outer Continental Shelf, granted or maintained under applicable
State law or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331
et seq.);
(17) “liable” or “liability” shall be construed to be the standard of
liability which obtains under section 1321 of this title;
(18) “mobile offshore drilling unit” means a vessel (other than a
self-elevating lift vessel) capable of use as an offshore facility;
(19) “National Contingency Plan” means the National Contin-
gency Plan prepared and published under section 1321(d) of this ti-
tle or revised under section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmen-
tal Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9605);
(20) “natural resources” includes land, fish, wildlife, biota, air,
water, ground water, drinking water supplies, and other such re-
sources belonging to, managed by, held in trust by, appertaining to,
or otherwise controlled by the United States (including the re-
sources of the exclusive economic zone), any State or local govern-
ment or Indian tribe, or any foreign government;
(21) “navigable waters” means the waters of the United States,
including the territorial sea;
(22) “offshore facility” means any facility of any kind located in,
on, or under any of the navigable waters of the United States, and
any facility of any kind which is subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States and is located in, on, or under any other waters, other
than a vessel or a public vessel;
(23) “oil” means oil of any kind or in any form, including, but not
limited to, petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse, and oil mixed with
wastes other than dredged spoil, but does not include petroleum, in-
cluding crude oil or any fraction thereof, which is specifically listed
or designated as a hazardous substance under subparagraphs (A)
through (F) of section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmen-
tal Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601)
and which is subject to the provisions of that Act [42 U.S.C. 9601 et
seq.];
(24) “onshore facility” means any facility (including, but not
limited to, motor vehicles and rolling stock) of any kind located in,
on, or under, any land within the United States other than sub-
merged land;
(25) the term “Outer Continental Shelf facility” means an off-
shore facility which is located, in whole or in part, on the Outer
Continental Shelf and is or was used for one or more of the follow-
ing purposes: exploring for, drilling for, producing, storing, han-
dling, transferring, processing, or transporting oil produced from
the Outer Continental Shelf;
(26) “owner or operator”—
(A) means—
(i) in the case of a vessel, any person owning, operating, or
chartering by demise, the vessel;
(ii) in the case of an onshore or offshore facility, any person
owning or operating such facility;
(iii) in the case of any abandoned offshore facility, the per-
son who owned or operated such facility immediately prior to
such abandonment;
(iv) in the case of any facility, title or control of which was
conveyed due to bankruptcy, foreclosure, tax delinquency,
abandonment, or similar means to a unit of State or local gov-
ernment, any person who owned, operated, or otherwise con-
trolled activities at such facility immediately beforehand;
(v) notwithstanding subparagraph (B)(i), and in the same
manner and to the same extent, both procedurally and substan-
tively, as any nongovernmental entity, including for purposes
of liability under section 1002, any State or local government
that has caused or contributed to a discharge or substantial
threat of a discharge of oil from a vessel or facility ownership
or control of which was acquired involuntarily through—
(I) seizure or otherwise in connection with law enforce-
ment activity;
(II) bankruptcy;
(III) tax delinquency;
(IV) abandonment; or
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(V) other circumstances in which the government invol-
untarily acquires title by virtue of its function as sovereign;
(vi) notwithstanding subparagraph (B)(ii), a person that is a
lender and that holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect
a security interest in a vessel or facility if, while the borrower is
still in possession of the vessel or facility encumbered by the
security interest, the person—
(I) exercises decision making control over the environ-
mental compliance related to the vessel or facility,such that
the person has undertaken responsibility for oil handling or
disposal practices related to the vessel or facility; or
(II) exercises control at a level comparable to that of a
manager of the vessel or facility,such that the person has as-
sumed or manifested responsibility—
(aa) for the overall management of the vessel or facility
encompassing day-to-day decision making with respect to
environmental compliance; or
(bb) over all or substantially all of the operational func-
tions (as distinguished from financial or administrative
functions) of the vessel or facility other than the function of
environmental compliance; and
(B) does not include—
(i) A unit of state or local government that acquired owner-
ship or control of a vessel or facility involuntarily through—
(I) seizure or otherwise in connection with law enforce-
ment activity;
(II) bankruptcy;
(III) tax delinquency;
(IV) abandonment; or
(V) other circumstances in which the government invol-
untarily acquires title by virtue of its function as sovereign;
(ii) a person that is a lender that does not participate in man-
agement of a vessel or facility, but holds indicia of ownership
primarily to protect the security interest of the person in the
vessel or facility; or
(iii) a person that is a lender that did not participate in man-
agement of a vessel or facility prior to foreclosure, notwith-
standing that the person—
(I) forecloses on the vessel or facility; and
(II) after foreclosure, sells, re-leases (in the case of a lease
finance transaction), or liquidates the vessel or facility,
maintains business activities, winds up operations, under-
takes a removal action under section 311(c) of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(c)) or under
the direction of an on-scene coordinator appointed under
the National Contingency Plan, with respect to the vessel or
facility, or takes any other measure to preserve, protect, or
prepare the vessel or facility prior to sale or disposition, if
the person seeks to sell, re-lease (in the case of a lease fi-
nance transaction), or otherwise divest the person of the
vessel or facility at the earliest practicable, commercially
reasonable time, on commercially reasonable terms, taking
into account market conditions and legal and regulatory re-
quirements;
(27) “person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, as-
sociation, State, municipality, commission, or political subdivision
of a State, or any interstate body;
(28) “permittee” means a person holding an authorization, li-
cense, or permit for geological exploration issued under section 11
of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340) or appli-
cable State law;
(29) “public vessel” means a vessel owned or bareboat chartered
and operated by the United States, or by a State or political subdivi-
sion thereof, or by a foreign nation, except when the vessel is en-
gaged in commerce;
(30) “remove” or “removal” means containment and removal of
oil or a hazardous substance from water and shorelines or the taking
of other actions as may be necessary to minimize or mitigate dam-
age to the public health or welfare, including, but not limited to,
fish, shellfish, wildlife, and public and private property, shorelines,
and beaches;
(31) “removal costs” means the costs of removal that are incurred
after a discharge of oil has occurred or, in any case in which there is
a substantial threat of a discharge of oil, the costs to prevent, mini-
mize, or mitigate oil pollution from such an incident;
(32) “responsible party” means the following:
(A) Vessels
In the case of a vessel, any person owning, operating, or de-
mise chartering the vessel.
(B) Onshore facilities
In the case of an onshore facility (other than a pipeline), any
person owning or operating the facility, except a Federal
agency, State, municipality, commission, or political subdivi-
sion of a State, or any interstate body, that as the owner trans-
fers possession and right to use the property to another person
by lease, assignment, or permit.
(C) Offshore facilities
In the case of an offshore facility (other than a pipeline or a
deepwater port licensed under the Deepwater Port Act of 1974
(33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.)), the lessee or permittee of the area in
which the facility is located or the holder of a right of use and
easement granted under applicable State law or the Outer Con-
tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301-1356) for the area in
which the facility is located (if the holder is a different person
than the lessee or permittee), except a Federal agency, State,
municipality, commission, or political subdivision of a State,
or any interstate body, that as owner transfers possession and
right to use the property to another person by lease, assign-
ment, or permit.
(D) Deepwater ports
In the case of a deepwater port licensed under the Deep-
water Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1501-1524), the licensee.
(E) Pipelines
In the case of a pipeline, any person owning or operating the
pipeline.
(F) Abandonment
In the case of an abandoned vessel, onshore facility, deep-
water port, pipeline, or offshore facility, the persons who
would have been responsible parties immediately prior to the
abandonment of the vessel or facility.
(33) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the department in which
the Coast Guard is operating;
(34) “tank vessel” means a vessel that is constructed or adapted to
carry, or that carries, oil or hazardous material in bulk as cargo or
cargo residue, and that—
(A) is a vessel of the United States;
(B) operates on the navigable waters; or
(C) transfers oil or hazardous material in a place subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States;
(35) “territorial seas” means the belt of the seas measured from
the line of ordinary low water along that portion of the coast which
is in direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the sea-
ward limit of inland waters, and extending seaward a distance of 3
miles;
(36) “United States” and “State” mean the several States of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Is-
lands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and any other
territory or possession of the United States;
(37) “vessel” means every description of watercraft or other arti-
ficial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of
transportation on water, other than a public vessel;
(38) “participate in management”—
(A)(i) means actually participating in the management or op-
erational affairs of a vessel or facility; and
(ii) does not include merely having the capacity to influ-
ence, or the unexercised right to control, vessel or facility op-
erations; and
(B) does not include—
(i) performing an act or failing to act prior to the time at
which a security interest is created in a vessel or facility;
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