II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4849 

To require the Commandant of the Coast Guard to establish a process 

to update the vessel response plan program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Commandant of the Coast Guard to establish 

a process to update the vessel response plan program, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Oil Spill Response Re5 view Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Even a minor oil spill can cause significant 

9 harm to individual organisms, entire populations, 

10 and ecosystems. 


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1 (2) The impacts from certain oil spills can last 

2 for years or even decades. 

3 (3) The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the 

4 Gulf of Mexico released more than 100,000,000 gal5 lons of oil before it was contained 86 days later. 

6 (4) The 1989 Exxon Valdez spill released about 

7 11,000,000 gallons of oil, and cleanup efforts contin8 ued intermittently for 3 years. 

9 (5) Since 2018, the Coast Guard has only 

10 verified the accuracy of salvage and marine fire11 fighting information in 71 of over 3,000 submitted 

12 VRPs. 

13 (6) The National Response Center collects oil 

14 spill incident data, but data are often initial, 

15 unverified estimates. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) COMMANDANT.—The term ‘‘Commandant’’ 

19 means the Commandant of the Coast Guard. 

20 (2) ACP.—The term ‘‘ACP’’ means an area 

21 contingency plan. 

22 (3) VRP.—The term ‘‘VRP’’ means a vessel re23 sponse plan. 


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1 SEC. 4. INCREASING DATA COLLECTION AND 

2 VERIFICATION TO UPDATE THE VRP PRO3 GRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commandant shall develop 

5 and carry out a process to update its review of VRPs, 

6 which are required to be submitted to the Coast Guard 

7 under part 155 of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, 

8 by increasing the collection and improving the quality of 

9 incident data on oil spill location and response capability. 

10 (b) ACTIVITIES.—In developing and carrying out the 

11 process required by subsection (a), the Commandant 

12 shall— 

13 (1) not less frequently than every 3 years, 

14 verify the efficacy of— 

15 (A) information submitted to the Com16 mandant pursuant to part 300 of title 40, Code 

17 of Federal Regulations (or successor regula18 tions), through random selection and auditing 

19 of all reported information from not less than 

20 30 percent of— 

21 (i) submitted VRPs; 

22 (ii) area drills conducted pursuant to 

23 section 311(j)(7) of the Federal Water Pol24 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(j)(7)); 

25 and 


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1 (iii) responses to oil spill incidents 

2 that require mobilization of contracted re3 sponse resources; and 

4 (B) oil spill data stored in the Marine In5 formation for Safety and Law Enforcement 

6 database and reported by on-scene coordinators 

7 pursuant to section 300.300 of title 40, Code of 

8 Federal Regulations (or any successor regula9 tion); 

10 (2) not less frequently than annually, review, 

11 and update as necessary— 

12 (A) the information contained in the Coast 

13 Guard Response Resource Inventory and other 

14 tools used to document the availability and sta15 tus of oil spill response equipment so as to en16 sure that such information and tools remain 

17 current and accurate; and 

18 (B) processes for data submission to the 

19 Response Resource Inventory to ensure that Oil 

20 Spill Removal Organizations and other partici21 pating entities submit accurate and regularly 

22 updated information; 

23 (3) establish procedures for— 

24 (A) incorporating oil spill incident data 

25 from oil spill reports and VRP exercises into— 


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1 (i) VRPs, including alternative plan2 ning criteria review and approval proc3 esses; and 

4 (ii) ACP development; 

5 (B) mitigating the impact of military per6 sonnel rotations in Coast Guard field units on 

7 knowledge and awareness of VRP requirements, 

8 including knowledge relating to the evaluation 

9 of proposed alternatives to national planning re10 quirements; and 

11 (C) evaluating the consequences of report12 ing inaccurate data in VRPs submitted to the 

13 Commandant pursuant to part 300 of title 40, 

14 Code of Federal Regulations, and submitted for 

15 storage in the Marine Information for Safety 

16 and Law Enforcement database pursuant to 

17 section 300.300 of that title (or any successor 

18 regulation); 

19 (4) develop standard tools, job aids, and guid20 ance that— 

21 (A) may be shared with vessel owners and 

22 operators and Coast Guard field units to assist 

23 with accurately calculating and measuring the 

24 performance and viability of proposed alterVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4849.IS S4849

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1 natives against national planning criteria re2 quirements and coastal zone ACPs; and 

3 (B) recognize regionally specific challenges; 

4 (5) review subcontracts related to submitted 

5 VRPs to ensure that all necessary equipment and re6 sponse resources are obligated to satisfy the VRP 

7 planning requirements and respond to an oil spill, as 

8 applicable; 

9 (6) not less frequently than every 5 years, re10 view, and revise as necessary, Coast Guard planning, 

11 preparedness, and oil spill response strategies based 

12 on analyses of— 

13 (A) incident data on oil spill location and 

14 response capability; 

15 (B) oil spill risk assessments; 

16 (C) oil spill response effectiveness and the 

17 effects of such response on the environment; 

18 and 

19 (D) oil spill response exercises conducted 

20 pursuant to section 311(j)(7) of the Federal 

21 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

22 1321(j)(7)); and 

23 (7) collaborate with the heads of other Federal 

24 agencies to increase Federal Government engage25 ment with State, local, and Tribal agencies and 


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1 stakeholders, including regulated entities, for the 

2 purpose of strengthening coordination and efficiency 

3 of oil spill responses. 

4 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Subject to sec5 tion 552 of title 5, United States Code, the Commandant 

6 shall make available to the public the data described in 

7 subsection (b)(1). 

8 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not less frequently than an9 nually, the Commandant shall submit to Congress a report 

10 on the status of ongoing and planned efforts to improve 

11 the policies, guidance, and processes of the VRP program, 

12 including actions of the Maritime Oil Spill Response Plan 

13 Advisory Group, based on feedback, public comment, and 

14 other engagement from the Coast Guard and maritime 

15 transportation industry stakeholders. 

16 SEC. 5. EXPENDITURE PURPOSES OF OIL SPILL LIABILITY 

17 TRUST FUND. 

18 Section 9509(c)(1) of title 26, United States Code, 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

21 the end; 

22 (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period 

23 at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(G) to increase support for marine pollu2 tion disaster planning, preparedness, and re3 sponse strategies, including for— 

4 ‘‘(i) incident data collection and 

5 verification and for regular updates to ves6 sel response plans and area contingency 

7 plan review; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) training and equipping residents 

9 of Tribal and remote communities with re10 sources and information for effective plan11 ning, preparedness, and response.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. NATIONAL OIL SPILL RESPONSE STUDY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

14 United States shall conduct a study on Coast Guard and 

15 Environmental Protection Agency oversight of national, 

16 regional, and local area oil spill response frameworks. 

17 (b) ELEMENTS.—The study required by subsection 

18 (a) shall include the following: 

19 (1) An assessment of lessons learned with re20 spect to oil spill responses based on research con21 ducted as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 

22 in 2010 and other marine pollution disasters, which 

23 shall include an assessment of— 

24 (A) oil spill response and prevention tech25 nologies; and 


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1 (B) methods and best practices for oil spill 

2 mitigation and prevention. 

3 (2) An analysis of major changes in national, 

4 regional, and local area oil spill response frameworks 

5 since 2010 for the purpose of assessing whether 

6 such changes have improved oil spill responses. 

7 (3) An analysis of available information on the 

8 short-term and long-term effects of the use of chem9 ical dispersants and potential alternatives in oil spill 

10 and marine pollution responses. 

11 (4) Recommendations for legislative and regu12 latory action that would facilitate better implementa13 tion of best available technologies and methods for 

14 effective oil spill response. 

15 (c) REPORT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp18 troller General shall submit to Congress a report on 

19 the results of the study conducted under subsection 

20 (a). 

21 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report sub22 mitted under paragraph (1) shall be made publicly 

23 available on the internet website of the Comptroller 

24 General. 

Æ 


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