I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3393 

To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the Federal Water Pollution 

Control Act to impose penalties and provide for the recovery of removal 

costs and damages in connection with certain discharges of oil from 

foreign offshore units, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 4, 2011 

Mr. RIVERA (for himself, Mr. SIRES, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Mr. DIAZBALART) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the Federal 

Water Pollution Control Act to impose penalties and 

provide for the recovery of removal costs and damages 

in connection with certain discharges of oil from foreign 

offshore units, 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 ‘‘Foreign Oil Spill Li5 ability Act of 2011’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO OIL POLLUTION ACT OF 1990. 

2 (a) LIABILITY OF OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF FOR3 EIGN OFFSHORE UNITS.—Section 1002 of the Oil Pollu4 tion Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2702) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) FOREIGN OFFSHORE UNITS.—In any case in 

7 which there is a discharge, or substantial threat of dis8 charge, of oil from a foreign offshore unit that reaches 

9 or threatens to reach the navigable waters or adjoining 

10 shorelines or the exclusive economic zone, the owner or 

11 operator of the facility— 

12 ‘‘(1) is liable for the removal costs and damages 

13 specified in subsection (b) that result from such inci14 dent; and 

15 ‘‘(2) shall be treated as a responsible party with 

16 respect to the incident for the purposes of this Act 

17 in the same manner as a responsible party for an 

18 offshore facility.’’. 

19 (b) STATE SPONSORS OF TERRORISM.—Section 1004 

20 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2703) is amended by adding at 

21 the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(e) FOREIGN OFFSHORE UNITS LOCATED IN COUN23 TRIES THAT ARE STATE SPONSORS OF TERRORISM.— 

24 ‘‘(1) INCREASED LIABILITY AMOUNT.—If a for25 eign offshore unit involved in an incident described 

26 in section 1002(e)(1) is located in whole, or in part, 

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1 in the territorial sea or on the continental shelf of 

2 a foreign country that is a state sponsor of ter3 rorism, the liability limit specified in subsection 

4 (a)(3) of this section shall be multiplied by 3 when 

5 applied with respect to the incident. 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DE7 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘state sponsor 

8 of terrorism’ means any country the government of 

9 which the Secretary of State has determined has re10 peatedly provided support for acts of international 

11 terrorism pursuant to— 

12 ‘‘(A) section 6(j) of the Export Adminis13 tration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)) 

14 (as continued in effect pursuant to the Inter15 national Emergency Economic Powers Act); 

16 ‘‘(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assist17 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); or 

18 ‘‘(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Con19 trol Act (22 U.S.C. 2780).’’. 

20 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION 

21 CONTROL ACT. 

22 Section 311(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Con23 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(b)) is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following: 

25 ‘‘(13) FOREIGN OFFSHORE UNITS.— 

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1 ‘‘(A) DISCHARGES OF OIL REACHING NAVI2 GABLE WATERS.—In any case in which there is 

3 a discharge of oil from a foreign offshore unit 

4 that reaches the navigable waters of the United 

5 States, adjoining shorelines, or waters of the 

6 contiguous zone— 

7 ‘‘(i) the discharge shall be subject to 

8 the prohibition in paragraph (3); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the owner or operator of the unit 

10 shall be subject to the penalties established 

11 under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(B) FOREIGN OFFSHORE UNITS LOCATED

13 IN COUNTRIES THAT ARE STATE SPONSORS OF

14 TERRORISM.—If a foreign offshore unit involved 

15 in an incident described in subparagraph (A) is 

16 located in whole, or in part, in the territorial 

17 sea or on the continental shelf of a foreign 

18 country that is a state sponsor of terrorism, 

19 each maximum penalty amount specified in 

20 paragraph (6) or (7) shall be multiplied by 3 

21 when applied with respect to the incident. 

22 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph, 

23 the following definitions apply: 

24 ‘‘(i) FOREIGN OFFSHORE UNIT.—The 

25 term ‘foreign offshore unit’ has the meanmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ing given that term in section 1001 of the 

2 Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 

3 2701). 

4 ‘‘(ii) STATE SPONSOR OF TER5 RORISM.—The term ‘state sponsor of ter6 rorism’ has the meaning given that term in 

7 section 1004(e) of the Oil Pollution Act of 

8 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2702(e)).’’. 

9 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 

10 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

11 respect to a discharge, or substantial threat of discharge, 

12 of oil occurring after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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