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HomeMarinersNational Pollution Funds CenterAbout NPFCNPFC FAQs

 

- About NPFC
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                        - Home
                        - About NPFC                            - Meet Our Director
                          - Oil Pollution Act (OPA)
                          - Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF)
                          - National Response Framework (NSF)
                          - FAQs
                        - COFRs                            - E-COFR
                        - Spill Response Funding
                        - Oil Spill Claims
                        - Natural Resource Damages                            - About NRD Funding
                          - NRD Claims FAQ
                          - Federal Trustee Resources
                          - Claims and NRD Regulations
                          - Claims Contacts
                          - NRD Determinations
                        - Online Services                            - E-COFR
                          - CANAPS
                        - Forms
                        - Publications
                        - Regulations
                        - Related Links

### ** Oil Pollution Act (OPA) Frequently Asked Questions

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**Where does the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund receive its balance? Who pays into it?**

                                - Investment interest on the Fund's principal,
                                - Costs recovered from responsible parties,
                                - Civil and criminal penalties from responsible parties,
                                - Barrel tax on domestic and imported oil, and 
                                - Transfers from other legacy pollution funds. 

To date, the largest source of income for the Fund has been from the per-barrel excise tax on imported and domestic oil, originally 5-cents-per-barrel tax. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 re-instated the tax in April 2006.. The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 extended the per-barrel excise tax through December 2017 and increased the per-barrel excise tax from 5 cents to 8 cents from 2009-2016 and to 9 cents in 2017.  

The Act also repealed the requirement that the tax be suspended when the Fund balance exceeded any given amount. 

**Who pays the OSLTF oil tax?**

The per-barrel tax to finance the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is addressed at section 4611 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 4611). The tax applies to crude oil received at a United States (US) refinery and to petroleum products entered into the US for consumption, use, or warehousing. The tax also applies to other domestic crude oil used in, or exported from, the US.

The tax on crude oil received at a US refinery is paid by the refinery operator. The tax on imported petroleum products is paid by the person entering the product for consumption use or warehousing. The tax on other crude oil is paid by the person using or exporting the crude oil. 

 While the Coast Guard is delegated certain authorities to manage and use the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, collection of taxes and deposit of collections to the Fund is managed by the Department of Treasury.

**What does the trust fund pay for?           **

                                -  The  Emergency Fund  is used to fund removal activities and the initiation of natural resource damage assessments. 
                                - The  Principal Fund , that portion of the OSLTF exclusive of the Emergency Fund, is used primarily to carry out two functions:                                       - Adjudication and payment of claims for certain uncompensated removal costs and damages 

Congressional Appropriations to various federal agencies (including the Coast Guard) responsible for implementation, administration, and enforcement of OPA, and oil spill research and development. 

**How long has the trust fund been around?**

**Is there a limit to how much the OSLTF will pay into a response?**

**How much do you recover from responsible parties to pay back the Fund?**

                                -  In nearly 50% of spills, the FOSC is unable to identify the source of the spill or identify a responsible party (RP). 
                                - Costs expended in excess of a responsible party's liability limit are generally unrecoverable. 
                                - The response for spills involving onshore facilities (such as leaking, abandoned pipelines, underground tanks, or oil wells) is typically complex and costly, but hard to collect on because many of these facilities are abandoned or uninsured. 

**How are OPA and the OSLTF different from CERCLA and Superfund?**

**How much money does the trust fund have in it? What is the forecast for the Fund?**

The status and forecast of the OSLTF is available in the Liability Limits Report.

### **Oil Spill Claims

 

 

If you have been adversely affected by an oil spill, you may be able to receive compensation. The Oil Pollution Act (OPA) defines the conditions under which you may recover costs and damages. To submit a claim:

 
                                -  Show that the spill meets all OPA requirements. ***Your claims manager cannot process the rest of your claims package until you have proven that the spill meets these requirements.***(The OPA Claims Requirements checklist provides a step-by-step guide to help you decide if a spill qualifies.) 
                                -  Document your costs and damages from the spill. (See the Types of Claims table below for a list of the kind of claims you can submit.) 
                                -  Forward your claims package to the National Pollution Funds Center, the Coast Guard office responsible for evaluating and approving OPA claims. 

----

### Does My Claim Qualify?

                                  - OPA Claims Requirements 

### NPFC Claimant Guides

                                  - Claimant Guide
                                  - Guía Informativa para el Reclamante (En Español)
                                  - Tài Liệu Hướng Dẫn Người Đứng Đơn Kiện (Bằng Tiếng Việt)

### More Information

                                  - Claims Forms & Documents 
                                  - OPA FAQs
                                  - Claims Contacts
                                  - About Claims Adjudication

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**Types of Claims**

**Claims Determinations**

### NPFC Claim Determinations issued by CY, NRD Determinations and Deepwater Non-NRD Determinations:

                                - 2017
                                -  | 
                                - 2016
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                                - 2015
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                                - 2014
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                                - 2013
                                -  | 
                                - 2012
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                                - 2011
                                -  | 
                                - 2010
                                -  | 
                                - 2009
                                -  | 
                                - NRD
                                -  | 
                                - Deepwater Non-NRD

Notice: The Decisions made available here are for research and informational purposes only.  Not all documents consist of the final signed version.

**Claim Format**

There is no required format for claims. You must, however, support your claim with documentation, put the claim in writing, and sign it. 

See Forms & Documents for Submitting Claims for more detailed guidance on submiting claims. (You do not need a lawyer to file a claim; you will not be compensated for any attorney's fees if you do use a lawyer to assist in preparing or filing a claim.) 

### ** Natural Resource Damage (NRD) Claims

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**Do we have to submit the NRD claim to the Responsible Party?**

**What if there is no Responsible Party?**

**How long do we have to submit claims after an incident?**

15 CFR 990

**What are the types of NRD funding available from the NPFC?**

Natural Resource Trustees can request funding from the NPFC for:
                                - Pre-assessment activities (initiation of natural resource damage assessment), 
                                - Natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) and/or restoration, and/or 
                                - Emergency restoration. 

**What is the difference between an Initiate Funding Request and a NRD claim?**

***initiate funding request******natural resource damage assessment claim***

**Can a State and/or Tribal Trustee request initiate funding or submit a NRD claim without a Federal Trustee?**

**Are there published guidelines or procedures for conducting natural resource damage assessements (NRDAs)?**

15 CFR 990 //darrp.noaa.gov/legal-context

**What is the Daubert Standard, and is this standard used by the NPFC during claim adjudication?**

The Daubert Standard is used in federal courts to establish scientific validity of evidence. While there is no definitive checklist of criteria, and much is left up to the discretion of the judge, there are several "pertinent issues" that are recommended to be taken into account and are mentioned in the published court opinion [Daubert v. Merrell Dow] on the matter. These include:
                                - Whether the methods upon which the testimony is based are centered upon a testable hypothesis; 
                                - The known or potential rate of error associated with the method; 
                                - Whether the method has been subject to peer review; 
                                - And whether the method is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community. 

It is also acknowledged in the court opinion that, "in some instances, well-grounded but innovative theories will not have been published. Some propositions, moreover, are too particular, too new, or of too limited interest to be published." This further emphasizes the discretion given to the judge in determining scientific validity. The principles of the Daubert Standard are often used by the NPFC during a claim adjudication to confirm the scientific validity of a claim. However, as stipulated by the court opinion, consideration is still given to "well-grounded and innovative theories" that may not have been subject to an accepted peer review due to the unpredictable and often unique circumstances of oil spills.

**How is "rebuttable presumption" obtained?**

15 CFR 990

### ** Limit of Liability

Insurance & COFRs
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**The potential costs from an oil spill can be astronomical; how can I possibly be expected to finance all cleanup costs and claims?**

The Oil Pollution Act (OPA) limits a responsible party's (RP's) liability for removal costs and damages caused by an oil spill. If an RP pays or incurs removal costs or damages in excess of an applicable liability limit, the RP may present a claim to the NPFC for compensation of the excess amount. 

33 U.S.C. § 2704 discusses these limitations as well as their exceptions. 

**What is the limit of liability for my vessel/facility?**

See Limits of Liability for a summary of the limits for different types of vessels and facilities.

**Won't my insurance cover these costs?**

Insurance coverage can vary from plan to plan; you should ensure that the insurance for your vessels or facilities cover the liability requirements.

**How are COFRs related to limits of liability?**

Certain vessels must carry a Certificate of Financial Responsibility (COFR), which shows that the vessel operator and/or owner has the ability to pay for cleanup and damage costs up to the liability limits required by OPA, before they can operate in the United States navigable waters:
                                - Vessels greater than 300 gross tons and
                                - Vessels of any size that are lightering or transshipping oil in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States.

Read More...

Concerns of Responsible Parties (RPs)
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**I'm considered the RP, but I didn't cause the spill; am I still liable?**

If you are the responsible party in a spill (generally meaning that you own the vessel or facility that was the source of the spill), you are liable for the removal costs and damages up to your limit of liability unless you can prove that the discharge was caused solely by:
                                - An act of God, 
                                - An act of war, 
                                - Negligence on the part of the United States Government, and/or 
                                - An act or omission of a third party.

Not only must you prove one of the causes listed above, but you must also show that you took all reasonable precautionary steps to prevent a spill should such an accident occur. 33 U.S.C. 1321(f) lists these exceptions.

However, if you accidentally spill oil while aiding in the cleanup of an oil incident, the responsible party (RP) is generally also responsible for those related removal costs; this situation is explained in 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(4).

**Are there situations when I can't claim a limit to liability?**

Yes; the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) lists several exceptions--if you, as the responsible party:
                                -  Caused the incident by gross negligence or willful misconduct,
                                - Caused the incident as the result of violation of an applicable Federal regulation,
                                - Didn't report the incident as required by law (assuming you knew about the incident)
                                - Didn't cooperate with the Federal On-Scence Coordinator (FOSC) in charge of the spill cleanup, or 
                                - Didn't comply with government orders related to the spill cleanup.

In addition, if the incident involved a spill or threat of discharge from an Outer Continental Shelf facility or a vessel carrying oil as cargo from such a facility, you are responsible for *all* removal costs from federal, state, and local government agencies, regardless of the liability limits.

Similarly, the limits do not apply if you operate a tank vessel whose only oil carried as cargo is an animal fat or vegetable oil or if you operate a tank vessel that is designated as an oil spill response vessel. Are there separate limits for these?

33 USC. 2704(c) discusses these exceptions in more detail. 

**I have exceeded my limit of liability; what do I do now?**

To receive compensation for all costs above your liability limit, you must submit a claim to the NPFC.

 

**OPA limits on liability do not apply if a responsible party fails or refuses to provide all reasonable cooperation and assistance requested by a responsible official in connection with removal activities. If a responsible party determines to stop paying for removal after it has paid or incurred OPA removal costs and damages up to the OPA liability limit amount, will that be considered a failure or refusal to provide all reasonable cooperation and assistance?**

 in itself 

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