Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 176.0

529US1

Unit: $U35

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Cite as: 529 U. S. 89 (2000)

101

Opinion of the Court

tank vessels for the next 30 years, until the Torrey Canyon
grounding led Congress to take new action.

2. The Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972.

Responding to the Torrey Canyon spill, Congress enacted
the Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972 (PWSA). The
Act, as amended by the Port and Tanker Safety Act of 1978,
92 Stat. 1471, contains two somewhat overlapping titles, both
of which may, as the Ray Court explained, preclude enforce-
ment of state laws, though not by the same pre-emption anal-
ysis. Title I concerns vessel trafﬁc “in any port or place
under the jurisdiction of the United States.” 110 Stat. 3934,
33 U. S. C. § 1223(a)(1) (1994 ed., Supp. III). Under Title I,
the Coast Guard may enact measures for controlling vessel
trafﬁc or for protecting navigation and the marine environ-
ment, but it is not required to do so.

Ibid.

Title II does require the Coast Guard to issue regulations,
regulations addressing the “design, construction, alteration,
repair, maintenance, operation, equipping, personnel qualiﬁ-
cation, and manning of vessels . . . that may be necessary for
increased protection against hazards to life and property, for
navigation and vessel safety, and for enhanced protection of
the marine environment.”

46 U. S. C. § 3703(a).

The critical provisions of the PWSA described above re-
main operative, but the Act has been amended, most signiﬁ-
cantly by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), 104 Stat. 484.
OPA, enacted in response to the Exxon Valdez spill, requires
separate discussion.

3. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

The OPA contains nine titles, two having the most signiﬁ-
cance for these cases. Title I is captioned “Oil Pollution Lia-
bility, and Compensation” and adds extensive new provisions
to the United States Code. See 104 Stat. 2375, 33 U. S. C.
§ 2701 et seq. (1994 ed. and Supp. III). Title I imposes lia-
bility (for both removal costs and damages) on parties re-