Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1620
Sponsor: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
Introduced: 2007-06-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Animals
Coast guard
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Cooperative societies
Data banks
Department of Homeland Security
Economics and Public Finance
Emergency Management
Endangered species
Energy
Energy transportation
Environmental research
Environmental technology
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to Indians
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to research
Federal-Indian relations
Federal-state relations
Fishery management
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government trust funds
Grants-in-aid
Habitat conservation
Higher education
Indian lands
International Affairs
International environmental cooperation
Law
Liability for environmental damages
Maps
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine parks and reserves
Marine pollution
Marine safety
Massachusetts
Minorities
Navigational aids
Oil pollution
Oil spills and wildlife
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Research and development
Research grants
Revolving funds
Science, Technology, Communications
Shipbuilding
Standards
Surveys
Tankers
Transportation and Public Works
Tugboats
Washington State
Water Resources Development
Water pollution control
Wetlands

Summary:
action_date: 2007-06-14
text: 
Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act of 2007 - Establishes requirements for the promulgation of safety standards for towing vessels.
 
Requires a variety of measures to reduce the risk of oil spills, including Coast Guard inspections, regulations regarding the transfer of oil to or from a tank vessel, identification of the types of human errors that cause oil spills and near-miss oil spill incidents and actions designed to reduce human error risks, routing or other navigational measures, and an oil spill prevention and education program for small vessels.
 
Amends the the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to codify the establishment of the Oil Spill Advisory Council.
 
Authorizes state enforcement of any marine resource law enforced by the Secretary and allows state inspection of vessels.
 
 Allows owners and operators of tank and non-tank vessels to form nonprofit cooperatives to comply with National Response System provisions.
 
Requires completion of the electronic navigation chart suite for all U.S. coastal waters.
 
Requires a rapid response system to collect and predict in situ information about oil spill behavior.
 
Allows Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund amounts to be used for response and damage assessment capabilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Prohibits using Fund amounts for claims under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
 
 Requires owners of certain tank vessels to maintain evidence of financial responsibility. 
 
Makes owners of oil (in addition to vessel owners) transported in single hull tank vessels with a poor safety or operational record liable for removal costs and damages.
 
Establishes the Federal Oil Spill Research Committee. Establishes grant programs: (1) for new technologies to prevent, detect, or mitigate oil discharges and to protect the environment; and (2) to develop cost-effective technologies for detecting discharges of oil from vessels and to improve detection and recovery of submerged and sinking oils.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-06-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7736-7742)
action_date: 2007-06-14
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7735-7736)
action_date: 2007-06-14
text: Introduced in Senate