Legislation introduced on March 25 as the Spill Response and Prevention Surety Act would modify and permanently reauthorize the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, established under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
The fund was established, in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in Prince William Sound in 1989 to ensure the federal government is able to pay for the swift removal of spilled oil and compensate individuals, communities and businesses impacted by such disasters.
The legislation was introduced by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who said it was drafted in consultation with the Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet regional citizens’ advisory councils.
The RCACs are non-profit corporations established in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on March 24, 1989 to provide local monitoring authority to communities affected by oil and gas development in Alaska.
The bill maintains the existing nine-cent-per-barrel tax while establishing a $7 billion tax collections ceiling and $5 billion collection floor, indexed for inflation, to ensure the fund is adequately resourced for years, The single incident payout claim would be doubled to $2 billion and the natural resource damage claim would also be doubled to $1 billion.
The legislation would create biennial $10 million response and prevention grant program for research and technological development, and an annual $25 million prevention rant program for state programs to upgrade equipment and aging infrastructure, support strategic planning and address abandoned or derelict vessels.
See all of our 30 Years of Healing: Reflecting on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill coverage here.
