Title I. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Oil Spill Response, Containment and Prevention Provisions

Sec. 101. Improvements to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oil spill response, containment, and prevention. 

• Directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to conduct a comprehensive review of the status of NOAA’s ability to respond to oil spills.

• Requires the Under Secretary to develop and maintain oil spill trajectory modeling capabilities.

• Directs NOAA to update the agency’s Environmental Sensitivity Index maps and database products.

• Directs NOAA to develop a program to better model and track subsea hydrocarbons and dispersants.

• Requires the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to establish a national center for scientific information on oil spills.

• Requires NOAA to assess the significance, response, frequency, size, potential fate, and potential effects of spills that originate from aging or abandoned oil infrastructure.

• Directs NOAA to inventory offshore abandoned or sunken vessels in US waters and identify any priorities to preemptively remove oil from vessels to mitigate the risk of spills from the vessels. 

Sec. 102. Use of Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for expenses of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

• Authorizes the Use of Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for NOAA expenses relating to this Act, including $25 Million for preparedness, response, restoration, damage assessments, and $20 Million for research and development.

Sec. 103. Investment of amounts in Damage Assessment and Restoration Revolving Fund in interest-bearing obligations. 

• This provision ensures that NOAA’s Damage Assessment Remediation and Restoration Program functions as an interest bearing account, in the same manner that the Department of Interior’s Fund and the Court Registry Account operate. 

Sec. 104. Strengthening coastal State oil spill planning and response.

• This provision authorizes grants to be made to eligible states participating in the Coastal Zone Management Act to revise management programs to ensure sufficient response capabilities at the state level to address the environmental, economic and social impacts of oil spills resulting from offshore exploration.

Sec. 105. Gulf of Mexico long-term marine environmental monitoring and research program.

• This provision directs NOAA to develop a long term monitoring and research program for the Gulf to ensure that the federal government has independent scientific information to assess impacts on marine wildlife and trust resources located in the Gulf and Southeast region resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Sec. 106. Arctic research and action to conduct oil spill prevention.

• Directs the Secretary of Commerce to direct research to improve the ability of the United States to conduct oil spill prevention, response, and recovery in Arctic waters.

TITLE II. Improving Coast Guard Response and Inspection Capacity

Sec. 201. Defines Secretary as the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating. 

Sec. 202. Arctic maritime readiness and oil spill prevention.

• Directs the Commandant to assess and take action to reduce the risk and improve the capability of the United States to respond to a maritime disaster in the United States Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.

Sec. 203. Response plan update requirement.

• Directs the Secretary to require that all oil and hazardous waste response plans approved by the Coast Guard under the Clean Water Act to be updated not less often than once every 5 years, utilizing the best commercially available technology and methods to contain and remove a discharge, and to mitigate or prevent the threat of such a discharge.

Sec. 204. Advance planning and prompt decision making in closing and reopening fishing grounds.

• This provision would amend existing oil spill area contingency plan requirements to require issuance of guidance for advanced planning and decision making by area committees with respect to fisheries closures and re-openings. 

Sec. 205. Oil spill technology evaluation.

• This section would require the Coast Guard to establish a program and process for the formal submission, evaluation, and validation of oil spill containment and removal methods and technologies. Once a technology or method receives validation, the Coast Guard must consider whether the technology or method meets a performance capability warranting the designation of a new standard for ‘best available technology’. The Coast Guard is directed to carry out this section in consultation with the Department of Interior, NOAA, the EPA, and the Department of Transportation.

Sec. 206. Coast Guard inspections.

• This provision would mandate improvements in the frequency and comprehensiveness of Coast Guard safety inspections for all US and foreign flag tank vessels. 

Sec. 207. Certificate of inspection requirements.

• This provision would require that, in order for a vessel capable of being used for the exploration for or production of oil or gas to receive a certificate of inspection form the Coast Guard, the vessel must carry a certificate of classification for all systems onboard that may impact safety of life and property at sea. 

Sec. 208. Navigational measures for protection of natural resources.

• This provision would require the Coast Guard, in consultation with other appropriate federal agencies, to establish routing or other navigational measures where warranted, in order to reduce the risk of oil spills.

Sec. 209. Notice to States of bulk oil transfers.

• This provision would make clear that a coastal State possesses the authority to require notice of 24 hours or more to the State and to the United States Coast Guard before engaging in a transfer of cargo oil of 250 barrels or more to, from, or within a vessel in State waters. 

Sec. 210. Gulf of Mexico Regional Citizens Advisory Council.

• This provision would facilitate the establishment of a Gulf of Mexico Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council (RCAC), similar to the Prince William Sound RCAC established by Congress in response to the Exxon Valdez disaster. The purpose of the RCAC would be to help correct the problems leading to oil spills before they occur, through monitoring of industry activity and the provision of advice and recommendations to industry and regulators.

Sec. 211. Vessel liability.

• The provision would, consistent with Coast Guard recommendations, significantly increase the liability limits that apply to different categories of tank vessels and other vessels under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

Sec. 212. Coast Guard research and development.

• This section would amend the Oil Pollution Act to increase available amounts to Coast Guard to fund research, development, and evaluation of oil spill response and removal technologies and methods.

Sec. 213. Prompt intergovernmental notice of marine casualties.

• This provision would require the Coast Guard, within one hour of receiving a report of a marine casualty, including one involving significant harm to the environment, to notify impacted states, tribal, and local governments.

Sec. 214. Prompt publication of oil spill information.

• This provision would require that all Unified Command Incident Action Plans in response to an oil spill be posted on a publicly accessible website promptly after issuance, and that all past incident action plans for the spill be left available to the public on that website.

TITLE III Other Matters Relating to Oil Spills

Sec. 301. Coordination of Federal and State activities with respect to oil spill surveys

• Directs the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, in coordination with other agencies and states, to develop national protocols for oil spill response and cleanup assessments to promote consistent procedures for collecting shoreline characterization data.

Sec. 302. Coordination between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Coast Guard, and Department of Interior on oil spill matters.

• Authorizes NOAA and Coast Guard to submit comments on a proposed leasing program, and require the Secretary of Interior to submit those comments to the President and Congress with its proposed leasing program, along with an indication why any specific recommendation was not accepted. MMS currently must do this for comments received by the Attorney General, state or local governments.

• Environmental Studies – Authorizes NOAA to comment on any program, lease, exploration plan, or development and production plan in advance of its finalization, and recommend alternatives that would prevent or minimize those impacts. If the Secretary of Interior opts not to implement the recommendations, s(he) would be required to explain the reasoning in writing.

Sec. 303. Federal Oil Spill Research Committee.

• This section would reestablish an interagency process for federal agencies that have a role in oil pollution for identifying, coordinating and implementing research on oil spills. NOAA would chair the Committee, which would be required to meet at least once each quarter. The Committee would be required to issue a report every five years on the state of oil spill prevention and response capabilities, establish a federal research and development program to address gaps in our spill response capabilities, and manage a grants program for the support of oil spill research and development. This section authorizes $2 million a year for implementation of the Committee’s activities, including grants.