May 5, 2010

Davis introduces legislation forcing big oil companies to pay for all damages from oil spills

Congressman Artur Davis is one of five House Democrats introducing legislation today that would hold oil companies financially accountable for damages due to oil spills. Currently, all clean up costs are to be paid for by the responsible party but those costs are capped at $75 million. The proposed legislation would raise that liability cap to $10 billion, preventing oil companies from getting away with not paying for all damages.

“This legislation will make BP and any other responsible company fully accountable for the environmental havoc that is threatening Alabama’s coastline” stated Congressman Davis. “While the oil industry will not be happy about it, the petroleum business is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that has enjoyed record profits in the past decade and must be made to understand that a catastrophic oil spill is simply unacceptable. I hope that the House leadership will bring this legislation to the floor promptly in the interests of making BP and others pay their fair share.”

In addition to increasing the cap on damages, the legislation would also seek to eliminate the $1 billion per incident cap on claims against the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and allow States and community responders to access the fund for preparation and mitigation up front, rather than waiting for reimbursement later.

This legislation is the House companion bill of the Big Oil Bailout Prevention bills introduced by Senate Democrats.

Bill H.R. 5214

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h5214ih.txt.pdf

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