Liability and Compensation Under the Oil Pollution Act[1]

Continuous Improvement is Essential

www.oilspillcommission.gov.

For Immediate Release: Mar. 7, 2011
Contact: Dave Cohen, Press Secretary 202.570.8311, Dave.Cohen@OilSpillCommission.gov

Today, the National Oil Spill Commission is releasing its two final staff working papers (attached below). The research reflected in these papers, like previously released documents, informed the Commission’s deliberations, and the findings and recommendations in its Final Report. That report was presented to the President on January 11, 2011, but the staff papers themselves do not express the views of the Commission.

The staff working papers released today cover the following topics:

“LIABILITY AND COMPENSATION REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE OIL POLLUTION ACT”
This staff working paper states that its purpose is “to provide background information to the Commission in support of the Commission’s consideration of policy options related to liability caps and financial responsibility applicable to oil spills. To that end, the paper briefly summarizes existing law and identifies some of the more significant policy issues raised concerning possible amendment of current law. The paper discusses each of these issues, highlighting some of the competing concerns implicated by different policy outcomes.”

“Continuous Improvement is Essential: Leveraging Global Data and Consistent Standards for Safe Offshore Operations”

This paper “identifies the various organizations that collect incident and personal injury data for offshore oil and gas operations, what data each collects, and how that data might be used. This paper also considers the various national and international standard-setting organizations related to offshore oil and gas activities and their governing guidelines.”
The staff working papers are also available at www.oilspillcommission.gov.

Special thanks to Richard Charter