Oil spill governance in the United States

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Oil spill governance in the United States is governed by federal law.

Video Oil spill governance in the United States

Timelane

The governance framework for oil spills in the United States before the 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA) lacked proper consolidation and proved inadequate in preventing and responding to the oil spill. The timeline produced by the World Resources Institute (WRI) highlights several key events in oil drilling governance and regulatory systems that ultimately govern oil spills in the United States.

• 1978 : Congress passes an amendment to the Foreign Continental Land Law, Charges the Interior Secretary by overseeing the development of offshore oil reserves, in accordance with the new tiered management structure.
• 1978 : The White House Board on Environmental Quality issues federal agencies that are required to implement the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act
• 1985 : The Environmental Quality Board approves the MMS department manual, which sets the agency policy for NEPA implementation and issues its category exclusion.
• 1986 : The Environmental Quality Council revoked the 1978 requirement that agencies include "worst case analyzes" in the Environmental Impact Statement for actions with unknown or questionable risks.
• 1989 : March 24, oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck a rock off the coast of Alaska, spilling millions of gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound li>
• 1990 : President George H. Bush expands the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling.
• 1990 : The 1990 Oil Pollution Act was passed by the congress as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill .
• 1994 : June 30, MMS adopted the voluntary "security management system model" developed by the American Petroleum Institute.
• 2000 : March 3, MMS issues a Safety Warning urging the offshore lease holder to install a backup mechanism to activate the rig blastouter (BOP) in case of an explosion to prevent an oil spill.
• 2003 : MMS reverses the Safety Alert that keeps the backup system from enabling the BOP rig remotely into non requirements.

Although the OPA provides a framework for the recent oil spill management that resulted in BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico showing more that can and should be done in this area. This evidence is present in the recommendations and investigations contained in the January 2011 report by the newly formed National Oil Spill Commission. A further sign of the lack of proper governance is implicit in the federal government's action to rename and reform the Mineral Management Service (MMS) into the current Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Sea Enforcement.

Maps Oil spill governance in the United States

The governance framework

The laws governing the oil spill in the US.

The 1989 oil spill Exxon Valdez serves as a major focal point in governance and reform of the oil spill. Before the incidents of Exxon Valdez a number of laws were enacted to prevent and respond to the oil spill. These include:

• The 1968 National Pole and Hazardous Substances Polling Contingency Plan (NCP): The NCP establishes a response system that the federal government will follow in the event of an oil spill and the release of hazardous materials to the environment. NCP is the response of US policymakers to the Torrey Canyon oil tanker spilled on the coast of England. Since then it has been amended by the Clean Water Act (1972), the Oil Pollution Act (1990) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Competition and Responsibility (CERCLA) Act of 1980. The Oil Pollution Act enhances the role and dimensions of the NCP by establishing a system stronger planning and responses to improve response and prevent spills in the marine environment.
• The Clean Water Act (1972) : The clean water law (CWA) is the most extensive law considering the oil spill before the Exxon Valdez spill . CWA makes provision for reporting, response, and post-spill responsibility by the responsible party.
• Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (1973): Primary transport through pipeline via Trans-Alaska route. Spills from pipes along this route though inland, can migrate to coastal waters through inland rivers. Therefore the action was carried out to cover the oil spill and accountability associated with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).
• The Deep Port Act (1974) : This is the primary law for deep water spill incidents. It discusses oil spills, clearance, and liabilities at deep sea oil ports.
• Amendment to the Outer Continental Continent (1978) : This action discusses the oil spill, clearance, and liability structure for oil extraction facilities in offshore federal waters.
• Malignant Fluid Danger Act (1979) : This action gives the Department of Transport (DOT) authority to regulate oil spills from pipelines.
• Pipeline Enhancement Law from (2006) : This action was created to improve pipeline safety and security practices. This action also reaffirms the role of the relevant pipe-related federal agency office in the case of a pipeline spill under DOT.

The above law is the instrument that regulates the oil spill incident instrument prior to the Exxon Valdez oil spill . Some attempts by congress to form broader and more complex oil pollution laws are hampered by aggressive issues that largely result in deadlock. One such conflict is federal law that limits the ability of states to enforce the terms and obligations of those responsible for the oil spill. The focus of the debate is largely centered on party responsibilities. An example of this type of debate is illustrated in the question "who is responsible for the spill case?" Owner of cargo or operator/ship owner? Another significant problem is the interaction between domestic regulations and international action. In the 1980s, international treaties considered to take over the oil spill federal and state laws added further complexity to party responsibilities.

However, after the Exxon Valdez incident, the short coming of the patchwork framework for oil spill governance was evident and mounting pressure placed on the MPs resulted in the establishment of a more comprehensive Petroleum Defense Act of 1990.

Oil Pollution Act (1990): The OPA is the main law governing the oil spill in the US. The establishment of OPA strengthens the role of the federal government in responding to the oil spill cleanup. The OPA is amending the existing CWA to provide 3 options to the authority delegated through the president. The options include direct cleaning by the federal authorities, to monitor the response of the responsible party or to seize the cleansing activities of the responsible party. It therefore gives the federal government the authority to determine the required level of cleaning.

The second major amendment by OPA to CWA is that it makes it a mandatory requirement for US tankers, offshore and offshore facilities to establish and submit an oil spill response plan to the relevant federal authorities. The OPA requires new ships that operate and transport oil in US waters to have double hulls. Not all ships are the same size and for the same purpose the OPA makes provision to free certain ships from having double hulls. However, by 2015 it is a requirement by law that all oil carriers operating in the US must have double hulls.

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Responsibilities of federal agents

The legal framework for enforcing governance of the oil spill in the US involves a number of federal authorities. Agency responsibility is divided into two categories: (1) anticipation and prevention of oil spills and (2) oil spill response and cleaning.

Response and Cleanup

The single most important authority governing the oil spill in the United States is the Federal government. The federal government has jurisdiction over oil and oil spill response occurring in state and federal waters.

The location of the Oil spill determines which authority responds. The oil spill occurring in coastal waters is the responsibility of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) while the Environmental Protection Agency includes oil spills on land. It is required by US federal law that any oil discharges that create a film or luster on the water surface are reported to the National Response Center. The National Response Center then discards information to USCG acting as coordinator in the field.

The USCG is the ultimate federal response authority in coastal waters so it has overall strength to ensure effective cleaning of oil spills and lead actions that prevent further release of the source of the spill. The resulting activities that follow up the oil spill involving federal, state and private parties are coordinated by USCG. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Response and Recovery (NOAA) works closely with USCG in providing technical assistance such as Alternative Considerations, Oil Transfer Tracking and Risk Assessment.

Anticipation and prevention

Different authorities are responsible for regulating the prevention and anticipation of oil spills depending on the potential of an oil spill source. A number of executive orders (EOs) and memorandum of understanding (MOU) have established the authorities and agencies responsible for various classes of potential oil spills (Table 1).

Table 1 Federal Agency Jurisdiction for oil spill anticipation and preventative duty, by potential sources.

Preventive measures taken by relevant authorities include assessments of facilities to ensure the prescribed standards established by legislation are met eg double Hull in new vessels and secondary retaining in oil storage facilities. Anticipatory tasks involve managing ship and facility response plans to oil spills at various levels: state, regional and national. This ensures proper personnel training on ships and facilities to implement the outlined response plan is also a key task. OPA requires relevant agencies to conduct inspections to test the anticipated capacity of the parties involved.

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International oil spill management in the US.

The international conventions have played an important role in creating an external network to regulate oil spills in US international treaties when signed by the US at the same level as federal law, then the signatories must apply domestic legislation to reflect the agreement. This mechanism helps to engineer a number of federal laws governing oil spills such as interventions at the High Sea Act of 1974. International conventions serve as key roles in developing standards for oil carriers from various countries to the US. The two major conventions that have contributed to oil spill governance are the 1969 International Convention Relating to the Intervention of the High Seas in the Cases of Petroleum Victims (Intervention Convention) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78).

The most important international organizations that contribute to the governance of the oil spill in the US include the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Spill Control Organization (ISCO) and the Petroleum Industry Association (APICOM).

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Governance approach to the US oil spill

The oil spill framework in the US uses multilateral governance systems where federal authorities, NGOs, and private parties are all actively involved in the response and cleaning procedures. Although the US government plays an important role in regulating the oil spill, it does not fully order and control every aspect of the process.

Due to the complex nature of oil and gas operations as well as limited technical expertise by governments in such industries, the regulation of industry standards and self policing play an important role in the process of regulating oil spills. This inevitably leads to a network governance approach used to regulate oil spills. The lack of specialist technical expertise and knowledge in the public sector makes it difficult for governments to rely entirely on their personnel resulting in public-private partnerships known as type II partnerships. New public management styles for oil spill governance are common in other aspects of environmental governance (eg climate change) in the US and are different from the role of enforcement bureaucracy that federal governments typically play.

The process of governing the oil spill depends on input from national, private and international agencies. To effectively implement response, prevention and cleanup procedures, a number of public authorities are held accountable under different jurisdictions. Since the 1970s the number of agencies governing the oil spill has increased, showing a steady shift from a government-led approach to a broader, multi-layered governmental process. Implementation of the international oil spill agreement into the domestic law discussed earlier provides further evidence of a shift to a more governance-based approach.

src: business-ethics.com

See also

• Environmental governance
• Environmental issues with petroleum
• Global governance
• List of oil spills
• National Oil Pollution Containment Plan
• Ohmsett (Oils and Dangerous Materials Environmental Test Tank Simulation)
• Oil Pollution Act 1990 (in the US)

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References

Source of the article : Wikipedia