A bill to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to establish an oil spill response and prevention grant program and provide for advances from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and modify the application of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund financing rate, and for other purposes.
Spill Response and Prevention Surety Act
This bill provides support for responding to oil spills.
Specifically, it makes permanent and modifies the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which provides funds to pay removal costs and claims for damages resulting from oil spills into navigable waters of the United States. Under current law, the fund is financed primarily by an excise tax on domestic crude oil and imported petroleum products. The bill expands the definition of crude oil for purposes of such tax to include any bitumen or bituminous mixture as well as any oil derived from a bitumen or bituminous mixture.
The bill revises requirements governing the use of the funds. For example, the bill doubles the limit placed on expenditures from the fund that may be used for (1) any single incident, or (2) natural resource damages.
In addition, the bill allows the fund to be used for carrying out grant programs established by this bill. The Department of Homeland Security must biennially award grants to eligible institutions of higher education for oil spill response research and technology development activities and programs as well as oil spill prevention activities and programs. Grants may also be given to states for oil spill prevention activities and programs.
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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