Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation Act

(Reported to House from the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries with amendment, H.Rept. 98-340(Part I))

Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation Act - Title I: Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation - Makes this title effective only until both the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage and the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage are in force with respect to the United States.

Permits claims for damages for economic loss, arising from oil pollution, to be asserted for: (1) removal costs; (2) injury to or destruction of natural resources; (3) injury to or destruction of real or personal property; (4) loss of subsistence use of natural resources; (5) loss of profits or impairment of earning capacity due to such injury or destruction; and (6) loss of tax revenue for a period of one year due to injury to real or personal property. Specifies the potential claimants who have standing to assert claims involving each such type of damage.

Imposes joint, several, and strict liability on the party responsible for the source of pollution. Specifies liability limits, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct, for vessels, inland oil barges, ships, deepwater ports, and other facilities located on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Makes the Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability Trust Fund (the Trust Fund, established under title II of this Act) liable for damages for claims asserted under this Act, except as provided in title II of this Act, to the extent that the loss is not otherwise compensated.

Requires the responsible party for vessels over 300 tons (including foreign vessels) and the party responsible for offshore facilities to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable liability limits. Limits the liability of a guarantor to the aggregate amount of financial responsibility that the guarantor provided.

Specifies procedures whereby the Secretary of Transportation shall designate and advertise pollution sources.

Directs the Secretary to advertise claims to be presented initially to the responsible party or to such person's guarantor, in instances in which: (1) the responsible party and guarantor both deny involvement; (2) the source of the discharge is a public vessel; or (3) the Secretary is unable to designate the pollution source.

Permits claimants either to present a claim to the Trust Fund or to bring an action in an appropriate U.S. court if liability is denied or the claim is not settled within a specified period.

Sets forth procedures for the disposition and appeal of claims submitted to the Trust Fund.

Requires both the plaintiff and the defendant in a court action brought against a responsible party or guarantor to forward copies of all pleadings to the Fund. Permits the Trust Fund to intervene in such actions. Requires a claim to be presented within three years of discovery of an economic loss, or within six years of the date of the incident, whichever is earlier.

Subrogates any person, including the Trust Fund, to all the claimant's claims and rights under this title. Sets forth the measure of recovery for actions brought by the Trust Fund against any responsible party or guarantor.

Grants U.S. district courts exclusive original jurisdiction over all controversies arising under titles I, II, and III of this Act, without regard to the citizenship of the parties or the amount in controversy.

Makes the rights and remedies under this title exclusive with respect to economic loss caused by oil pollution (but does not preclude State imposition of taxes or fees to finance the purchase and prepositioning of oil pollution cleanup and removal equipment).

Sets penalties for persons failing to comply with specified provisions in this Act.

Authorizes appropriations for this Act.

Title II: Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability Trust Fund - Establishes the Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability Trust Fund which shall consist of: (1) the 1.3 cent a barrel fee imposed by this title; (2) amounts recovered or collected on behalf of the Trust Fund under title I; and (3) any amounts transferred to the Trust Fund under title III of this Act from the Deepwater Port Liability Fund and the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund. Provides for the establishment of a Board of Directors for the Trust Fund.

Exempts the Trust Fund and its income and property from all taxation except that any real property owned in fee by the Trust Fund shall be subject to State, territorial, county, municipal, or other local taxation to the same extent as other similar real property.

Requires an annual independent audit of the Trust Fund.

Requires a fee of 1.3 cents a barrel to be paid into the Trust Fund by the owner of: (1) oil received at a U.S. refinery; (2) oil entered into the United States for consumption, use, or warehousing; and (3) oil produced from a well located in the United States which is used in or exported from the United States. Provides that such fee shall be in effect only when the amount in the Trust Fund is less than $200,000,000. Prohibits the imposition of the fee with respect to any oil if the person who would be liable for the fee establishes that a prior fee has been imposed with respect to that oil. Establishes a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for any person who fails to collect or pay the fee.

Makes the Trust Fund available for: (1) immediate payment of removal costs; (2) payment of claims under title I for damage which is not otherwise compensated; (3) the costs of administration of this Act; and (4) the payment of initial and annual contributions to the International Fund established under title IV of this Act. Requires the prudent investment of sums not needed for the above, but requires rebates to those who paid the 1.3 cent fee whenever the amount in the Trust Fund exceeds $300,000,000.

Prohibits payment of any claim from the Trust Fund if payment would reduce the amount in the Trust Fund to an amount less than $30,000,000. Authorizes the Trust Fund to borrow from any commercial credit source. Limits the liability of the Trust Fund with respect to one incident to a maximum of $100,000,000.

Requires the Comptroller General to review the required audit of the Trust Fund.

Provides that if the balance of any fund is to be transferred to the Trust Fund, any claim arising before October 1, 1984, shall be paid from the Trust Fund.

Provides that if the Secretary determines that there is a Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAP) fund deficit, then the 1.3 cent fee shall be increased by two cents per barrel until the total amount of such increased fees equals such deficit. Defines a TAP fund deficit.

Provides that for purposes of this title, the term "United States" includes the Outer Continental Shelf and any foreign trade zone of the United States.

Title III: Regulations, Effective Dates, and Savings Provisions - Specifies the effective dates of specified provisions of this Act.

Eliminates the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund and provides that all unused assets of such Fund shall be rebated directly to the operator of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline for pro-rata payments to those owners who had paid into such Fund.

Amends specified laws, including the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Intervention on the High Seas Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, to conform with the provisions of this Act. Transfers to the Fund amounts remaining on the Deepwater Port Liability Fund and the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (both having been eliminated by the above repeals).

States that if any provision of this Act is held invalid, the remainder of the Act shall not be affected.

Title IV: Implementation of Conventions - Recognizes the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (International Fund) as a legal person under the laws of the United States.

Requires, in any action brought in the United States against the owner of a ship or his guarantor under the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, that the International Fund and the Trust Fund be served a copy of the complaint and any subsequent pleading. Entitles the International Fund to intervene as a party in any such action.

Exempts the International Fund from all direct taxation in the United States.

Requires any initial or annual contribution to the International Fund to be paid by the Trust Fund.

Sets forth the jurisdiction of the U.S. district courts for controversies arising under the Civil Liability Convention or the International Fund Convention.

Requires U.S. courts to recognize final judgments of courts of nations which are a party to the Civil Liability Convention or the International Fund Convention.

Requires the owner of each U.S. documented ship, or any ship, wherever registered, which enters or leaves a U.S. port or terminal carrying more than 2,000 tons of oil in bulk as cargo to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility in amounts sufficent to cover the maximum liability arising from one incident under the Civil Liability Convention. Imposes a civil penalty for noncompliance with provisions of the above sentence.

States that the United States waives all defenses based on its status as a sovereign State with respect to any controversy arising under the Civil Liability Convention or the International Fund Convention relating to any ship owned by the United States an used for commercial purposes.

States that one franc shall be deemed to equal one-fifteenth of a special drawing right, as defined by the International Monetary Fund.

Authorizes the Secretary to issue such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement the Civil Liability Convention and the International Fund Convention.