Amendment to OPA 90 Proposed to Ensure Adequate Funding of Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund
Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) has introduced legislation (S-865) to modify the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund established pursuant to OPA 90 (Oil Pollution Act of 1990 [33 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.]) As of March 28, 2019, a copy of the text was not available.
As reported in Sen. Sullivan’s Press Release (March 25, 2019; https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-bill-to-update-and-permanently-reauthorize-oil-spill-liability-trust-fund), the proposed legislation is intended to modify the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. The 9-cent per gallon tax expired at the end of 2018 (https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/Tax/us-tax-federal-oil-spill-tax-expired-december-31-2018.pdf) The bill, if passed, sets a $7 Billion dollar cap on the fund with a $5 Billion minimum reserve. The Senator’s press release (URL noted above) gives a description of the Senate bill.