From the Office of Senator Kerry

Friday, August 1, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John Kerry today secured passage by a key Senate Committee of legislative language designed to prevent another oil spill akin to the one that took place in Buzzards Bay this past April.

“The oil spill that took place in Buzzards Bay caused severe damage to the Bay’s fragile ecosystem and shellfishing activities,” said Kerry. “We know now that there are steps that can be taken to help prevent this type of calamity from happening in the future, and I am determined to make sure we pass a law that ensures those steps can be taken.”

In late April of this year, a vessel owned by the Bouchard Company crashed in Buzzards Bay. As a result, thousands of gallons of oil were dumped into the Bay, causing severe damage to marine life, property, and the local economy. To help prevent this from happening in the future, Kerry drafted legislative language that has been included in the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2003, which authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 and provides authority for various Coast Guard activities. Kerry’s language requires:

1) Report on Oil Pollution Act. The bill requires the Coast Guard to provide a report to Congress on various aspects and concerns with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA-90), including the following:

- the possibility of accelerating the final phase-out date under OPA-90 for the use of single-hull tankers in waters under the jurisdiction of the United States from 2015 to 2010.

- why the Coast Guard has not increased the liability limits associated with parties responsible for oil spills, as required by law, and whether those limits should be increased. - manning, inspection, and safety requirements for tank barges and towing vessels used in connection with them.

- the feasibility, costs, and benefits of requiring vessel monitoring systems on tank vessels used to transport oil or other hazardous cargo. - the costs of completing creation of Electronic Navigation Charts (ENC) for all of NOAA's 1,000 nautical charts, and the costs and benefits of requiring electronic navigation systems on vessels.

6) Non-tank vessel response plans. The bill includes a provision that would allow the President to issue regulations requiring non-tank vessels of 400GT and greater that carry oil as fuel for main propulsion to prepare vessel response plans that are the same as the vessel response plans currently required under OPA-90 for tank vessels that carry oil in bulk as cargo.