|
U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 9509. Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund
(a) Creation of Trust Fund
There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust
fund to be known as the "Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund",
consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited to
such Trust Fund as provided in this section or section 9602(b).
(b) Transfers to Trust Fund
There are hereby appropriated to the Oil Spill Liability Trust
Fund amounts equivalent to -
(1) taxes received in the Treasury under section 4611 (relating
to environmental tax on petroleum) to the extent attributable to
the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund financing rate under section
4611(c),
(2) amounts recovered under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 for
damages to natural resources which are required to be deposited
in the Fund under section 1006(f) of such Act,
(3) amounts recovered by such Trust Fund under section 1015 of
such Act,
(4) amounts required to be transferred by such Act from the
revolving fund established under section 311(k) of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act,
(5) amounts required to be transferred by the Oil Pollution Act
of 1990 from the Deepwater Port Liability Fund established under
section 18(f) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974,
(6) amounts required to be transferred by the Oil Pollution Act
of 1990 from the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund
established under section 302 of the Outer Continental Shelf
Lands Act Amendments of 1978,
(7) amounts required to be transferred by the Oil Pollution Act
of 1990 from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund established
under section 204 of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act,
and
(8) any penalty paid pursuant to section 311 of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act, section 309(c) of such Act (as a
result of violations of such section 311), the Deepwater Port Act
of 1974, or section 207 of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
Authorization Act.
(c) Expenditures
(1) Expenditure purposes
Amounts in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund shall be
available, as provided in appropriation Acts or section 6002(b)
of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, only for purposes of making
expenditures -
(A) for the payment of removal costs and other costs,
expenses, claims, and damages referred to in section 1012 of
such Act,
(B) to carry out sections 5 and 7 of the Intervention on the
High Seas Act relating to oil pollution or the substantial
threat of oil pollution,
(C) for the payment of liabilities incurred by the revolving
fund established by section 311(k) of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act,
(D) to carry out subsections (b), (c), (d), (j), and (l) of
section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with
respect to prevention, removal, and enforcement related to oil
discharges (as defined in such section),
(E) for the payment of liabilities incurred by the Deepwater
Port Liability Fund, and
(F) for the payment of liabilities incurred by the Offshore
Oil Pollution Compensation Fund.
(2) Limitations on expenditures
(A) $1,000,000,000 per incident, etc.
The maximum amount which may be paid from the Oil Spill
Liability Trust Fund with respect to -
(i) any single incident shall not exceed $1,000,000,000,
and
(ii) natural resource damage assessments and claims in
connection with any single incident shall not exceed
$500,000,000.
(B) $30,000,000 minimum balance
Except in the case of payments of removal costs, a payment
may be made from such Trust Fund only if the amount in such
Trust Fund after such payment will not be less than
$30,000,000.
(d) Authority to borrow
(1) In general
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Oil Spill
Liability Trust Fund, as repayable advances, such sums as may be
necessary to carry out the purposes of such Trust Fund.
(2) Limitation on amount outstanding
The maximum aggregate amount of repayable advances to the Oil
Spill Liability Trust Fund which is outstanding at any one time
shall not exceed $1,000,000,000.
(3) Repayment of advances
(A) In general
Advances made to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund shall be
repaid, and interest on such advances shall be paid, to the
general fund of the Treasury when the Secretary determines that
moneys are available for such purposes in such Fund.
(B) Final repayment
No advance shall be made to the Oil Spill Liability Trust
Fund after December 31, 1994, and all advances to such Fund
shall be repaid on or before such date.
(C) Rate of interest
Interest on advances made pursuant to this subsection shall
be -
(i) at a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury
(as of the close of the calendar month preceding the month in
which the advance is made) to be equal to the current average
market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the
United States with remaining periods to maturity comparable
to the anticipated period during which the advance will be
outstanding, and
(ii) compounded annually.
(e) Liability of the United States limited to amount in Trust Fund
(1) General rule
Any claim filed against the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund may
be paid only out of such Trust Fund.
(2) Coordination with other provisions
Nothing in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (or in any amendment
made by such Act) shall authorize the payment by the United
States Government of any amount with respect to any such claim
out of any source other than the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.
(3) Order in which unpaid claims are to be paid
If at any time the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund has
insufficient funds (or is unable by reason of subsection (c)(2))
to pay all of the claims out of such Trust Fund at such time,
such claims shall, to the extent permitted under paragraph (1)
and such subsection, be paid in full in the order in which they
were finally determined.
(f) References to Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Any reference in this section to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 or
any other Act referred to in a subparagraph of subsection (c)(1)
shall be treated as a reference to such Act as in effect on the
date of the enactment of this subsection.
|
|