§2707 — Title 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters | U.S. Code

Summary

Foreign people, governments, or their agencies can seek money for oil spill cleanup costs or damage only if they have not already been paid and if a treaty or executive agreement allows it, or the Secretary of State (after talking with the Attorney General and others) certifies that their country offers a similar remedy to U.S. claimants. One exception: Canadian residents do not need that certification for a specific kind of tanker incident described below. Claims can only be for oil spilled or threatened to spill in a foreign country’s territorial sea, internal waters, or nearby shoreline, and only when the oil came from one of four sources: an Outer Continental Shelf facility or deepwater port; a vessel in navigable waters; a vessel carrying oil between two U.S. places; or a tanker that took oil at the Trans‑Alaska pipeline terminal for shipment to the U.S., if the spill happened before delivery. A “foreign claimant” means a person living abroad, a foreign government, or an agency or subdivision of that government.

Title 33, §2707

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)In addition to satisfying the other requirements of this Act, to recover removal costs or damages resulting from an incident a foreign claimant shall demonstrate that—

(A)the claimant has not been otherwise compensated for the removal costs or damages; and

(B)recovery is authorized by a treaty or executive agreement between the United States and the claimant’s country, or the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and other appropriate officials, has certified that the claimant’s country provides a comparable remedy for United States claimants.

(2)Paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply with respect to recovery by a resident of Canada in the case of an incident described in subsection (b)(4).

(b)A foreign claimant may make a claim for removal costs and damages resulting from a discharge, or substantial threat of a discharge, of oil in or on the territorial sea, internal waters, or adjacent shoreline of a foreign country, only if the discharge is from—

(1)an Outer Continental Shelf facility or a deepwater port;

(2)a vessel in the navigable waters;

(3)a vessel carrying oil as cargo between 2 places in the United States; or

(4)a tanker that received the oil at the terminal of the pipeline constructed under the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.), for transportation to a place in the United States, and the discharge or threat occurs prior to delivery of the oil to that place.

(c)In this section, the term “foreign claimant” means—

(1)a person residing in a foreign country;

(2)the government of a foreign country; and

(3)an agency or political subdivision of a foreign country.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), is Pub. L. 101–380, Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 484, known as the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

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note set out under section 2701 of this title and Tables. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(4), is title II of Pub. L. 93–153, Nov. 16, 1973, 87 Stat. 584, which is classified generally to chapter 34 (§ 1651 et seq.) of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

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note set out under section 1651 of Title 43 and Tables.

§2707 Recovery by foreign claimants

Summary

Title 33, §2707

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

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