§2712 Uses of Fund

Summary

The Fund pays for oil spill cleanup, damage studies, and related federal costs. It can pay removal costs done by federal teams or by a State, local government, or Indian tribe under a cost-reimbursable agreement. It can pay trustees who assess natural resource damage and make restoration plans. It can pay costs and damages from oil spilled from a foreign offshore unit. It can pay uncompensated removal costs and damages, and in very large spills it can pay Coast Guard claims-processing costs, as long as the Coast Guard sends Congress a report within 30 days after it decides such claims must be processed. The Fund may also pay federal administrative, operational, and personnel costs to run and enforce the law, with these limits each year: up to $25,000,000 for Coast Guard operations and support, up to $15,000,000 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, up to $30,000,000 per year through the end of fiscal year 1992 to build the National Response System (including buying and staging equipment), and up to $27,250,000 per year to carry out subchapter IV. The President may make rules naming officials who can obligate Fund money and may sign cost-reimbursable agreements with States, subdivisions, or Indian tribes; those agreements are not subject to chapter 63 and section 1535 of title 31. The Fund will not pay a claimant for costs or damages caused by that claimant’s gross negligence or willful misconduct. If the government pays a claim, it takes the claimant’s right to recover money from the responsible party. No one can be paid twice for the same costs or damages. Money for restoring natural resources must follow an adopted restoration plan, unless quick action is needed to avoid irreversible loss or danger. When contracting for removal work, preference should be given to local businesses when practical, except this does not limit Department of Defense resources. Claims for removal costs must be filed within 6 years after all removal work is finished. Claims for damages must be filed within 3 years after the injury and its link to the spill could reasonably have been found, or, for natural resource damage claims, within 3 years or by the date the damage assessment is finished if that is later. Time limits pause for minors until they turn 18 or get a legal representative, and for incompetent people until their incompetence ends or a legal representative is appointed. Each year when the President sends the budget to Congress, the Coast Guard’s department must report to specified congressional committees and post online a list of incidents that cost the Fund $500,000 or more in the past year and the year before, and show amounts recovered and reimbursed; agencies getting Fund money must keep records to support that report.