33 U.S.C. § 2702

Elements of liability

Read at: OLRCuscode.house.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov JustiaTitle 33 CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) In general

Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law, and subject to the provisions of this Act, each responsible party for a vessel or a facility from which oil is discharged, or which poses the substantial threat of a discharge of oil, into or upon the navigable waters or adjoining shorelines or the exclusive economic zone is liable for the removal costs and damages specified in subsection (b) that result from such incident.

(b) Covered removal costs and damages(1) Removal costsThe removal costs referred to in subsection (a) are—(A) all removal costs incurred by the United States, a State, or an Indian tribe under subsection (c), (d), (e), or (l) of section 1321 of this title, under the Intervention on the High Seas Act (33 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.), or under State law; and(B) any removal costs incurred by any person for acts taken by the person which are consistent with the National Contingency Plan.(2) DamagesThe damages referred to in subsection (a) are the following:(A) Natural resources

Damages for injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss of use of, natural resources, including the reasonable costs of assessing the damage, which shall be recoverable by a United States trustee, a State trustee, an Indian tribe trustee, or a foreign trustee.

(B) Real or personal property

Damages for injury to, or economic losses resulting from destruction of, real or personal property, which shall be recoverable by a claimant who owns or leases that property.

Damages for loss of subsistence use of natural resources, which shall be recoverable by any claimant who so uses natural resources which have been injured, destroyed, or lost, without regard to the ownership or management of the resources.

(D) Revenues

Damages equal to the net loss of taxes, royalties, rents, fees, or net profit shares due to the injury, destruction, or loss of real property, personal property, or natural resources, which shall be recoverable by the Government of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision thereof.

(E) Profits and earning capacity

Damages equal to the loss of profits or impairment of earning capacity due to the injury, destruction, or loss of real property, personal property, or natural resources, which shall be recoverable by any claimant.

(F) Public services

Damages for net costs of providing increased or additional public services during or after removal activities, including protection from fire, safety, or health hazards, caused by a discharge of oil, which shall be recoverable by a State, or a political subdivision of a State.

(c) Excluded dischargesThis subchapter does not apply to any discharge—(1) permitted by a permit issued under Federal, State, or local law;(2) from a public vessel; or(3) from an onshore facility which is subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.).(d) Liability of third parties(1) In general(A) Third party treated as responsible party

Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in any case in which a responsible party establishes that a discharge or threat of a discharge and the resulting removal costs and damages were caused solely by an act or omission of one or more third parties described in section 2703(a)(3) of this title (or solely by such an act or omission in combination with an act of God or an act of war), the third party or parties shall be treated as the responsible party or parties for purposes of determining liability under this subchapter.

(B) Subrogation of responsible partyIf the responsible party alleges that the discharge or threat of a discharge was caused solely by an act or omission of a third party, the responsible party—(i) in accordance with section 2713 of this title, shall pay removal costs and damages to any claimant; and(ii) shall be entitled by subrogation to all rights of the United States Government and the claimant to recover removal costs or damages from the third party or the Fund paid under this subsection.(2) Limitation applied(A) Owner or operator of vessel or facility

If the act or omission of a third party that causes an incident occurs in connection with a vessel or facility owned or operated by the third party, the liability of the third party shall be subject to the limits provided in section 2704 of this title as applied with respect to the vessel or facility.

(B) Other cases

In any other case, the liability of a third party or parties shall not exceed the limitation which would have been applicable to the responsible party of the vessel or facility from which the discharge actually occurred if the responsible party were liable.

(Pub. L. 101–380, title I, § 1002, Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 489.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (a), 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 Short Title note set out under section 2701 of this title and Tables.

The Intervention on the High Seas Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(1)(A), is Pub. L. 93–248, Feb. 5, 1974, 88 Stat. 8, which is classified generally to chapter 28 (§ 1471 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1471 of this title and Tables.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, referred to in subsec. (c)(3), 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 Short Title note set out under section 1651 of Title 43 and Tables.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 146 cases (25 in the last 5 years), 1992–2026 · leading case: Savage Servs. Corp. v. United States, 25 F.4th 925 (11th Cir. 2022).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Savage Servs. Corp. v. United States, 25 F.4th 925 (11th Cir. 2022). · cites it 7× “” It also fails to account for the OPA’s “[n]otwithstanding” clause, 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (a). See infra at Section III.”

In Re: Deepwater Horizon, 739 F.3d 790 (5th Cir. 2014). · cites it 4× “5 Such a construction seemingly preserves a threshold 2Under the Oil Pollution Act, 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (a), liability extends to removal costs and specified damages categories “that result” from an oil discharge incident.”

United States v. Viking Resources, Inc., 607 F. Supp. 2d 808 (S.D. Tex. 2009). · cites it 12× “” 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (a). Therefore, the Coast Guard conducted a record search to attempt to identify responsible parties for the Highland Bayou spill.”

United States v. CITGO Asphalt Ref. Co. (In Re Frescati Shipping Co., Ltd.), 886 F.3d 291 (3rd Cir. 2018). · cites it 3× “See 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (a). The OPA allows a responsible party like Frescati to limit its liability to a specified sum; any cleanup costs above that amount are reimbursed out of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.”

Loggerhead Holdings v. BP, 48 F.4th 378 (5th Cir. 2022). · cites it 4× “See 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (b)(2)(B), (E). It also asserted a claim for compensatory and punitive damages under maritime law.”

Cape Flattery Ltd. v. Titan Mar., LLC, 647 F.3d 914 (9th Cir. 2011). · cites it 3× “Under 33 U.S.C. § 2702 , Cape Flattery, as the vessel’s owner, was liable for the cost of removing the vessel from the reef.”

Settoon Towing, L.L.C. v. Marquette Transp. Co., 859 F.3d 340 (5th Cir. 2017). · cites it 4× “” 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (a). There are three absolute defenses, but they are not relevant in this case.”

Ironshore Specialty Ins. Co. v. United States, 871 F.3d 131 (1st Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “Because the OPA indisputably exempts public vessels from liability, 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (c)(2), Ironshore’s OPA claims hinge upon the question of whether the FISHER qualifies as a public vessel.”

Gabarick v. Laurin Mar. (Am.) Inc., 623 F. Supp. 2d 741 (E.D. La. 2009). · cites it 7× “After review of the pleadings and applicable law, and for the reasons that follow, IT IS ORDERED that the Motions to Dismiss General Maritime Claims based on the Preemptive Effect of OPA are GRANTED and that all claims covered under 33 U.S.C. § 2702 are DISMISSED without…”

United States v. Jones, 267 F. Supp. 2d 1349 (M.D. Ga. 2003). · cites it 7× “§ 1321 (b), and the Oil Pollution Act (hereinafter OPA), 33 U.S.C.A. § 2702 (a). Defendants own an oil processing facility that has on its premises several different types of tanks and holding facilities.”

Fireman's Fund Ins. v. Great Am. Ins., 822 F.3d 620 (2d Cir. 2016). “” 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (a). . The provision of the FWPCA cited in the Great American Pollution Policy prohibits "[t]he discharge of oil or hazardous substances .”

United States v. HVI Cat Canyon, Inc., 314 F. Supp. 3d 1049 (C.D. Cal. 2018). · cites it 8× “…with 40 C.F.R. § 112.20 ; (5) recovery of removal costs under § 1002(a) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 ("OPA"), 33 U.S.C. § 2702 (a) ; (6) violations of California Water Code § 13350 ; (7) violations of California Water Code § 13385 ; (8) violations of California Fish…”

Show all 146 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.