Today, my colleague Anthony Cavender and I published our Alert titled Congress Expands the Oil Pollution Act to Reach Spills Originating Outside of the U.S. In it we discuss the Foreign Spill Protection Act of 2017 and key takeaways from this new law:
- New law establishes oil spill liability in the U.S. for foreign-based offshore exploration and production facilities.
- Owners and operators of existing or planned foreign offshore exploration and production facilities must consider potential liability for spills reaching U.S. waters.
- “Responsible parties” liable for damages and penalties include owners and operators of foreign-based offshore and abandoned oil facilities.