SEC. 7001. OIL POLLUTION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
(a) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON OIL POLLUTION RESEARCH.,
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.,There is established an Interagency Coordinating
Committee on Oil Pollution Research (hereinafter in this section
referred to as the "Interagency Committee").
(2) PURPOSES.,The Interagency Committee shall coordinate a comprehensive
program of oil pollution research, technology development, and
demonstration among the Federal agencies, in cooperation and coordination
with industry, universities, research institutions, State government
s, and other nations, as appropriate, and shall foster cost-effective
research mechanisms, including the joint funding of research.
(3) MEMBERSHIP.,The Interagency Committee shall include representatives
from the Department of Commerce (including the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards
and Technology), the Department of Energy, the Department of the
Interior (including the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) and the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service), the Department of Transportation
(including the United States Coast Guard, the Maritime Administration,
and the Research and Special Projects Administration), the Department
of Defense (including the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy),
the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, and the United States Fire Administration
in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as such other
Federal agencies as the President may designate.
A representative of the Department of Transportation shall serve
as Chairman.
(b) OIL POLLUTION RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PLAN.,
(1) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.,Within 180 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Interagency Committee shall submit to Congress
a plan for the implementation of the oil pollution research, development,
and demonstration program established pursuant to subsection (c).
The research plan shall,
(A) identify agency roles and responsibilities;
(B) assess the current status of knowledge on oil pollution prevention,
response, and mitigation technologies and effects of oil pollution
on the environment;
(C) identify significant oil pollution research gaps including
an assessment of major technological deficiencies in responses
to past oil discharges;
(D) establish research priorities and goals for oil pollution
technology development related to prevention, response, mitigation,
and environmental effects;
(E) estimate the resources needed to conduct the oil pollution
research and development program established pursuant to subsection
(c), and timetables for completing research tasks; and
(F) identify, in consultation with the States, regional oil
pollution research needs and priorities for a coordinated, multidisciplinary
program of research at the regional level.
(2) ADVICE AND GUIDANCE.,The Chairman, through the Department
of Transportation, shall contract with the National Academy of
Sciences to,
(A) provide advice and guidance in the preparation and development
of the research plan; and
(B) assess the adequacy of the plan as submitted, and submit a
report to Congress on the conclusions of such assessment.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology shall provide
the Interagency Committee with advice and guidance on issues relating
to quality assurance and standards measurements relating to its
activities under this section.
(c) OIL POLLUTION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.,
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.,The Interagency Committee shall coordinate
the establishment, by the agencies represented on the Interagency
Committee, of a program for conducting oil pollution research
and development, as provided in this subsection.
(2) INNOVATIVE OIL POLLUTION TECHNOLOGY.,The program established
under this subsection shall provide for research, development,
and demonstration of new or improved technologies which are effective
in preventing or mitigating oil discharges and which protect the
environment, including,
(A) development of improved designs for vessels and facilities,
and improved operational practices;
(B) research, development, and demonstration of improved technologies
to measure the ullage of a vessel tank, prevent discharges from
tank vents, prevent discharges during lightering and bunkering
operations, contain discharges on the deck of a vessel, prevent
discharges through the use of vacuums in tanks, and otherwise
contain discharges of oil from vessels and facilities;
(C) research, development, and demonstration of new or improved
systems of mechanical, chemical, biological, and other methods
(including the use of dispersants, solvents, and bioremediation)
for the recovery, removal, and disposal of oil, including evaluation
of the environmental effects of the use of such systems;
(D) research and training, in consul tation with the National
Response Team, to improve industry's and Government's ability
to quickly and effectively remove an oil discharge, including
the long-term use, as appropriate, of the National Spill Control
School in Corpus Christi, Texas;
(E) research to improve information systems for decisionmaking,
including the use of data from coastal mapping, baseline data,
and other data related to the environmental effects of oil discharges,
and cleanup technologies;
(F) development of technologies and methods to protect public
health and safety from oil discharges, including the population
directly exposed to an oil discharge;
(G) development of technologies, methods, and standards for protecting
removal personnel, including training, adequate supervision, protective
equipment, maximum exposure limits, and decontamination procedures;
(H) research and development of methods to restore and rehabilitate
natural resources damaged by oil discharges;
(I) research to evaluate the relative effectiveness and environmental
impacts of bioremediation technologies; and
(J) the demonstration of a satellite-based, dependent surveillance
vessel traffic system in Narragansettt Bay to evaluate the utility
of such system in reducing the risk of oil discharges from vessel
collisions and groundings in confined waters.
(3) OIL POLLUTION TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION.,The program established
under this subsection shall provide for oil pollution prevention
and mitigation technology evaluation including,
(A) the evaluation and testing of technologies developed independently
of the research and development program established under this
subsection;
(B) the establishment, where appropriate, of standards and testing
protocols traceable to national standards to measure the performance
of oil pollution prevention or mitigation technologies; and
(C) the use, where appropriate, of controlled field testing to
evaluate real-world application of oil discharge prevention or
mitigation technologies.
(4) OIL POLLUTION EFFECTS RESEARCH.,(A) The Committee shall
establish a research program to monitor and evaluate the environmental
effects of oil discharges. Such program shall include the following
elements:
(i) The development of improved models and capabilities for
predicting the environmental fate, transport, and effects of oil
discharges.
(ii) The development of methods, including economic methods, to
assess damages to natural resources resulting from oil discharges.
(iii) The identification of types of ecologically sensitive areas
at particular risk to oil discharges and the preparation of scientific
monitoring and evaluation plans, one for each of several types
of ecological conditions, to be implemented in the event of major
oil discharges in such areas.
(iv) The collection of environmental baseline data in ecologically
sensitive areas at particular risk to oil discharges where such
data are insufficient.
(B) The Department of Commerce in consultation with the Environmental
Protection Agency shall monitor and scientifically evaluate the
long-term environmental effects of oil discharges if,
(i) the amount of oil discharged exceeds 250,000 gallons;
(ii) the oil discharge has occurred on or after January 1, 1989;
and
(iii) the Interagency Committee determines that a study of the
long-term environmental effects of the discharge would be of significant
scientific value, especially for preventing or responding to future
oil discharges.
Areas for study may include the following sites where oil discharges
have occurred: the New York/New Jersey Harbor area, where oil
was discharged by an Exxon underwater pipeline, the T/B CIBRO
SAVANNAH, and the M/V BT NAUTILUS; Narragansett Bay where oil
was discharged by the WORLD PRODIGY; the Houston Ship Channel
where oil was discharged by the RACHEL B; the Delaware River,
where oil was discharged by the PRESIDENTE RIVERA, and Huntington
Beach, California, where oil was discharged by the AMERICAN TRADER.
(C) Research conducted under this paragraph by, or through,
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service shall be directed
and coordinated by the National Wetland Research Center.
(5) MARINE SIMULATION RESEARCH.,The program established under
this subsection shall include research on the greater use and
application of geogr aphic and vessel response simulation models,
including the development of additional data bases and updating
of existing data bases using, among others, the resources of the
National Maritime Research Center. It shall include research and
vessel simulations for,
(A) contingency plan evaluation and amendment;
(B) removal and strike team training;
(C) tank vessel personnel training; and
(D) those geographic areas where there is a significant likelihood
of a major oil discharge.
(6) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.,The United States Coast Guard, in
conjunction with other such agencies in the Department of Transportation
as the Secretary of Transportation may designate, shall conduct
3 port oil pollution minimization demonstration projects, one
each with (A) the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (B)
the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, and (C)
the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana, for the purpose of developing
and demonstrating integrated port oil pollution prevention and
cleanup systems which utilize the information and implement the
improved practices and technologies developed from the research,
development, and demonstration program established in this section.
Such systems shall utilize improved technologies and management
practices for reducing the risk of oil discharges, including,
as appropriate, improved data access, computerized tracking of
oil shipments, improved vessel tracking and navigation systems,
advanced technology to monitor pipeline and tank conditions, improved
oil spill response capability, improved capability to predict
the flow and effects of oil discharges in both the inner and outer
harbor areas for the purposes of making infrastructure decisions,
and such other activities necessary to achieve the purposes of
this section.
(7) SIMULATED ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING.,Agencies represented on the
Interagency Committee shall ensure the long-term use and operation
of the Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test
Tank (OHMSETT) Research Center in New Jersey for oil pollution
technology testing and evaluations.
(8) REGIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM.,(A) Consistent with the resea
rch plan in subsection (b), the Interagency Committee shall coordinate
a program of competitive grants to universities or other research
institutions, or groups of universities or research institutions,
for the purposes of conducting a coordinated research program
related to the regional aspects of oil pollution, such as prevention,
removal, mitigation, and the effects of discharged oil on regional
environments. For the purposes of this paragraph, a region means
a Coast Guard district as set out in part 3 of title 33, Code
of Federal Regulations (1989).
(B) The Interagency Committee shall coordinate the publication
by the agencies represented on the Interagency Committee of a
solicitation for grants under this subsection. The application
shall be in such form and contain such information as may be required
in the published solicitation. The applications shall be reviewed
by the Interagency Committee, which shall make recommendations
to the appropriate granting agency represented on the Interagency
Committee for awarding the grant. The granting agency shall award
the grants recommended by the Interagency Committee unless the
agency decides not to award the grant due to budgetary or other
compelling considerations and publishes its reasons for such a
determination in the Federal Register. No grants may be made by
any agency from any funds authorized for this paragraph unless
such grant award has first been recommended by the Interagency
Committee.
(C) Any university or other research institution, or group of
universities or research institutions, may apply for a grant for
the regional research program established by this paragraph. The
applicant must be located in the region, or in a State a part
of which is in the region, for which the project is proposed as
part of the regional research program. With respect to a group
application, the entity or entities which will carry out the substantial
portion of the proposed research must be located in the region,
or in a State a part of which is in the region, for which the
project is proposed as part of the regional research program.
(D) The Interagency Committee sh all make recommendations on
grants in such a manner as to ensure an appropriate balance within
a region among the various aspects of oil pollution research,
including prevention, removal, mitigation, and the effects of
discharged oil on regional environments. In addition, the Interagency
Committee shall make recommendations for grants based on the following
criteria:
(i) There is available to the applicant for carrying out this
paragraph demonstrated research resources.
(ii) The applicant demonstrates the capability of making a significant
contribution to regional research needs.
(iii) The projects which the applicant proposes to carry out under
the grant are consistent with the research plan under subsection
(b)(1)(F) and would further the objectives of the research and
development program established in this section.
(E) Grants provided under this paragraph shall be for a period
up to 3-years, subject to annual review by the granting agency,
and provide not more than 80 percent of the costs of the research
activities carried out in connection with the grant.
(F) No funds made available to carry out this subsection may be
used for the acquisition of real property (including buildings)
or construction of any building.
(G) Nothing in this paragraph is intended to alter or abridge
the authority under existing law of any Federal agency to make
grants, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements, using
funds other than those authorized in this Act for the purposes
of carrying out this paragraph.
(9) FUNDING.,For each of the fiscal years 1991, 1992, 1993,
1994, and 1995, $6,000,000 of amounts in the Fund shall be available
to carry out the regional research program in paragraph (8), such
amounts to be available in equal amounts for the regional research
program in each region; except that if the agencies represented
on the Interagency Committee determine that regional research
needs exist which cannot be addressed within such funding limits,
such agencies may use their authority under paragraph (10) to
make additional grants to meet such needs. For the purposes of
this paragraph, the research program carried out by the Prince
William Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute established under
section 5001, shall not be eligible to receive grants under this
paragraph.
(10) GRANTS.,In carrying out the research and development program
established under this subsection, the agencies represented on
the Interagency Committee may enter into contracts and cooperative
agreements and make grants to universities, research institutions,
and other persons. Such contracts, cooperative agreements, and
grants shall address research and technology priorities set forth
in the oil pollution research plan under subsection (b).
(11) In carrying out research under this section, the Department
of Transportation shall continue to utilize the resources of the
Research and Special Programs Administration of the Department
of Transportation, to the maximum extent practicable.
(d) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.,In accordance with the research
plan submitted under subsection (b), the Interagency Committee
shall coordinate and cooperate with other nations and foreign
research entities in conducting oil pollution research, development,
and demonstration activities, including controlled field tests
of oil discharges.
(e) BIENNIAL REPORTS.,The Chairman of the Interagency Committee
shall submit to Congress every 2 years on October 30 a report
on the activities carried out under this section in the preceding
2 fiscal years, and on activities proposed to be carried out under
this section in the current 2 fiscal year period.
(f) FUNDING.,Not to exceed $21,250,000 of amounts in the Fund
shall be available annually to carry out this section except for
subsection (c)(8). Of such sums,
(1) funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out the activities
under subsection (c)(4) shall not exceed $5,000,000 for fiscal
year 1991 or $3,500,000 for any subsequent fiscal year; and
(2) not less than $2,250,000 shall be available for carrying out
the activities in subsection (c)(6) for fiscal years 1992, 1993,
1994, and 1995.
All activities authorized in this section, including subsection
(c)(8), are subject to appropriations.
Copyright © 1996 U.S. National Response Team
Last Modified: October 18, 1996