SB 273: "An Act requiring oil discharge prevention and contingency plans and proof of financial responsibility for nontank vessels and railroad tank cars; authorizing inspection of nontank vessels and trains; and providing for an effective date."
00SENATE BILL NO. 273 01 "An Act requiring oil discharge prevention and contingency plans and proof of 02 financial responsibility for nontank vessels and railroad tank cars; authorizing 03 inspection of nontank vessels and trains; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 46.04 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 46.04.055. Nontank vessels and railroad tank cars. (a) A person may 07 not cause or permit the operation of a nontank vessel within the waters of the state or 08 cause or permit the transfer of oil to or from a nontank vessel unless 09 (1) effective June 1, 2001, an oil discharge prevention and contingency 10 plan has been approved by the department and the person is in compliance with the 11 plan; a plan under this paragraph is subject to the requirements of AS 46.04.030; and 12 (2) the person has furnished to the department and the department has 13 approved proof of financial ability to respond to damages meeting the requirements of 14 AS 46.04.040; proof of financial responsibility required under this paragraph is subject
01 to adjustment of dollar amounts under AS 46.04.045 and is established, for a nontank 02 vessel that carries 03 (A) persistent product as fuel or in bulk, at $300 per incident 04 for each barrel of persistent product storage capacity or $5,000,000, whichever 05 is greater; and 06 (B) nonpersistent product, at $100 per incident for each barrel 07 of nonpersistent product storage capacity or $1,000,000, whichever is greater. 08 (b) A person may not transport oil by railroad tank car or cause or permit the 09 transfer of oil to or from a railroad tank car unless 10 (1) effective June 1, 2001, an oil discharge prevention and contingency 11 plan has been approved by the department and the person is in compliance with the 12 plan; a plan under this paragraph is subject to the requirements of AS 46.04.030; and 13 (2) the person has furnished to the department and the department has 14 approved proof of financial ability to respond to damages meeting the requirements of 15 AS 46.04.040; proof of financial responsibility required under this paragraph is subject 16 to adjustment of dollar amounts under AS 46.04.045 and is established at 17 (A) $300 per incident for each barrel of persistent product based 18 on the maximum amount of persistent product storage capacity of any train on 19 the railroad; and 20 (B) $100 per incident for each barrel of nonpersistent product 21 based upon the maximum amount of nonpersistent product storage capacity of 22 any train on the railroad or $1,000,000, whichever is greater. 23 (c) Effective June 1, 2001, for purposes of AS 46.04.030(k), response planning 24 standards apply to nontank vessels and railroad tank cars as follows: 25 (1) for a nontank vessel contingency plan required by (a)(1) of this 26 section, 27 (A) containment and control of 15 percent of the maximum oil 28 capacity of the nontank vessel within 48 hours; and 29 (B) cleanup of the discharge within the shortest possible time 30 consistent with minimizing damage to the environment; 31 (2) for a railroad tank car contingency plan required by (b)(1) of this
01 section, 02 (A) containment and control of 15 percent of the maximum oil 03 capacity of a train on the railroad within 48 hours; and 04 (B) cleanup of the discharge within the shortest possible time 05 consistent with minimizing damage to the environment. 06 (d) In place of the requirements of (a)(1) and (b)(1) of this section, the 07 department may adopt regulations by negotiated regulation making under AS 44.62.710 08 - 44.62.800 to provide for alternative means to obtain equivalent levels of spill 09 prevention and response. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 46.04.060 is amended to read: 11 Sec. 46.04.060. Inspections. (a) In addition to other rights of access or 12 inspection conferred upon the department by law or otherwise, the department may at 13 reasonable times and in a safe manner enter and inspect oil terminal facilities, 14 pipelines, exploration and production facilities, tank vessels, nontank vessels, trains, 15 and oil barges in order to 16 (1) ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter; or 17 (2) participate in an examination of the structural integrity and the 18 operating and mechanical systems of those vessels, barges, trains, pipelines, and 19 facilities by federal and state agencies with jurisdiction. 20 (b) When the department determines that no federal or state agencies with 21 jurisdiction are performing timely and adequate inspections of an oil terminal facility, 22 pipeline, exploration or production facility, tank vessel, nontank vessel, train, or oil 23 barge, it may perform its own inspection of the structural integrity and operating and 24 mechanical systems of a facility, pipeline, tank vessel, nontank vessel, train, or oil 25 barge by using personnel with qualifications in the areas being inspected. 26 * Sec. 3. AS 46.04.060 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 27 (c) For purposes of this section, "train" includes tracks, associated facilities, 28 and operations. 29 * Sec. 4. AS 46.04.900(12) is amended to read: 30 (12) "oil terminal facility" means an onshore or offshore facility of any 31 kind, and related appurtenances, including but not limited to a deepwater port, bulk
01 storage facility , or marina, located in, on, or under the surface of the land or waters 02 of the state, including tide and submerged land, that [WHICH] is used for the purpose 03 of transferring, processing, refining, or storing oil; a vessel , other than a nontank 04 vessel, is considered an oil terminal facility only when it is used to make a ship-to-ship 05 transfer of oil, and when it is traveling between the place of the ship-to-ship transfer 06 of oil and an oil terminal facility; 07 * Sec. 5. AS 46.04.900(21) is amended to read: 08 (21) "vessel" includes tank vessels , [AND] oil barges , and nontank 09 vessels ; 10 * Sec. 6. AS 46.04.900 is amended to add new paragraphs to read: 11 (24) "nonpersistent product" means oil that is not a persistent product; 12 (25) "nontank vessel" means any watercraft of 300 gross registered tons 13 or greater that has an oil storage capacity of greater than 6,000 gallons of oil; in this 14 paragraph, "watercraft" includes commercial fish processor vessels, passenger vessels, 15 and cargo vessels, but does not include a tank vessel, oil barge, or public vessel; 16 (26) "persistent product" means 17 (A) crude oil; 18 (B) a refined oil product with a common name such as bunker 19 C, number 6, Chevron residual, or lube oil; or 20 (C) other oil with similar viscosity, degradability, and 21 dispersability; 22 (27) "public vessel" means a vessel that is operated by and is either 23 owned or bareboat chartered by the United States, a state or a political subdivision of 24 that state, or a foreign nation, except when the vessel is engaged in commerce; 25 (28) "railroad tank car" means rolling stock used to transport oil in bulk 26 as cargo by rail; 27 (29) "train" means connected rolling stock operated as a single moving 28 vehicle on rails; for purposes of this paragraph, "connected rolling stock" includes 29 railroad tank cars. 30 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 31 to read:
01 TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS: REGULATIONS. The Department of Environmental 02 Conservation may proceed to adopt regulations necessary to implement the changes made by 03 this Act. The regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not 04 before the effective date of secs. 1 - 6 of this Act. 05 * Sec. 8. Section 7 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 06 * Sec. 9. Except as provided in sec. 8 of this Act, this Act takes effect September 1, 2000.