SB 16: "An Act regarding oil discharge prevention and cleanup involving self-propelled nontank vessels exceeding 400 gross registered tonnage and railroad tank cars and related facilities and operations and requiring preparation and implementation of oil discharge contingency plans for those nontank vessels and railroad tank cars; amending the definition of 'response action' that relates to releases or threatened releases of oil and thereby amending the duties and liabilities of response action contractors; and authorizing compliance verification for nontank vessels and for trains and related facilities and operations; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 16 01 "An Act regarding oil discharge prevention and cleanup involving self-propelled 02 nontank vessels exceeding 400 gross registered tonnage and railroad tank cars and 03 related facilities and operations and requiring preparation and implementation of oil 04 discharge contingency plans for those nontank vessels and railroad tank cars; amending 05 the definition of 'response action' that relates to releases or threatened releases of oil and 06 thereby amending the duties and liabilities of response action contractors; and 07 authorizing compliance verification for nontank vessels and for trains and related 08 facilities and operations; and providing for an effective date." 09 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 10 * Section 1. AS 46.03.825(a) is amended to read: 11 (a) A response action contractor who responds to a release or threatened 12 release of oil is not civilly liable for removal costs or damages that result from an act
01 or omission in the course of providing care, assistance, or advice 02 (1) consistent with a contingency plan 03 (A) approved under AS 46.04.030 or 46.04.055 if the response 04 action contractor is listed in the contingency plan; or 05 (B) prepared under AS 46.04.200, 46.04.210, or 33 U.S.C. 06 1321(d) if the response action contractor is not listed in the contingency plan; 07 or 08 (2) as otherwise directed by the federal or state on-scene coordinator. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.825(b) is amended to read: 10 (b) The limitation on liability contained in (a) of this section does not apply to 11 (1) an action for personal injury or death or; 12 (2) a response action contractor who 13 (A) would otherwise have been liable for the release or 14 threatened release under AS 46.03.822; 15 (B) acts with gross negligence or intentional misconduct; or 16 (C) has agreed in writing to be listed as a primary response 17 action contractor, who is listed as a primary response action contractor in a 18 contingency plan approved under AS 46.04.030 or 46.04.055, and who fails to 19 respond to a release or threatened release of oil that the primary response 20 action contractor was required to respond to under its contract with the 21 applicable contingency plan holder; this subparagraph does not apply to a 22 primary response action contractor if the failure to respond to a release or 23 threatened release of oil results from a prior and ongoing response under 24 another contingency plan approved under AS 46.04.030 or 46.04.055 in which 25 the primary response action contractor has the primary duty to respond and a 26 significant portion of the response action contractor's oil spill cleanup 27 equipment listed in the contingency plan approved under AS 46.04.030 or 28 46.04.055 is in use. 29 * Sec. 3. AS 46.03.825(f) is amended to read: 30 (f) Nothing in this section is intended to amend AS 46.04.030(l) or 46.04.055, 31 or to create a cleanup or performance standard that must be met by a holder of a
01 contingency plan or by a primary response action contractor. 02 * Sec. 4. AS 46.03.825(g)(3) is amended to read: 03 (3) "response action" means an action taken to respond to a release or 04 threatened release of oil, including mitigation, clean up, marine salvage, incident 05 management team services, response plan facilitator services, or removal of a 06 release or threatened release of oil. 07 * Sec. 5. AS 46.04.055(a) is amended to read: 08 (a) A person may not operate [CAUSE OR PERMIT THE OPERATION OF] 09 a nontank vessel within the waters of the state or cause or permit the transfer of oil to 10 or from a nontank vessel unless the person has furnished to the department and the 11 department has approved proof of financial ability to respond to damages meeting the 12 requirements of AS 46.04.040. Proof of financial responsibility required under this 13 subsection is subject to adjustment of dollar amounts under AS 46.04.045 and is 14 established, for a nontank vessel that carries 15 (1) predominantly persistent product, at $300 per incident for each 16 barrel of oil storage capacity on the vessel or $5,000,000, whichever is greater; and 17 (2) predominantly nonpersistent product, at $100 per incident for each 18 barrel of oil storage capacity on the vessel or $1,000,000, whichever is greater. 19 * Sec. 6. AS 46.04.055(e) is amended to read: 20 (e) The requirements of [(a) - (d) OF] this section do not apply to a nontank 21 vessel operating in the waters of the state if the nontank vessel 22 (1) is engaged in innocent passage; for purposes of this paragraph, a 23 nontank vessel is engaged in innocent passage if its operation in state waters, 24 irrespective of whether it is a United States or foreign-flag vessel, would constitute 25 innocent passage under the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous 26 Zone, April 29, 1958, 15 U.S.T. 1606, or the United Nations Convention on the Law 27 of the Sea 1982, December 10, 1982, U.N. Publication No. E 83.V.5, 21 I.L.M. 1261 28 (1982), were the vessel a foreign-flag vessel; 29 (2) enters state waters because of imminent danger to the crew, or in an 30 effort to prevent an oil spill or other harm to public safety or the environment, and are 31 inapplicable only until the vessel is able to leave state waters as soon as it may do so
01 without imminent risk of harm to the crew, public safety, or the environment; or 02 (3) enters state waters after the United States Coast Guard has 03 determined that the vessel is in distress, and are inapplicable only until the vessel is 04 able to leave state waters as soon as it may do so without imminent risk of harm to the 05 crew, public safety, or the environment. 06 * Sec. 7. AS 46.04.055 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 07 (f) On and after the date that is 180 days after the effective date of the 08 regulations initially adopted by the department under (l) of this section to implement 09 the requirements of this subsection and (g) and (h) of this section, a person may not 10 operate a nontank vessel within the waters of the state or cause or permit the transfer 11 of oil to or from a nontank vessel unless the department has approved an oil discharge 12 prevention and contingency plan covering that nontank vessel and the person is in 13 compliance with the plan. 14 (g) The oil discharge prevention and contingency plan for a nontank vessel 15 required by (f) of this section must include 16 (1) vessel-specific information; 17 (2) a response plan consisting of 18 (A) initial notification procedures; 19 (B) a certification that the applicant for the nontank vessel 20 contingency plan is a member of, or has a contract with, an oil spill response 21 organization that is an oil spill primary response action contractor with a 22 response action plan approved by the department as meeting the response 23 planning standards of (c)(1) of this section for the maximum oil capacity of the 24 nontank vessel; and 25 (C) a certification that the applicant for the nontank vessel 26 contingency plan has contracted with an oil spill primary response action 27 contractor providing incident management team services; and 28 (3) a prevention plan certification stating that the nontank vessel for 29 which contingency plan approval is made complies with applicable federal and 30 International Maritime Organization requirements. 31 (h) In lieu of the requirements
01 (1) of (g)(2)(B) of this section, a person may comply with the 02 requirement of (g)(2)(B) of this section by demonstrating, to the satisfaction of the 03 department, that the person is maintaining an oil spill response plan and equivalent 04 equipment, personnel, and resources to enable the person to meet the requirements of 05 this section; and 06 (2) of (g)(2)(C) of this section, a person may comply with the 07 requirement of (g)(2)(C) of this section by demonstrating, to the satisfaction of the 08 department, that the person is maintaining an incident management team in order to 09 implement a planned response to a release or threatened release of oil from its nontank 10 vessel. 11 (i) The provisions of AS 46.04.030(d) - (l), (n), (o), and (r) apply to a nontank 12 vessel, to a nontank vessel contingency plan required by this section, and to a person 13 applying for and holding an approved nontank vessel contingency plan. 14 (j) On and after the date that is 180 days after the effective date of the 15 regulations initially adopted by the department under (l) of this section to implement 16 the requirements of this subsection, a person may not transport oil by railroad tank car 17 or cause or permit the transfer of oil to or from a railroad tank car unless the 18 department has approved an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan covering 19 the transportation of oil by railroad tank cars by the railroad and the person is in 20 compliance with the plan. 21 (k) The provisions of AS 46.04.030(d) - (l), (n), (o), and (r) apply to a railroad 22 tank car, to a railroad tank car contingency plan required by this section, and to a 23 person applying for and holding an approved railroad tank car contingency plan. 24 (l) The department shall adopt regulations under AS 46.04.070 to implement 25 (1) the requirements of response planning standards under (c) of this 26 section; 27 (2) the requirements of (f) - (i) of this section as applicable to nontank 28 vessels; and 29 (3) the requirements of (j) and (k) of this section as applicable to 30 railroad tank cars. 31 * Sec. 8. AS 46.04 is amended by adding a new section to read:
01 Sec. 46.04.065. Compliance verification for nontank vessels and for trains 02 and related facilities and operations. In addition to other rights of access or 03 examination conferred upon the department by law or otherwise, to ensure compliance 04 with the provisions of this chapter relating to oil pollution control, the department may 05 at reasonable times and in a safe manner enter and examine 06 (1) nontank vessels; and 07 (2) trains, railroad tracks, associated facilities, and railroad operations. 08 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 09 read: 10 CERTIFICATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGULATIONS. The lieutenant 11 governor shall certify to the revisor of statutes 12 (1) the effective date of the regulations initially adopted by the Department of 13 Environmental Conservation under AS 46.04.055(l), added by sec. 7 of this Act, to implement 14 the requirements of AS 46.04.055(f) - (i), added by sec. 7 of this Act, as applicable to nontank 15 vessels; and 16 (2) the effective date of the regulations initially adopted by the Department of 17 Environmental Conservation under AS 46.04.055(l), added by sec. 7 of this Act, to implement 18 the requirements of AS 46.04.055(j) and (k), added by sec. 7 of this Act, as applicable to 19 railroad tank cars. 20 * Sec. 10. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).