One such conflict was federal law limiting a state's ability to enforce requirements and liability for parties responsible for causing oil spills.
In the 1980s, international agreements being considered would take over oil spills federal and state laws adding further complexity to party liability.
[10] After the Exxon Valdez incident, the shortcomings of the patchy framework for oil spill governance was apparent and growing pressure placed on lawmakers resulted in the establishment of: A second significant amendment is that it makes it a mandatory requirement for U.S. tank vessels, onshore and offshore facilities to establish and submit oil spill response plans to the corresponding federal authority.
It is required by US federal law that any discharge of oil that creates a film or sheen on the water surface be reported to the National Response Center.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Response and Restoration works closely with the USCG in providing assistance in technical areas such as consideration of alternatives, Oil displacement tracking and risk assessments.
A number of executive orders (EOs) and Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) have established the authorities and agencies responsible for various classes of potential oil spills [13] (Table 1).
The preventive measures taken by relevant authorities include assessment of facilities to ensure the required standards set out by legislation are met e.g.
Anticipatory duties involve managing the response plans of vessels and facilities to oil spills at various levels: state, regional and national.
This mechanism helps to engineer a number of federal laws governing oil spills such as the intervention on the High Sea Act of 1974.
[17] The oil spill framework in the U.S. employs a multilateral system of governance where the federal authorities, NGO's and private parties are all actively involved in response and cleanup procedures.
[18] The implementation of international oil spill treaties into domestic legislation discussed earlier provides further evidence of the shift to a more governance based approach.
[20] Because of this, the American policymakers had very little incentive to invest in policy changes regarding the risk of oil spills in the years after the Deepwater Horizon Accident.