The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 – Issues and Solutions
(1994)

This report presents the Council’s findings regarding the implementation of financial responsibility provisions of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) as they relate to offshore facilities. The Council has concluded that, properly implemented, OPA could safeguard the public interest by improving oil spill prevention and response without undue harm to the oil and gas industries. However, regulations similar to those outlined by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking could have serious and substantial impacts on all segments of the oil and gas industries and disrupt commerce in many other areas.

The report examines the issues involved including: (1) a legal background and history; (2) the potential impacts on U.S. oil and gas production; and (3) impacts on the insurance and financial communities, and other parties. The report presents potential solutions that can be implemented by the MMS and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Energy. Specifically, the report discusses the flexibility available to the MMS in five critical interwoven areas of the OPA financial responsibility rulemaking: 

• Risk basing the $150 million financial responsibility level
• The implementation of a de minimis provision
• The definition of “guarantor”
• New criteria for self-insurance including membership in an MMS-approved mutual loss funding agreement
• The interaction of OPA’s financial responsibility regulations with state requirements.

(208 pages) Price: $25.00 

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Environmental Conservation – The Oil and Gas Industries
(1981-82)

The report considers three principal areas: current industry operations and the facilities and procedures that are used to protect the environment; the specific areas of environmental law and regulation that have directly affected the availability and cost of petroleum products and natural gas; and significant environmental issues of the 1980s.

The report is presented in two parts: the Overview volume published by the NPC in December 1981; and a more detailed volume describing petroleum industry operations and their relationship to environmental quality, which was published by the NPC in mid-1982. The latter volume contains extensive notes and references and is indexed to facilitate its use as a reference document.

1981 - (126 pages) Price: $18.00

1982 - (688 pages) Price: $36.00