Oil Pollution Act of 1990

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 ( German: Oil Pollution Act of 1990, shortly OPA 90) is a U.S. law that regulates the principles of preventing and dealing with oil spills from tankers in the area of the United States as well as the liability of involved companies.

Particulars

The roots of the Convention in particular go back on the beaching of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez, which caused 1989 oil spill in Prince William Sound. Its effects led to the bill of Democratic Congressman Walter B. Jones Sr. from North Carolina.

Key points of the law include, among others, the following provisions:

• Tankers with a gross tonnage measurement of more than 5,000 that were given after June 30, 1990 in order or delivered after January 1, 1994 and operated in U.S. waters must have a double hull. The distance between the outer skin to the inner casing must be over 20,000 tons deadweight vessels at least two meters, in smaller vessels different regulations apply.
• For the period 1995-2015 a phased withdrawal program for single-hull tankers came into force.
• Liability for shipping companies that operate their tankers in U.S. waters is not limited to the top.
• Ships that were involved after 22 March 1989, an oil spill with a release of more than 3,800 m3, are excluded from driving on the Prince William Sound.
• The Act contains provisions relating to the trans-Alaska pipeline.

The law is still in force and has been extended recently on 29 December 2000 by an addition.