It only represents a small fraction of the oil released to the environment, when it is being compared to industrial waste, non-tanker shipping, and oil seepage from natural resources. .
For more than two decades, EPA's Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures, or SPCC program, has worked at several hundred thousand oil storage facilities to prevent the discharge of all kinds of oil into the waters of the United States. EPA's approach to preventing oil spills combines planning and enforcement measures. To prevent oil spills, EPA requires owners or operators of certain oil storage facilities to prepare and implement SPCC Plans that detail the facility's spill prevention and control measures. EPA also enforces the oil spill liability and penalty provisions under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which provide incentives to facility owners/operators to take the necessary steps to prevent oil spills. EPA also conducts on-site facility inspections to ensure that facilities take adequate measures to prevent an accidental discharge.
Ships are but one part of an overall safety system that includes charting aids to navigation, the condition of channels, and the resources that the Coast guard can bring to ensure standards are being met. The United States suffers from measurable neglect in portions of its marine infrastructure. The Refuse Act, which was first enacted in 1899, makes it a crime to allow refuse to enter navigable waters. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it a crime to kill certain birds. .
These laws were not intended to apply to an oil spill, but prosecutors use them to intimidate and punish individuals without an obvious connection to a spill. The single most positive improvement that Congress can make to the legal regime, is to amend the Refuse Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, to make them inapplicable to oil spills covered in the Clean Water Act. Oil Spill Wildlife Management (OSWM), in business since 1989, is wildlife consulting firm.
