October 9, 1974
Page 34630
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I would like to express my support for S. 4076, legislation designed to license and regulate deepwater ports. This bill has received the approval of a special joint subcommittee of 15 members drawn from three full committees – Public Works, Commerce, and Interior. This bill has also received the approval of these three parent committees.
This legislation follows my recommendations to the special joint subcommittee in three significant areas: Protection of States' rights, veto authority for the Environmental Protection Agency, and effective oil spill liability provisions. Although I was not a member of the Special Joint Subcommittee on Deepwater Ports, I followed the development of this bill closely. The licensing and regulation of deepwater ports is of utmost importance to coastal States, so this particular piece of legislation has great significance for my State of Maine.
Because of the vulnerability of my State's coastal areas to the effects of potential oil spills in the marine environment resulting from operations at any deepwater port located anywhere off the New England coast, one of my major concerns in the development of this bill was the assurance that a State likely to be impacted by an oil spill from a port could exercise effective control over that port's development.
I am, therefore, pleased to note that a "host" State, a State located within 15 miles of such port, or a State likely to be affected by an oil spill – because of winds or currents – is given an opportunity to review and condition a license for the development of a port. No port may be developed if a State vetoes it.
I am also happy to see that this bill has addressed the question of oil spill cleanup and damage liability consistent with my recommendation to the subcommittee. Regardless of circumstances, cleanup of spilled oil must be accomplished promptly in order to avoid potential damage to our marine and coastal environments. Should any damages occur, all legitimate claims should be satisfied regardless of amounts. The liability provision of this legislation meets these two needs.
I would also like to mention that an interesting new concept in damage liability was included in this bill at my request. This is the provision in which the United States may act on behalf of the public as a trustee of natural resources that are damaged. Any sums recovered under this provision will be applied to the restoration of those damaged resources. The intent of this provision is to provide for the protection of public resources such as beaches and fisheries and to provide for their restoration if they are damaged by an oil spill originating from activities connected with the operation of a deepwater port.
In connection with this liability provision and in the effort to protect the rights of those States which have or seek to establish more stringent liability laws than provided for in this bill, I support the amendment proposed by the Public Works and Interior Committees to revise the preemption provision as currently written. This amendment, like the oil pollution liability provision I have already described, is consistent with oil pollution legislation which I have sponsored and which has become law. This amendment would specify that any State laws defining liability for oil spills or setting higher liability limits than those provided in this bill would not be preempted. Damaged parties could, therefore, sue for recovery under more stringent State law if they so preferred, while double recovery for the same damage claim would be prevented. I concur with the committees' view that the States' rights precedent established in the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 and further established in the 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act should be upheld.
This legislation has also established a licensing procedure for deepwater ports which assures careful environmental review. The single coordinating agency for this licensing procedure will be the Department of Transportation. This agency was chosen because of the Coast Guard's expertise in matters of navigational safety and marine environmental protection. In the process of licensing a proposed deepwater port, all other involved Federal agencies will be consulted in order to assure that a proposed port will meet the requirements of the laws within their jurisdictions.
As a result of my recommendation, however, the Environmental Protection Agency plays more than a consultative role in this process. The Administrator of the EPA has a specific veto authority over any proposed deepwater port if he finds that such port would violate any requirements of the Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, or the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act. The Secretary of Transportation may not issue a license for the construction and operation of a deepwater port until the Administrator of EPA is satisfied that the port will comply with environmental laws.
In summary, Mr. President, I would like to commend the action of the Special Joint Subcommittee on Deepwater Ports. I feel this bill establishes an effective mechanism for the regulation of deepwater port development and at the same time, protects our environment and the rights of coastal States such as my own State of Maine.