We're preparing for our first ever Capitol Hill visit day on March 7, 2012

On Capitol Hill Visit Day, March 7, 2012, SCAA members and staff will visit a number of Congressional offices with four messages:

Responder Immunity

Responder Immunity is an important provision of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and a foundation precept of our spill control industry.  However, immediately following the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, emergency response vessels rushed to the rig to save lives and render assistance to those in peril. In the ensuing months, responder companies worked to clean up the oil that was pouring into the gulf in an effort to mitigate the spill. As a consequence of these efforts to help in the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, our emergency and cleanup responders now find themselves entwined in complex and protracted specialized multi-district litigation, despite the fact that protections were put in place following lessons learned from the Exxon Valdez specifically to prevent such occurrences.

Spill Response Research and Development

There is insufficient spill response research and development for improving our ability to better respond to oil and hazardous material spill incidents in the future.  This deficiency was addressed in the National Commission Report on the BP Deepwater Horizon incident and in the Incident Specific Preparedness Review (ISPR) Report on Deepwater Horizon.  Government and Industry must jointly support R&D efforts to improve our preparedness and ability to effectively respond to major spill incidents in the future.  A portion of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund should be allocated to R&D.

Spill Response Preparedness

The focus on homeland security and anti-terrorism caused our oil and hazardous material response regulatory agencies to take their eyes off the ball and consequently, spill response exercises and training took a back seat to security exercises and training.  There is a critical need for greater attention and inter-agency coordination of spill response exercises involving the National Preparedness for Exercise Program (PREP) with incentives for industry voluntary participation.

Small Business Economic Incentives for Spill Response Companies

1.      Accelerated and Bonus Depreciation. As you might remember last year Congress and President Obama renewed this incentive which allows for a 100% write off for new capital equipment in the year of purchase up to $500,000.00. It is an incentive that we need to keep.

2.      Most states offer training and hiring incentives to companies that have a presence in their states.  A Federal training and hiring incentive would be well received as well.

3.      Continued Federal funding of the National Pollution Fund Center is very important to both small and large businesses as a mechanism for payment.

4.      With Obamacare set to go into full swing in the next two years, and with the increase in health care cost that will affect all companies, some type of tax incentive would be good for companies that will have large yearly health cost increases. It could be structured so that the incentive eases the pain for companies while they ramp up to meet these higher cost.