Protecting Our Oceans in the Legislature

Require prompt notification of local emergency responders by the Office of Emergency Services when a spill is reported.
Establish a voluntary program to train and certify local emergency responders in spill response.
Require Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) to offer grants to supply certified responders with boom and other equipment for protection and clean-up of local shoreline areas.
Permit certified responders to train and certify clean-up volunteers.

Increase funds available in the OSPR Trust Fund to respond to orphan spills and support spill preparedness from $55 million to $100 million.
The Fund was established at $50 million in 1990, but has not been adjusted for inflation for at least 10 years.
The increase would be funded by a temporary reinstatement of the 25 cent per barrel surcharge on imported oil.
Restore the inflation adjustment, repealed 10 years ago, for future years so that the fund keeps pace with increasing costs of spill response.
Apply OSPR's more rigorous tanker standards to large "non-tank" vessels, like the Cosco Busan, to reflect spill threat posed by these vessels.

Require OSPR to evaluate new technologies for oil spill prevention, response, containment, clean up and wildlife rehabilitation by requiring a comprehensive evaluation of emerging technologies every 5 years beginning in 2009.
Provide $5 million annually for competitive grants for oil spill containment and cleanup technology development through basic research, testing, and a capital matching program for emerging technologies. These grants will be funded from revenues already generated from vessel operators.
Clarify that OSPR may require spill responders to use the best achievable technology, whether or not it is already in use elsewhere in the world.
Require spill responders in the same response region to develop mutual aid agreements to enable the prompt dispatching of a competing response organization’s resources to deliver the quickest possible response.
Increase the minimum response standards within the first hours of a spill.

Require tugboat escorts for vessels carrying hazardous materials within California’s harbors.
Under current law, a tugboat must escort oil tankers and barges in California harbors. However, ships that carry pesticides, solvents, acids, explosives and other hazardous cargoes are exempt from the law. Also exempt from the law are huge cargo ships, like the Cosco Busan, which has a fuel capacity of 1.8 million gallons.
These ships pose serious environmental, public health, and safety threats and should therefore follow the same safety procedures and regulations as oil tankers and barges.

Designate ecologically sensitive areas, such as Bolinas Lagoon, for additional spill response planning and protection.
Establish an emergency training protocol to enable volunteers to begin cleanup work with 3 hours or less of training.
Clarify how and when OSPR funds can be utilized in order to resolve the confusion between agencies and to ensure the greatest degree of readiness to prevent and respond to oil spills.

Require OSPR to respond to inland oil spills that may adversely affect fish and wildlife resources and threaten waters of the state.
Allow OSPR funds to be used to prepare for and respond to inland oil spills.
Authorize OSPR to implement an administrative civil penalty program for inland oil spills, similar to that for marine oil spills.
Inland spills threaten public health and safety, and both the state’s fish and wildlife resources and water supply, and account for over 75 percent of the oil spills in the state, yet OSPR responds to less than 20 percent of inland oil spills reported.

Expand the field operations capacity of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network for the collection of oiled birds and other wildlife, including expanded volunteer training and coordination, to better prepare for future oiled wildlife rescue efforts.