33 U.S.C. § 2712 — Uses of Fund

(a) Uses generally. The President may use the Fund for the following purposes:

(1) Paying removal costs, including monitoring those actions, when the President decides the costs are consistent with the National Contingency Plan. The work may be done by Federal authorities, or by a State, a local government within a State, or an Indian tribe under a cost-reimbursable agreement under subsection (d).

(2) Paying costs incurred by Federal, State, or Indian-tribe trustees while they perform their duties under section 2706 of this title. Those duties include assessing natural-resource damage and making and carrying out plans to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire equivalent natural resources, when the President decides the work is consistent with the National Contingency Plan.

(3) Paying removal costs that the President decides are consistent with the National Contingency Plan, and paying damages resulting from an oil discharge or substantial threat of discharge from a foreign offshore unit.

(4) Paying claims under section 2713 of this title for removal costs or damages that have not been compensated, when the President decides the removal costs are consistent with the National Contingency Plan. For a spill of national significance that requires extraordinary Coast Guard claims-processing work, this includes the Coast Guard’s administrative and personnel costs of processing the claims, including commercial claims processing, expert services, training, and technical services. The Coast Guard must submit to Congress a report describing each such spill no later than 30 days after the Coast Guard decides that this claims processing is necessary.

(5) Paying Federal administrative, operating, and personnel costs and expenses that are reasonably necessary for, or incidental to, carrying out, administering, and enforcing this Act. This includes, among other provisions, sections 1004(d)(2), 1006(e), 4107, 4110, 4111, 4112, 4117, 5006, 8103, title VII, and subsections (b), (c), (d), (j), and (l) of section 1321 of this title, when they concern preventing or removing oil discharges or enforcing rules about them. The following limits apply:

(A) No more than $25,000,000 may be available in any fiscal year to the Secretary for Coast Guard operations and support costs.

(B) No more than $15,000,000 may be available in any fiscal year to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere for expenses and activities related to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s response and damage-assessment capabilities.

(C) No more than $30,000,000 per year through the end of fiscal year 1992 may be available to establish the National Response System under section 1321(j) of this title, including buying and placing oil-spill removal equipment in advance.

(D) No more than $27,250,000 may be available in any fiscal year to carry out subchapter IV of this chapter.

(b) Defense to liability for Fund.

(1) General rule. The Fund may not pay a particular claimant’s removal costs or damages to the extent that the incident, costs, or damages were caused by that claimant’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.

(2) Subrogated rights. Except for a guarantor claim based on the defense in section 2716(e)(1) of this title, when the Fund compensates an insurer or another person who indemnifies a responsible party or an injured third party, the payment is subject to that responsible party’s or injured third party’s subrogated rights to the compensation.

(c) Obligation of Fund by Federal officials. The President may issue regulations naming one or more Federal officials who may commit Fund money as allowed by subsection (a).

(d) Cost-reimbursable agreement.

(1) General rule. In carrying out section 1321(c) of this title, the President may make a cost-reimbursable agreement with a State, a local government within a State, or an Indian tribe. Under the agreement, the Fund may pay removal costs that are consistent with the National Contingency Plan.

(2) Inapplicability. Chapter 63 and section 1535 of title 31 do not apply to an agreement made under this subsection.

(e) Rights of subrogation. When the Fund pays a claim or obligation under this Act, the United States Government acquires, through subrogation, all rights the claimant or State has to recover from the responsible party.

(f) Period of limitations for claims.

(1) Removal costs. A claim under this subchapter to recover removal costs for an incident must be presented within 6 years after all removal actions for that incident are completed.

(2) Damages. A claim under this section to recover damages must be presented within 3 years after the injury and its connection to the discharge could reasonably have been discovered with due care. For natural-resource damages under section 2702(b)(2)(A) of this title, if it is later, the deadline is 3 years after the natural-resource damage assessment under section 2706(e) of this title is completed.

(3) Minors and incompetent persons. These time limits do not begin to run against a minor until the earlier of: the minor’s 18th birthday, or the date a legal representative is properly appointed for the minor. Against an incompetent person, they do not begin until the earlier of: the date the incompetency ends, or the date a legal representative is properly appointed.

(g) Limitation on payment for same costs. If the President has paid from the Fund for removal costs or damages listed in subsection (a), the Fund may not pay another claim for those same costs or damages.

(h) Obligation in accordance with plan.

(1) General rule. Except as provided in paragraph (2), Fund money may be committed for restoring, rehabilitating, replacing, or acquiring natural resources only under a plan adopted under section 2706(c) of this title.

(2) Exception. Paragraph (1) does not apply when emergency action is needed to avoid irreversible loss of natural resources, prevent or reduce continuing danger to natural resources, or meet a similar emergency need.

(i) Preference for private persons in area affected by discharge.

(1) General rule. When Federal money is spent under a contract or agreement with a private person for removing oil—including distributing supplies, building things, or doing other reasonable and suitable work—preference must be given, as far as feasible and practicable, to private persons who live or primarily do business in the area affected by the oil discharge.

(2) Limitation. This subsection does not restrict use of Department of Defense resources.

(j) Reports.

(1) General rule. Each year, when the President submits the budget to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, the President, through the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard operates, must provide a report on the preceding fiscal year’s Fund disbursements, whether or not annual appropriations applied. The report goes to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The President must also make it available to the public on the National Pollution Funds Center Internet website.

(2) Contents. The report must include:

(A) A list of every incident that occurred in the preceding fiscal year and led to total Fund disbursements of $500,000 or more for removal costs and damages.

(B) A list of every incident that occurred in the fiscal year before the preceding fiscal year and led to total Fund disbursements of $500,000 or more for removal costs and damages.

(C) An accounting of amounts reimbursed to the Fund in the preceding fiscal year that were recovered from a responsible party for an incident that led to total Fund disbursements of $500,000 or more for removal costs and damages.

(3) Agency recordkeeping. Each Federal agency that receives Fund money must keep records describing, in the detail the Secretary requires, the purposes for which the money was committed or spent. The records must support the report required by paragraph (1).