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33 U.S.C. 2704, 2716; 2716a; E.O. 12777, as amended.
76 FR 64623, Oct. 18, 2011, unless otherwise noted.
79 FR 73840, Dec. 12, 2014, unless otherwise noted.
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79 FR 73840, Dec. 12, 2014, unless otherwise noted.
This subpart sets forth the limit of liability for damages for offshore facilities under Title I of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, as amended (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) (OPA), as adjusted, under section 1004(d) of OPA (33 U.S.C. 2704(d)). This subpart also sets forth the method for adjusting the limit of liability for damages for offshore facilities for inflation, by regulation, under section 1004(d) of OPA (33 U.S.C. 2704(d)).
This subpart applies to you if you are a responsible party for an offshore facility, other than a deepwater port under the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1501-1524), but including an offshore pipeline, or an abandoned offshore facility, including any abandoned offshore pipeline, unless your liability is unlimited under OPA 90 (33 U.S.C. 2704(c)).
Except as provided in 33 U.S.C. 2704(c), the limit of liability under OPA for a responsible party for any offshore facility, including any offshore pipeline, is the total of all removal costs plus $167.8069 million for damages with respect to each incident.
[88 FR 22912, Apr. 14, 2023]
The procedure for calculating limit of liability adjustments for inflation is as follows:
(a) Formula for calculating a cumulative percent change in the Annual CPI-U. BOEM calculates the cumulative percent change in the Annual CPI-U from the year the limit of liability was established by statute, or last adjusted by regulation, whichever is later (i.e., the Previous Period), to the year in which the Annual CPI-U is most recently published (i.e., the Current Period), using the following formula: Percent change in the Annual CPI-U = [(Annual CPI-U for Current Period − Annual CPI-U for Previous Period) ÷ Annual CPI-U for Previous Period] × 100. This cumulative percent change value is rounded to one decimal place.
(b) Significance threshold.
(1) A cumulative increase in the Annual CPI-U equal to three percent or more constitutes a significant increase in the Consumer Price Index within the meaning of 33 U.S.C. 2704(d)(4).
(2) Not later than every three years from the year the limit of liability was last adjusted for inflation, BOEM will evaluate whether the cumulative percent change in the Annual CPI-U since that year has reached a significance threshold of three percent or greater.
(3) For any three-year period evaluated under paragraph (b)(2) of this section in which the cumulative percent increase in the Annual CPI-U is less than three percent, if BOEM has not issued an inflation adjustment during that period, BOEM will publish a notice of no inflation adjustment to the offshore facility limit of liability for damages in the Federal Register.
(4) Once the three-percent threshold is reached, BOEM will increase by final rule the offshore facility limit of liability for damages in § 553.702 by an amount equal to the cumulative percent change in the Annual CPI-U from the year the limit was established by statute, or last adjusted by regulation, whichever is later. After this adjustment is made, BOEM will resume its process of conducting a review every three years.
(5) Nothing in this section will prevent BOEM, in BOEM's sole discretion, from adjusting the offshore facility limit of liability for damages for inflation by regulation issued more frequently than every three years.
(c) Formula for calculating inflation adjustments. BOEM calculates adjustments to the offshore facility limit of liability in 30 CFR 553.702 for inflation using the following formula:
New limit of liability = Previous limit of liability + (Previous limit of liability × the decimal equivalent of the percent change in the Annual CPI-U calculated under paragraph (a) of this section), then rounded to the closest $100.
BOEM will publish the inflation-adjusted limit of liability, and any statutory amendments to that limit of liability in the Federal Register, as amendments to § 553.702. Updates to the limit of liability under this section are effective on the 90th day after publication in the Federal Register of the amendments to § 553.702, unless otherwise specified by statute (in the event of a statutory amendment to the limit of liability), or in the Federal Register rule amending § 553.702.