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Cohen Votes to Give Coast Guard Additional Funds to Clean Up Gulf Coast Oil Spill

June 10, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) today voted to support legislation (S. 3473) that would permit the Coast Guard to obtain one or more advances from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to underwrite federal response to the Gulf Coast oil spill. Under current law, the Coast Guard can only draw up to $100 million from the fund to finance emergency response efforts in the immediate aftermath of an accident, and those funds are about to expire. Under the measure, BP would be required to repay these funds.

“The Coast Guard should have every tool necessary to clean up the Gulf Coast oil spill,” said Congressman Cohen. “This oil spill is the worst environmental disaster of all time. BP is responsible for this tragedy and better be prepared to foot the bill.”

The trust fund, created by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, is funded by an 8-cent tax on each barrel of oil and was designed to pay for cleanup and economic damages not covered by the responsible parties. Currently, the trust fund has a balance of roughly $1.6 billion. The law also limits the fund payout for a single spill to $1 billion. The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act moving through Congress will raise the fee oil companies pay per barrel and increase the fund payout.

Issues:Environment