THE NEW DIRECTION FOR OIL SPILL LAW

Since 1924 when the Congress of the United States first focused its attention on oil as a marine pollutant, legal measures to minimize the many problems associated with oil pollution of the marine environment have been taken on state, national and international levels. Although these measures have addressed different aspects of the oil pollution problem, the ARGO MERCHANT fatality pointed out the many inadequacies of the current legal regime as applied to oil tankers. Pending legislation in the United States and proposals for new international conventions now seek to fill the legal loopholes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the existing regime of oil spill law as applied to oil tankers and to review the proposals recently made. Only after such an examination has been completed will it be possible to predict the direction for oil spill law in the decade ahead.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the Spring Meeting/STAR Symposium, New London, Connecticut, April 26-29, 1978. Available only in bound proceedings.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers

  601 Pavonia Avenue
  Jersey City, NJ  United States  07306-2907
• Authors:
  • Smith Jr, S L
  • Smith Jr, M J
• Publication Date: 1978

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: International law; Oil spills; Oil tankers; Policy; Pollution; Pollution control; Prevention; Regulation; Water quality management
• Old TRIS Terms: Oil discharge regulation; Oil spill prevention; Water pollution regulation
• Subject Areas: Environment; Marine Transportation; Policy; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00173998
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
• Report/Paper Numbers: No. 17
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 3 1978 12:00AM