ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Environmental Issues



Environmental Issues

To what extent might it be argued that national law is inadequate to provide for the regulation of liability and compensation for oil pollution at sea?

The Federal law, which protects the national environment, is complex. It regulates a number of things that range from the protection of endangered species, energy production to the protection of drinking water. There are large numbers of different, complex laws that made the federal environmental law and inevitably violated from time to time. The violations of some of the laws take place by accident, while others with blatant disregard for the law. The severity of the violations also differs significantly. Therefore, there are a number of procedures and penalties for violations of environmental legislation (Wu 1996, Pp. 397-433).

Agency for Environmental Protection claims that despite all efforts, each year in the United States, 14 thousand oil spills are, to eliminate the effects of which require thousands of professionals. Accidents and leaks in underwater oil pipelines occur regularly and widely. In most cases, their scope is rather limited. Nevertheless, even if the leak is small, it can cause serious damage because oil is released over an extended period. According to the International Maritime Organization \ International Maritime Organization, in 2000, oil prices, which resulted from the tanker (most noticed by the press and the public), amounted to only 2% of the oil trapped in the oceans.

In 1990, in the wake of the accident, the U.S. Congress passed the Law on Oil Pollution \ Oil Pollution Act, which established new rules in this area. Thus, it was ordered that, in 2015, all tankers entering the territorial waters of the United States, had a double hull, designed to prevent oil spills in the event of an accident. According to Control Chamber of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, since 1990, various U.S. federal agencies have adopted 41 normative acts, which govern the process. As a result, over the next decade, half of the oil and shipping companies in the U.S. have invested in the prevention of oil spills resulted in $ 17 billion. There was a sharp decline in the number of such incidents by two thirds and the volume of spilled oil by 50% (Tripathy 2002, Pp. 271-300).

According to the Civil Liability Convention, there is a liability on ship owners in case there is an oil spill that causes damage to the environment. Furthermore, the law requires the ship owners to have compulsory insurance and follow rigid principles of liability. In most cases, the liability of the ship owner is determined by the capacity of oil of the ship. Moreover, in case, the cargo of a ship or tanker has more than 2000 tons of oil, then the ship owner will be liable to have insurance according to the Civil Liability Convention. On the other hand, it is essential for the tankers to have a certificate, which verify the insurance.

The first legislative action taken in the UK to control potential pollution problems were characterized by limited ...