Gulf States Waiting for U.S. House to Reach Agreement on How to Allocate Oil Spill Fines

Posted in Alabama Maritime News,BP British Petroleum,Deepwater Horizon,Environment,Government,Gulf Coast,Louisiana Maritime News,Mississippi Maritime News,Texas Maritime News on October 3, 2011

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House has not yet reached an agreement on a bill to allocate oil spill fines to those areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster of April, 10, 2010.

If Congress doesn’t act, Gulf states affected by the disaster could potentially lose billions of dollars in environmental and economic recovery money.

“There’s certainly negotiations going on,” said Dan McFaul, chief of staff for Rep. Jeff Miller, a Republican representing Florida’s western panhandle. He gave few details of those negotiations, other than to say, “There’s still some issues out there that are being worked through.”

The Mississippi Press reports:

In the Senate — where a compromise bill from Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, has gained the support of most Gulf state senators and already passed committee — the House stalemate has some feeling nervous.

“It doesn’t bode well for the bill to not have a consensus in the House of Representatives,” a Landrieu aide said.

Spokesmen for Reps. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, Steven Palazzo, R-Biloxi, and Steve Scalise, R-La., all declined to comment or did not respond to messages from The Mississippi Press.

BP PLC and other companies deemed responsible for last year’s oil spill could be fined between $5.4 billion and $21.1 billion under the Clean Water Act. Lawmakers and the Obama administration largely agree that federal law should be changed to send most of that money to the Gulf Coast.

But they have been at odds over how much each state should get and how it may be used.

Bonner, Miller and Scalise have each introduced their own, very different proposals for allocating the fine money to the Gulf states.

Maritime attorneys, Gordon, Elias & Seely, L.L.P. work with Jones Act clients all along the Gulf Coast and throughout the nation. We are the leading offshore injury law firm representing victims of the BP, Transocean Deepwater Horizon disaster, along with assisting businesses that were damaged by the impact of the Gulf oil spill. For a free consultation, call an expert maritime lawyer 24/7 at 800.773.6770.

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