Report urges Congress to funnel oil-spill penalty money to Gulf

By Andrew Restuccia - 12/05/11 12:04 PM ET

A federal-state task force established by President Obama in the aftermath of last year’s massive BP oil spill urged Congress Monday to require that billions of dollars in fines from the disaster be used to help restore the Gulf Coast.

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, which released its final report Monday, said Congress should mandate that a “significant portion” of the penalties imposed on BP and the other companies deemed responsible for the spill be funneled to Gulf Coast states to help rebuild the region's delicate ecosystem.

Under current law, the money would go to the federal government.

The report comes as Gulf Coast lawmakers are working behind the scenes to secure a Senate vote on bipartisan legislation to steer 80 percent of the penalty money to the states.

“The co-sponsors are talking one-on-one with senators right now to build enough support to get a vote before Christmas, and we are getting very good support. Slow and steady,” Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La), a lead sponsor of the bill, told The Hill last week.

The bill, which was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in September, has won the support of a range of Gulf Coast lawmakers, including Sens. David Vitter (R-La.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). President Obama has also called on Congress to funnel money from the fines to the Gulf states.

BP and the other companies deemed responsible for the spill face billions of dollars in fines for their role in the oil spill. If BP is deemed negligent under the Clean Water Act by the courts, the company will have to pay $1,000 for every barrel of oil spilled into the Gulf. If the courts find that BP was grossly negligent, the company will have to pay $4,200 per barrel.

Last year's spill spewed about 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. That means BP could face fines ranging from $5.4 billion to $21.1 billion.

The task force report includes a number of other recommendations for restoring the Gulf centered around four broad goals: “restore and conserve habitat; restore water quality; replenish and protect living coastal and marine resources; enhance community resilience.”

The recommendations include conserving coastal marshes and beaches, reducing pollutants from storm water flows and restoring oyster habitats.

As part of the administration’s effort to help restore the Gulf, the Agriculture Department said Monday it would spend $50 million to improve water quality in Gulf coast river basins.

Obama established the task force, which is made up of officials from 11 federal agencies and the five Gulf Coast states, in October of 2010. The task force was charged with developing a plan “to restore and protect the local ecosystem for future generations.”