Braley bill would increase liability for oil spillers

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District Rep. Bruce Braley is pushing legislation to hold British Petroleum accountable for the oil spill off the Gulf Coast.

Although BP has indicated they will be responsible for all clean-up costs, the Waterloo Democrat has introduced legislation, the Big Oil Company Bailout Prevention Act, to further protect taxpayers from paying for effects of the spill.

Currently, the responsible party in an oil spill must pay for all the economic damages up to $75 million, including lost revenues from fishing and tourism, natural resources damages, or lost local tax revenues. This bill would raise the liability cap to $10 billion. It also eliminates the current $500 million cap on natural resource damages.

“With estimates that this could be the most costly oil spill in American history, taxpayers need to rest assured they will not foot the bill,” Braley said.