33 U.S.C. § 2713
Section 2713 · Claims procedure
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 28 court decisions — leading case Boca Ciega Hotel, Inc. v. Bouchard Transportation Co. (1995)
Most recently applied in United States v. E.R.R. (May 2022)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Except as provided in subsection (b), all claims for removal costs or damages shall be presented first to the responsible party or guarantor of the source designated under section 2714(a) of this title.
(1) In general
Claims for removal costs or damages may be presented first to the Fund—
(A) if the President has advertised or otherwise notified claimants in accordance with section 2714(c) of this title;
(B) by a responsible party who may assert a claim under section 2708 of this title;
(C) by the Governor of a State for removal costs incurred by that State; or
(D) by a United States claimant in a case where a foreign offshore unit has discharged oil causing damage for which the Fund is liable under section 2712(a) of this title.
(2) Limitation on presenting claim
No claim of a person against the Fund may be approved or certified during the pendency of an action by the person in court to recover costs which are the subject of the claim.
If a claim is presented in accordance with subsection (a) and—
(1) each person to whom the claim is presented denies all liability for the claim, or
(2) the claim is not settled by any person by payment within 90 days after the date upon which (A) the claim was presented, or (B) advertising was begun pursuant to section 2714(b) of this title, whichever is later,
the claimant may elect to commence an action in court against the responsible party or guarantor or to present the claim to the Fund.
If a claim is presented in accordance with this section, including a claim for interim, short-term damages representing less than the full amount of damages to which the claimant ultimately may be entitled, and full and adequate compensation is unavailable, a claim for the uncompensated damages and removal costs may be presented to the Fund.
The President shall promulgate, and may from time to time amend, regulations for the presentation, filing, processing, settlement, and adjudication of claims under this Act against the Fund.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This Act, referred to in subsec. (e), is Pub. L. 101–380, Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 484, as amended, known as the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 2701 of this title and Tables.
Amendments
2021—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 116–283 struck out subsec. (f) which related to loan program to provide interim assistance to fishermen and aquaculture producer claimants during the claims procedure.
2004—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 108–293 added subsec.(f).
1996—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–324 substituted "section, including a claim for interim, short-term damages representing less than the full amount of damages to which the claimant ultimately may be entitled," for "section".
Executive Documents
Delegation of Functions
Functions of President under subsec. (e) of this section delegated to Secretary of Department in which Coast Guard is operating by section 7(c)(2) of Ex. Ord. No. 12777, Oct. 18, 1991, 56 F.R. 54767, set out as a note under section 1321 of this title.