UPDATE:US Senate Panel Votes To Eliminate Spill-Liability Cap

30th Jun 2010 17:56

(Adds information about the possible next step in the third paragraph.) By Siobhan Hughes Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday voted to remove the cap on damage claims that BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) and other companies would have to pay for disasters like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the measure by a voice vote. The current limit on claims for damage that goes beyond the costs of cleanup is $75 million. That is widely regarded on Capitol Hill as too low. The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will on Thursday take up a related measure to remove the liability cap for offshore operations. It isn't clear when the bills will come up for a vote in the full Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives, or be combined into a single package and sent to U.S. President Barack Obama to sign into law. The Democratic-controlled Congress and the Obama administration have been toughening their position on liability limits as oil continues gushing out of a broken BP well a mile below the surface in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster is already one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history. Oil has reached the shore in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Republicans--and at least one Democrat--expressed concern that removing the cap on damage claims would shut all but the largest oil companies out of offshore drilling by making it impossible to obtain insurance. Democrats said that other approaches to raise liability limits risked putting taxpayers on the hook for damage to property and livelihoods. "No more taxpayer bailouts," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.), the chairwoman of the panel. Republicans have blocked previous efforts to force a vote on the U.S. Senate floor on eliminating liability caps. -By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 30, 2010 12:56 ET (16:56 GMT)