US House Panel Passes Oil-Spill Liability Bill

23rd Jun 2010 18:47

By Brent Kendall Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A U.S. House panel approved legislation Wednesday that would repeal a century-and-a-half-old law that Transocean Ltd. (RIG) has sought to use to limit its liability in the Gulf oil-spill disaster. The legislation also would make it easier for the families of the 11 Deepwater Horizon oil-rig victims to collect certain financial damages. The bill would apply to both pending and future cases. The House Judiciary Committee passed the bill on a 16-11 vote, sending the measure to the full House for consideration. Committee Democrats said the bill would offer justice to oil-spill victims and their families, while most Republicans said the bill was too broad, unnecessarily rushed and could have a variety of unintended consequences. Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, filed legal papers last month under the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 to limit its liability to just under $27 million. Under the act, a vessel owner is liable only for the post-accident value of the vessel and cargo, so long as the owner can show he or she had no knowledge of negligence in the accident. The House bill would repeal this liability law. BP PLC (BP, BP.LN), which leased the rig, bears most of the liability in the spill disaster. The House legislation also would allow the families of spill victims to collect non-economic damages, such as damages for pain and suffering and loss of care and companionship. Supporters of the bill say current law only allows families to recover for the loss of the victim's income and funeral expenses. In an interesting development, one Democrat, Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina, sought to amend the bill so that it would not apply retroactively to pending cases involving the current spill. Watt questioned whether imposing the legislation retroactively was constitutional. The proposed amendment sparked verbal sparring between Watt and Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.), the committee chairman and lead sponsor of the liability legislation. Conyers said Congress has been enacting retroactive bills for a long time "and we're not going to stop now." Watt's amendment was rejected on a voice vote. The Judiciary Committee may vote later Wednesday on a motion to authorize the issuance of subpoenas to BP America for documents regarding its claims process for Gulf oil-spill victims. -By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 23, 2010 13:47 ET (17:47 GMT)