The Washington State Department of Ecology

November 20, 2008 Docket Management Facility (USCG-2008-0007) Department of Transportation West Building Ground Floor Room W12-140 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590-0001 Re: Consumer Price Index Adjustments of Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Limits of Liability – Vessels and Deepwater Ports Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Coast Guard Docket Number: USCG-2008-0007) Gentlemen: The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is taking this occasion to submit comments on behalf of Washington State regarding the United States Coast Guard’s proposed rulemaking for consumer price index adjustments of Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) limits of liability for vessels and deepwater ports. Ecology applauds the Coast Guard’s efforts in taking this first step toward instituting long overdue inflationary adjustments to OPA 90 limits of liability. We anxiously await future rulemaking that would include similar adjustments to transportation-related onshore facilities (MTR facilities) and all other OPA 90 source categories. Regarding this rulemaking proposal, Ecology believes: • The annual time interval (Annual CPI-U) is an acceptable means of determining Consumer Price Index All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) variance. Ecology agrees that use of the Annual CPI-U would likely provide better consistency and simplicity over time than use of the monthly period variance. • The proposed rule should include adjustments to the limits of liability for vessels and deepwater ports for periods of less than three years where the CPI- U increases significantly over any one or two year period. Ecology recommends that section 138.240(b) of the proposed rule be changed to ensure the Director of the National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC) annually evaluates changes in the CPI-U. Whenever the significance threshold of 3 percent or greater is reached, regardless of the year a limit of liability was last established or adjusted by statute or regulation, the Director of the NPFC should increase the limit of liability by an amount equal to the cumulative percentage change in the Annual CPI-U since last established or adjusted. This would ensure rapid inflation does not considerably outpace the limits of liability for oil spills. As noted in your proposal, any change of 3 percent or greater is significant. It is not clear why the Director of the NPFC would wait until the end of a three-year period to make adjustments if the CPI-U significance threshold had already been exceeded in a previous year during the same period. This is especially contentious because, as mentioned in your proposal, the law permits adjustments more frequently than every three years. On behalf of citizens of the state of Washington, thank you for considering these comments. Sincerely, Dale Jensen, Program Manager Spill Prevention, Preparedness and Response Program