Introduction

The development of comprehensive oil pollution liability and compensation laws in the 1970s brought with it a corresponding recognition of the need for broader oil pollution prevention measures. Rising domestic oil consumption, coupled with projected increases in tanker traffic at US ports, resulted in a call for increased supervision of tanker operations, as well as improvements in vessel design, construction and maintenance.1 Prior to 1972, existing domestic legislation dealt primarily with regulations governing the physical security of vessels, ports and waterfront facilities.2 For example, the Tank Vessel Act (TVA) of 19363 was enacted to prevent damage to life and property from the carriage of flammable or combustible liquid cargos in bulk, but did not specifically address the protection of the environmental quality of US ports and navigable waters. In 1950, Congress passed the Magnuson Act,4 which authorized the promulgation of rules governing the protection of vessels, harbors, ports and waterfront facilities in the US in cases where national security was endangered. Neither of these laws, however, was considered sufficiently broad to encompass protection of the marine environment.5