definitions

definitions Sec. 301. For the purposes of this title, the term— (1) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Transportation; (2) “Fund” means the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund established under section 302 of this title; (3) “person” means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, or governmental entity; (4) “incident” means any occurrence or series of related occurrences, involving one or more offshore facilities or vessels, or any combination thereof, which causes or poses an imminent threat of oil pollution; (5) “vessel” means every description of watercraft or other contrivance, whether or not self-propelled, which is operating in the waters above the Outer Continental Shelf (as the term “outer Continental Shelf” is defined in section 2(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331(a))), or which is operating in the waters above submerged lands seaward from the coastline of a State (as the term “submerged lands” is described in section 2(a) of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(a)(2))), and which is transporting oil directly from an offshore facility; (6) “public vessel” means a vessel which— (A) is owned or chartered by demise, and operated by (i) the United States, (ii) a State or political subdivision thereof, or (iii) a foreign government; and (B) is not engaged in commercial service; (7) “facility” means a structure, or group of structures (other than a vessel or vessels), used for the purpose of transporting, drilling for, producing, processing, storing, transferring, or otherwise handling oil; (8) “offshore facility” includes any oil refinery, drilling structure, oil storage or transfer terminal, or pipeline, or any appurtenance related to any of the foregoing, which is used to drill for, produce, store, handle, transfer, process, or transport oil produced from the Outer Continental Shelf (as the term “outer Continental Shelf” is defined in section 2(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf 92 STAT. 671 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331(a))), and is located on the Outer Continental Shelf, except that such term does not include (A) a vessel, or (B) a deepwater port (as the term “deepwater port” is defined in section 3(10) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1502)); (9) “oil pollution” means— (A) the presence of oil either in an unlawful quantity or which has been discharged at an unlawful rate (i) in or on the waters above submerged lands seaward from the coastline of a State (as the term “submerged lands” is described in section 2(a)(2) of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(a)(2))), or on the adjacent shoreline of such a State, or (ii) on the waters of the contiguous zone established by the United States under Article 24 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone (15 UST 1606); or (B) the presence of oil in or on the waters of the high seas outside the territorial limits of the United States— (i) when discharged in connection with activities conducted under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); or (ii) causing injury to or loss of natural resources belonging to, appertaining to, or under the exclusive management authority of, the United States; or (C) the presence of oil in or on the territorial sea, navigable or internal waters, or adjacent shoreline of a foreign country, in a case where damages are recoverable by a foreign claimant under this title; (10) “United States claimant” means any person residing in the United States, the Government of the United States or an agency thereof, or the government of a State or a political subdivision thereof, who asserts a claim under this title; (11) “foreign claimant” means any person residing in a foreign country, the government of a foreign country, or any agency or political subdivision thereof, who asserts a claim under this title; (12) “United States” includes and “State” means the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and any other territory or possession over which the United States has jurisdiction; (13) “oil” means petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction or residue therefrom; (14) “cleanup costs” means costs of reasonable measures taken, after an incident has occurred, to prevent, minimize, or mitigate oil pollution from such incident; (15) “damages” means compensation sought pursuant to this title by any person suffering any direct and actual injury proximately caused by the discharge of oil from an offshore facility or vessel, except that such term does not include cleanup costs; (16) “person in charge” means the individual immediately responsible for the operation of a vessel or offshore facility; (17) “claim” means a demand in writing for a sum certain; (18) “discharge” means any emission, intentional or unintentional, and includes spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emptying, or dumping; 92 STAT. 672 (19) “owner” means any person holding title to, or in the absence of title, any other indicia of ownership of, a vessel or offshore facility, whether by lease, permit, contract, license, or other form of agreement, or with respect to any offshore facility abandoned without prior approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the person who owned such offshore facility immediately prior to such abandonment, except that such term does not include a person who, without participating in the management or operation of a vessel or offshore facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect his security interest in the vessel or offshore facility; (20) “operator” means— (A) in the case of a vessel, a charterer by demise or any other person, except the owner, who is responsible for the operation, manning, victualing, and supplying of the vessel; or (B) in the case of an offshore facility, any person, except the owner, who is responsible for the operation of such facility by agreement with the owner; (21) “property” means littoral, riparian, or marine property; (22) “removal costs” means— (A) costs incurred under subsection (c), (d), or (1) of section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and section 5 of the Intervention on the High Seas Act; and (B) cleanup costs, other than the costs described in subparagraph (A); (23) “guarantor” means the person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator; (24) “gross ton” means a unit of 100 cubic feet for the purpose of measuring the total unit capacity of a vessel; and (25) “barrel” means 42 United States gallons at 60 degrees Fahrenheit.