CLARIFICATION OF LIABILITY OF PERSONS ENGAGING IN OIL SPILL PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ACTIVITIES.

SEC. 411. CLARIFICATION OF LIABILITY OF PERSONS ENGAGING IN OIL SPILL PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ACTIVITIES. (a) Clarification of Liability for Preventing Substantial Threat of Discharge.— Section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(8) by striking “to minimize or mitigate damage” and inserting “to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage”; (2) by striking “and” after the semicolon at the end of subsection (a)(23), by striking the period at the end of subsection (a)(24) and inserting “; and”, and by adding at the end of subsection (a) the following: “(25) ‘removal costs’ means— “(A) the costs of removal of oil or a hazardous substance that are incurred after it is discharged; and “(B) in any case in which there is a substantial threat of a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance, the costs to prevent, minimize, or mitigate that threat.”; and (3) in subsection (c)(4)(A), by striking the period at the end and inserting the following: “relating to a discharge or a substantial threat of a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance.”. (b) Oil Spill Mechanical Removal.— Section 311(a)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)) is amended— (1) by striking “and (C)” and inserting “, (C)”; and (2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: “, and (D) discharges incidental to mechanical removal authorized by the President under subsection (c) of this section”.