Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 6.djvu/160

 110 STAT. 3982 PUBLIC LAW 104-324—OCT. 19, 1996 President. party greater than the amount required by subparagraph (B) is justified based on the relative operational, environmental, human health, and other risks posed by the quantity or quality of oil that is explored for, drilled for, produced, or transported by the responsible psirty, the evidence of financial responsibility required shall be for an amount determined by the President not exceeding $150,000,000. "(D) MULTIPLE FACILITIES.—In a case in which a person is a responsible party for more than one facility subject to this subsection, evidence of financial responsibility need be established only to meet the amount applicable to the facility having the greatest financial responsibility requirement under this subsection. "(E) DEFINITION.— For the purpose of this paragraph, the seaward boundsiry of a State shall be determined in accordance with section 2(b) of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(b))."; (2) by amending subsection (f) to read as follows: "(f) CLAIMS AGAINST GUARANTOR.— "(1) IN GENERAL. — Subject to paragraph (2), a claim for which liability may be established under section 1002 may be asserted directly against any guarantor providing evidence of financial responsibility for a responsible party liable under that section for removal costs and damages to which the clsdm pertains. In defending against such a claim, the guarantor may invoke— "(A) all rights and defenses which would be available to the responsible party under this Act; "(B) any defense authorized under subsection (e); and "(C) the defense that the incident was caused by the willful misconduct of the responsible party. The guarantor may not invoke any other defense that might be available in proceedings brought by the responsible party against the guarantor, "(2) FURTHER REQUIREMENT.— A claim may be asserted pursuant to paragraph (1) directly against a guarantor providing evidence of financisd responsibility under subsection (c)(1) with respect to an offshore facility only if— "(A) the responsible party for whom evidence of financial responsibility has been provided has denied or failed to pay a claim under this Act on the basis of being insolvent, as defined under section 101(32) of title 11, United States Code, and applying generally accepted accounting principles; "(B) the responsible party for whom evidence of finemcial responsibility has been provided has filed a petition for bankruptcy under title 11, United States Code; or "(C) the claim is asserted by the United States for removal costs and damages or for compensation paid by the Fund under this Act, including costs incurred by the Fund for processing compensation claims. "(3) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. —Not later than 1 year afl;er the date of enactment of this paragraph, the President shall promulgate regulations to establish a process for implementing paragraph (2) in a manner that will allow for the orderly and expeditious presentation and resolution of claims and effectuate the purposes of this Act."; and

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