Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.) introduced legislation today that aims to ensure that Americans affected by oil spills originating in foreign waters can seek full compensation for damages from the companies responsible.

The bill comes amid growing concern on Capitol Hill and in Florida over the Spanish oil company Repsol's effort to install a drilling rig off the shores of Cuba to begin oil exploration (E&E Daily, Oct. 31). Just last month, Repsol said it is on schedule to begin drilling there before the end of the year (Greenwire, Oct. 14).

Oil spilled in Cuban waters -- which are less than 80 miles from the Florida Keys, the Everglades and south Florida's prized beaches -- could devastate American fishermen, tourism and coastal communities, Menendez and Nelson warned.

Current law contains ambiguities that might allow an oil company to argue that lawsuits could not be brought directly against it under the Oil Pollution Act, the primary law protecting Americans from oil spills, the lawmakers said.

Their bill would amend the law to ensure that U.S. claimants can sue foreign spillers directly. The bill would also remove the $75 million liability cap for spills emanating from foreign waters and ensure that U.S. victims of foreign-water spills could make use of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, established to combat and clean up oil spills.

"When it comes to laws that should protect Americans from foreign oil polluters, there must be no ambiguity about who is to be held fully accountable -- the polluter," Menendez said in a statement. "Hopefully, companies seeking to drill in Cuban waters will think twice once they know they would be fully liable for any damages to the Florida Keys, South Florida beaches, or if the spill reached the Gulf Stream, anywhere up the East Coast."

Menendez and Nelson previously introduced legislation to eliminate the current $75 million cap on liability for oil spills and to eliminate the $1 billion cap on the use of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. They argue that those measures are the only way to ensure all oil drillers operate safely and are held fully accountable.

"Our goal here is to hold foreign oil companies liable if they have a spill that reaches U.S. waters," Nelson said. "It's in part aimed at the situation in Cuba, where Repsol is planning to drill. If there's a spill there we could lose part of the Everglades, or the Keys, or the coral reefs, or our fishing industry or tourism -- and jobs. That's why the U.S. needs to carry a big stick."