[THS] Legislation to raise the liability limit for BP

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

Senator: Liability bill covers Gulf Coast spill
By MATTHEW DALY
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 4, 2010; 1:45 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050403045.html


WASHINGTON -- A Democratic senator says legislation to raise the liability limit for the Gulf Coast oil spill can apply retroactively. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey is co-sponsoring a measure to raise to $10 billion the liability BP PLC has to pay for damages such as lost wages and economic suffering in the Gulf Coast spill. The current liability limit is $75 million, an amount Menendez called a "drop in the bucket." Menendez said Tuesday he was confident that the measure could apply retroactively. He cited the Superfund law that forced companies to pay for previously polluted hazardous waste sites. President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that taxpayers will not be on the hook for the massive oil spill, which threatens the Gulf Coast.

Bill Nelson: BP Needs to Do More than Just Clean Up
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20004125-503544.html
 
On Tuesday's Washington Unplugged, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) spoke with CBS News Capitol Hill Correspondent Nancy Cordes, reacting to BP's unprecedented plan to contain the massive oil spill with a metal container that will be lowered onto the leaking pipe to try to suck in the flowing oil.
Nelson said, "If it works, presumably all that oil coming from the well head would go up into that container, then up a pipe to a tanker. Let's hope it works."
While oil companies are on the hook for clean-up costs they are not obligated to pay costs exceeding $75 million to business and communities affected by these disasters.
"Existing law only limits a company to $75 million in damages, and you can imagine that this is going to be one of the worst environmental and economical disasters," Nelson said.
He and Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced the Big Oil Prevention Act to ensure that oil companies are not allowed off the hook when it comes to paying for economic damages as a result of future oil spills. It would raise the liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion. It would also eliminate the $1 billion per incident cap on claims against the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, a government reserve for handling the immediate costs of dealing with disasters.
Watch the interview above, or watch all of Tuesday's Washington Unplugged here, also featuring CBS News National Security Analyst Juan Zarate with the latest on the failed Times Square attack and suspect Faisal Shahzad.