COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS JENNINGS RANDOLPH, West Virginia, Chairman STEPHEN M. YOUNG, Ohio B. EVERETT JORDAN, North Carolina JOSEPH M. MONTOYA, New Mexico JOHN SHERMAN COOPER, Kentucky RICHARD B. ROYCE, Chief Clerk and Staff Director J. B. HUYETT, Jr., Assistant Chief Clerk and Assistant Staff Director BAILEY GUARD, Assistant Chief Clerk (Minority) TOM C. JORLING, Minority Counsel JOSEPH F. VAN VLADRICKEN, LEON G. BILLINGS, RICHARD D. GRUNDY, STEWART E. McClure, ADRIEN WALLer, Harold H. BRAYMAN, RICHARD W. WILSON, and PHILIP T. CUMMINGS, Professional Staff Members SUBCOMMITTEE ON AIR AND WATER POLLUTION EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Maine, Chairman JENNINGS RANDOLPH, West Virginia JOSEPH M. MONTOYA, New Mexico J. CALEB BOGGS, Delaware JOHN SHERMAN COOPER, Kentucky CONTENTS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1970 Robert E. Neuman, Assistant Legal Adviser for Politico-Military and Mrs. Helen D. Bentley, Chairman, Federal Maritime Commission, accom- James J. Reynolds, president of the American Institute of Merchant Shipping; accompanied by Malcolm Pfautz, adviser, Marine Department of Gulf Oil Co.-Transportation--- WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 1970 Alan I. Mendelsohn of Washington, D.C... H. A. Steyn, Jr., American Petroleum Institute; accompanied by Peter ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Bentley, Mrs. Helen D., Chairman, Federal Maritime Commission___. Ghee, Peter H., senior marine counsel, Mobil Oil Co.- Neuman, Robert E., Assistant Legal Adviser for Politico-Military and Paulson, Gordon W., executive committee, Maritime Law Association of the United States... 39 72 Pfautz, Malcolm, adviser, marine department of Gulf Oil Co... ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Bernstein, Arnold, letter to Senator Muskie. Brussels: Civil Liabilities Convention for Oil Pollution Damage-1969___ Countries that have signed the 1969 Brussels civil liabilities convention Federal Maritime Commission: Bentley, Mrs. Helen D., chairman: Goldie, L. F. E., Naval War College, Newport R. I., memorandum on the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization, report of the U.S. Marine Law Association of the United States: Applicability of Brussels civil liabilities convention to pollution damage in the contiguous zone. Higgins, James, past president: Letter to Senator Muskie.......... State Department comment on the testimony of.. Muskic, Senator Edmund S.: Ledebur, Lawrence F., Chief, Admiralty and Shipping Section, Letters from: Arnold Bernstein, former owner, Red Star Lines... Train, Russell, chairman, Council on Environmental Quality, letter to 80 81 81 72 104 105 106 91 IMCO CIVIL LIABILITIES CONVENTION Relationship of Brussels Convention on Civil Liabilities for Oil Pollution and Public Law 21-224 TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1970 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AIR AND WATER POLLUTION Washington, D.C. The subcomittee met at 10:30 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 4200, New Senate Office Building, Senator Edmund S. Muskie (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Muskie, Baker, and Dole. Also present: Richard B. Royce, chief clerk and staff director; Bailey Guard, assistant chief clerk (minority); Thomas C. Jorling, minority counsel; Leon G. Billings, Philip T. Cummings, Richard W. Wilson, Adrien Waller, and Harold H. Brayman, professional staff members. Senator MUSKIE. The committee will be in order. Today the subcommittee begins 2 days of hearings on the proposed oil pollution convention recently transmitted by the President to the Senate for ratification. The Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution has no jurisdiction. in the ratification of this treaty and the treaty is not pending before the subcommittee. However, Senator Pell, chairman of the Subcommittee on Ocean. Space of the Foreign Relations Committee, which will consider the treaty, has graciously agreed to allow the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution to hold these hearings. The purpose is to compile a report and recommendation on the treaty and its relationship with recently enacted oil pollution legislation. The subcommittee will attempt to determine whether the treaty provides greater or lesser protection than the new U.S. satute for the U.S. Government against an oil pollution incident. The subcommittee also hopes to determine whether the convention or the new law provides the greater protection for owners of American beaches and others dependent upon the coast and territorial waters for their livelihood and their recreation. The witnesses we shall hear represent those who negotiated this agreement, those who would be affected by this agreement, and critics of this agreement. The subcommittee has no preconceptions. But it is concerned that 4 years of effort-resulting in passage and enactment on April 3 of the most restrictive oil pollution control legislation ever sent to the President-not be undercut by international convention, and particularly not by a convention drawn before conferees completed their consideration of the legislation. The first witness this morning is Mr. Robert E. Neuman, Assistant Legal Adviser for Politico-Military and Ocean Affairs, Department of State. Mr. Neuman, we would like to welcome you. STATEMENT OF ROBERT E. NEUMAN, ASSISTANT LEGAL ADVISER FOR POLITICO-MILITARY AND OCEAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF STATE; ACCOMPANIED BY EUGENE MASSEY, LEGAL ADVISERS OFFICE Mr. NEUMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Mr. Eugene Massey of the Legal Advisers Office. Mr. Chairman, I welcome the opportunity to appear before you this morning to discuss the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage. As you know, this convention, along with the International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties, and amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of the Pollution of the Sea by Oil was submitted to the Senate by President Nixon on May 20, 1970. The two 1969 conventions are the product of the International Legal Conference on Marine Pollution Damage, 1969, held in Brussels last November. I understand that you are interested today in discussing only the 1969 Convention on Civil Liability. In this discussion, I want to stress the importance of U.S. ratification of the convention in terms of our participation in international efforts to control and prevent pollution damage. Ratification of the Convention will bring the United States into a uniform regime of international regulation designed to compensate the victims of oil pollution, whether those victims are government or private citizens or both. Without such an international system, the regulation of marine pollution and efforts to achieve effective compensation_must depend upon a multiplicity of national laws which will differ substantially in terms of the nature of liability, the amount of compensation, the area of jurisdiction, and other factors making life difficult for both the shipowner and the injured party. The convention is both evidence of and a response to the reality that the world's environmental problems require cooperative international action rather than unilateral regulation. It is not so much a question of whether the Convention is more or less desirable than any piece of domestic legislation, but rather whether we are prepared to limit the protection afforded to the victims of pollution to those areas within the reach only of national legislation. Without the Convention, U.S. law will not reach vessels responsible for oil spills on the high seas. Without the Convention, U.S. citizens cannot participate in an international system of financial responsibility assuring that funds for compensation will be available. Without the Convention, U.S. citizens cannot rely on the civil jurisdiction of our courts over foreign parties. Without the Convention, U.S. shipowners must face a different set of rules and liabilities wherever they operate. Without the Convention, we must be prepared to face the prospect of |