Judiciary Panel Passes SPILL Act to Bring Liability Laws to the 21st Century

Posted in Government,Jones Act,Maritime Law on June 23, 2010

John Conyers, Chairman of The House Judiciary Committee

(Washington D.C.) – Today, House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 5503, Securing Protections for the Injured from Limitations on Liability Act (SPILL Act). After considering a morning’s worth of amendments from both sides of the aisle, the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 5503 by a roll call vote of 16-11, with two Republicans, Reps. Lungren (R-Calif.) and Rooney (R-Fla.), joining the rest of the Democratic committee members in voting in favor of passing the bill.

“I am very pleased that we can finally move a step closer towards making sure that the Gulf Coast Oil Spill victims and their families are cared for during these devastating times,” Conyers said. “Moving forward, we must ensure that families receive relief and compensation in a timely matter with as little further disruption to their lives as possible.”

Introduced by Chairman Conyers and Rep. Melancon (D-La.), the SPILL Act will update the provisions of the following three bills dating from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s: Death on High Seas Act (1920), Jones Act (1920), and the Limitation on Liability Act (1851). The SPILL Act responds to these out of date and unfair laws in these ways:

• It amends the Death on the High Seas Act and Jones Act to permit non-pecuniary damages.
• It repeals the outdated Limitation on Liability Act.
• It amends the Class Action Fairness Act to allow attorneys general to bring remedial actions in their own state courts.
• It limits the ability of parties responsible for oil and similar spills to prevent their employees from speaking to the media.
• It prevents parties responsible for oil spills from using the bankruptcy courts as a subterfuge to leave victims without adequate legal recourse.
• It provides that these changes will apply to pending and future cases, consistent with previous liability law changes enacted by Congress.

These changes will not only modernize these laws, but they will, ensure that the victims of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, through BP’s claims process, will receive the compensation they deserve for their incredible losses.

Source:  Committee on The Judiciary

Steve Gordon Comment: Today marks a major step forward in bringing fairness and equality to damages recoverable by family members of the Deepwater Horizon event and families that will suffer the loss of a loved one at sea in the future. The bill must still make its way through a full vote on the House floor. On Wednesday, June 30th, the Senate will take up Senator Schumer’s and Senator Leahy’s similar bills. In other words, there is still a lot that can occur to these bills and, we urge that you continue to send letters to your Representative and Senators.