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Bill may increase oil spill penalties

November 18, 2021

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu on Nov. 10 introduced legislation to increase civil and criminal penalties for oil spills along with Reps. Julia Brownley, Alan Lowenthal, Mike Levin and Katie Porter (all D-Calif.)

The Increasing Penalties for Offshore Polluters Act would remove caps for civil penalties on offshore drilling violations and double all fines and potential prison time for criminal penalties.

The legislation follows October's Huntington Beach oil spill, which was estimated to have spread more than 126,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific coastline. In October, Lieu and Brownley, co-chairs of the California Coastal Caucus, called for a ban on off-shore drilling.