Section 8670.37.53.

(a) To receive a certificate of financial responsibility for a tank vessel or for all of the oil contained within such a vessel, the applicant shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the administrator the financial ability to pay at least one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) for any damages that may arise during the term of the certificate.

(b) The administrator may establish a lower standard of financial responsibility for small tank barges, vessels carrying oil as a secondary cargo, and small marine fueling facilities. The standard shall be based on the quantity of oil that can be carried or stored and the risk of spill into marine waters. The administrator shall not set a standard that is less than the expected costs from a reasonable worst case oil spill into marine waters.

(c)(1) To receive a certificate of financial responsibility for a marine facility, the applicant shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the administrator the financial ability to pay for any damages that might arise during a reasonable worst case oil spill into marine waters that results from the operations of the marine facility. The administrator shall consider criteria including, but not necessarily limited to, the amount of oil that could be spilled into marine waters from the facility, the cost of cleaning up spilled oil, the frequency of operations at the facility, and the damages that could result from a spill.

(2) The administrator may issue a certificate for a marine facility upon a lesser showing of financial resources for a period of not longer than three years if the administrator finds all of the following:

(A) The marine facility was operating on January 1, 1991.

(B) Continued operation is necessary to finance abandonment of the marine facility.

(C) The financial resources the operator is able to demonstrate are reasonably sufficient to cover the damages from foreseeable spills from the facility.

(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 748, Sec. 33. Effective January 1, 2002.)