Big Oil Polluter Pays Act
Latest action · May 11, 2010 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 11, 2010
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Big Oil Polluter Pays Act - Declares that, in any civil action for damages arising out of a maritime tort case, punitive damages may be assessed without regard to the amount of compensatory damages assessed in the action. (Thus, removes the cap ratio of 1:1 on punitive-to-compensatory damages established in the Exxon Shipping Co. v Baker case for the award of punitive damages.)
Cosponsors 8
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 11, 2010 to Sep 13, 2010; 2 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | Original | May 11, 2010 |
| D-NJ | Robert Menendez | Original | May 11, 2010 |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | May 12, 2010 | |
| D-IL | Richard J. Durbin | May 20, 2010 | |
| D-DE | Edward E. Kaufman | Jun 9, 2010 | |
| D-NY | Charles E. Schumer | Jun 14, 2010 | |
| D-NH | Jeanne Shaheen | Jun 22, 2010 | |
| D-MN | Al Franken | Sep 13, 2010 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Referred May 11, 2010 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 11, 2010Introduced in Senate
- May 11, 2010Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 111-1054 | THE DEEPWATER HORIZON TRAGEDY: HOLDING RESPONSIBLE PARTIES ACCOUNTABLE54 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Jun 30, 2010 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend title 46, United States Code, to remove the cap on punitive damages established by the Supreme Court in Exxon Shipping Company v. Baker.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Big Oil Polluter Pays Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Transportation and Public Works.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 11, 2010Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
