Page 111 - claims information pack ebook_e

Guidelines for presenting claims for clean up and preventive measures
1.11 In practice, the term ‘preventive measures’
means any reasonable actions taken with
the aim of preventing or minimising pollution
damage in a Member State. The term usually
applies to measures taken in responding to a
spill and clean-up operations but may include
salvage operations undertaken with the
specific purpose of preventing or minimising
the loss of oil from a damaged tanker.
The costs of repairing damage caused by
clean-up operations may also be eligible for
compensation, for example, roads or other
access points damaged by traffic engaged in
clean-up operations. Expenses for preventive
measures may be recoverable even if no spill
occurs provided that there was a grave and
6 2.2
imminent threat of pollution damage.
1.12 The 1992 Fund recognises the importance
of effective salvage and clean-up operations
in reducing the impact of a spill and
consequently the number and value of
losses suffered by victims of oil pollution.
In many countries and especially those
Party to the International Convention on
Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and
Co-operation (OPRC), contingency plans are
in place to respond to spills in a range of
circumstances; from small spills contained
within a port to a major incident affecting
an entire region. A major spill would usually
call for the implementation of the national
oil spill contingency plan involving national
authorities so that one of the main claimants
seeking recovery of costs for preventive
measures is likely to be the Member
State itself.
2. Who can claim?
2.1 Anybody who has incurred costs in taking
reasonable measures to minimise or
prevent pollution damage in a Member State
can make a claim to recover those costs,
wherever those measures are taken. For
example, if a State that is not Party to the
Conventions responded to a spill on the high
seas or within its own territorial waters in
order to prevent or reduce pollution damage
within a Member State, the cost of the
response would in principle be admissible
for compensation.
Claimants can be private individuals,
partnerships, companies, private
organisations, non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) or public bodies,
including States and local authorities.
Although clean-up operations are often
carried out by local or national authorities,
examples of other types of claimant making
claims for clean-up costs might include a
private individual cleaning oil from a beach
front property, a hotel chain employing
contractors to clean a beach, a conservation
group cleaning oiled wildlife or a sailing club
removing oil from slipways.
2.3 Different Member States have different
arrangements in place to respond to oil spills
from tankers. Some may utilise their own
and/or contracted resources while others
rely on the tanker owner to hire specialist
contractors. Still others may call upon
State enterprises to clean up the spill but in
almost every case involving the 1992 Fund,
authorities within the Member State will be
involved at some level whether national or
local, responding to the spill themselves,
directing operations or monitoring the
activities of others.