Disposal of Offshore Platforms (1985) / Chapter Skim
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4. Legal Issues
4. Legal Issues
Pages 31-44
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From page 31... ...
And, during and after the disposition process, one or more of the parties involved will probably be liable for damages should an innocent third party suffer harm. The disposition process-is rich in legal issues and each one is potentially a centerpiece for controversy.
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From page 32... ...
It is evident that discretion on removal broadens the options base for platform disposition. The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, when considering a removal provision for the new LOS treaty, at first accepted the language of the 1958 convention with all its apparent certainty.
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From page 33... ...
INTERNATIONAL LAW Conventional international law offers relet i vely 1 i t tle concern i ng the disposition of offshore platforms. While a number of treaties speak generally about rights and obligations pertaining to activities on and in the sea, only the 1958 Convention on the Continental Shelf contains a rule specifically dealing with what is to be done with a platform when its usefulness for exploration or exploitation has ended.
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From page 34... ...
These three scholars conclude, pointing to State practice in justification, that the removal provision found in Article 5 has always allowed cons iderable room to exercise discretion, although the discretion of which they speak seems to be vested in government officials, not offshore operators.
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From page 35... ...
State practice is important when considering the removal provision of the 19S8 convention because it can lend weight to a particular interpretation of the provision, or it can indicate that the provision no longer is valid in its literal meaning. A review of the national legislation and regulatory programs of several Western European countries, together with a number of bilateral and multilateral treaties applicable in that region, discloses that complete removal is not generally required by national law.
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From page 36... ...
In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State shall have the exclus ive right to construct and to authorize and regulate the construction, operation, and use of: ~a) artificial islands; (b)
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From page 37... ...
This dichotomy is probably consistent with one of the main themes of the new LOS convention, under which coastal States have new-found rights in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
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From page 38... ...
The act authorizes EPA to issue general permits for dumping specified materials and to set forth classes of materials for which permits may be issued and that are determined to have "minimal adverse environmental impact." Among the "substances and materials requiring special care" listed in Annex lI are "containers , scrap metal, and other bulky wastes liable to sink to the sea bottom which may present a serious obstacle to fishing or navigation. " This sounds as though offshore platforms
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From page 39... ...
The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention takes its definition of dumping from the 1972 Ocean Dumping Convention. The LOS convention distills the main features of the 1972 convention into two relatively short articles that, on cursory inspection, seem intended to bring a large number of States into a uniform regulatory scheme for dumping rather than to supplant the more detailed and cohesive 1972 convention.
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From page 40... ...
Title III of OCSLA and other pollution liability and compensation laws prescribe strict liability for oil spill damage and clean-up. Navigation of the tug and tow laden wi th platform parts i s governed by the Regulat ions for Preventing Collisions at Sea and other rules with the force of law des i gned to enhance the safety of such operas ions and to protec t others navigating nearby.
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From page 41... ...
LEGAL LIMITATIONS ON PLATFORM DISPOSITION This review of legal issues leads to some general conclusions: 1. Any transportation of platform materials from the production site to another location involves observance of all applicable rules for safe navigation.
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From page 42... ...
5. Any disposition at sea will have to meet Coast Guard requirements involving sufficient horizontal clearance from fairways and traffic separation schemes.
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From page 43... ...
requirements for depth clearance, aids to navigation marking, and horizontal clearance from fairways and traffic separation systems (c) principal and residual tort liability · Option 4.
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From page 44... ...
Compilation of Regulations Related to Mineral Resource Activities on the Outer Continental Shelf, Department of the Interior, January 1981 (two volumes)
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