In accordance with Senate Bill 237 (SB 237) which amended the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention Act in 2025, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) is seeking public comments regarding the appropriateness of OSPR’s current financial responsibility and reasonable worst-case spill (RWCS) volume criteria for regulated facilities. OSPR’s facility contingency plan regulations include RWCS volume calculations for each type of facility regulated by OSPR, and the certificate of financial responsibility (COFR) regulations establish criteria for the financial responsibility that owners or operators must demonstrate. Financial responsibility requirements are determined by multiplying a facility's RWCS volume by a dollar multiplier for the type of waters that could be impacted by a spill, as well as minimum and maximum amounts for some facility types. Links to the text of each regulation are provided below in the Levels of Financial Responsibility and Reasonable Worst-Case Spill Volume Calculations sections below.
Dates: This public comment period is open for 45-days beginning July 27, 2026 and ending September 10, 2026. CDFW-OSPR respectfully requests comments be submitted no later than September 10, 2026.
How to Submit Comments: Written comments may be submitted to CDFW-OSPR by email at OSPRComments@ce.solutions.
Following the public comment period, information received will be reviewed and considered toward formal rulemaking to update the financial responsibility and RWCS volume calculations in California regulations.
Suggested Focus Areas
When evaluating financial responsibility multipliers and Reasonable Worst Case Spill volume calculations, please consider the following:
- Does the financial responsibility multiplier match the cost per barrel to clean up oil in the environment that each facility type operates in? If no, please describe why and provide supporting details.
- Are the minimum and maximum financial responsibility requirement amounts appropriate based on the risk levels of each facility and vessel type? If no, please describe why and provide supporting details.
- Does the RWCS volume calculation include all factors attributed to the operations for each facility type? (e.g., the inland production RWCS volume is based on well production, but operators may have tanks or pipelines that may also pose a risk to waters of the state). If no, please describe why and provide supporting details.
- Please note that OSPR’s definition of “facility” (see the Definitions section below) excludes storage tanks that are regulated as aboveground petroleum storage tanks or underground storage tanks pursuant to the Health and Safety Code. Therefore, RWCS calculations may not consider the volumes of these tanks.
Background
In 1990, the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act (Act) was enacted to protect California’s marine waters from oil pollution, creating a comprehensive program for preparedness and response to marine oil spills and establishing OSPR within CDFW as its trustee. The Act endowed OSPR with regulatory authority over vessels and facilities operating where an oil spill could impact marine waters of the state, and it enumerated requirements for owners and operators of each regulated vessel and facility to develop an oil spill contingency plan and obtain a certificate of financial responsibility (COFR) from OSPR by demonstrating the ability to pay for cleanup and damages resulting from an oil spill to marine waters. In June 2014, Senate Bill 861 was enacted, expanding OSPR’s jurisdiction to cover oil spills to any surface waters of the state, including dry washes.
As the administering authority, OSPR promulgated regulations to implement the various requirements specified in the Act. OSPR’s facility contingency plan regulations establish calculations for spill planning volumes (RWCS volumes) used to determine the response resources that owners and operators must have available. The COFR regulations utilized these RWCS volumes as a proxy for the costs of an oil spill, setting the required amount of financial responsibility for a facility by multiplying the RWCS volume by a per barrel response cost estimate. The Act established minimum financial responsibility amounts for vessels; these minima are retained in the COFR regulations as fixed requirements that are not dependent on RWCS volume.
In September 2025, Senate Bill 237 (SB 237) was enacted, requiring OSPR to solicit public input regarding both the appropriateness of the RWCS volumes and financial responsibility requirements for facilities on 10-year basis. Based on this feedback, OSPR must review and, as appropriate, revise the criteria and formulas for calculating reasonable worst case spill volumes to reflect the best available [MS2] information. If revisions are appropriate, OSPR will initiate a rulemaking action pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3), which includes a public notice and comment process.
Definitions
Here are some commonly used definitions that will be useful when considering comments.
Title 14, California Code of Regulations (14 CCR) § 790(f)(1) “Facility” means:
- (A) Any of the following located in state waters or located where an oil spill may impact state waters:
- A building, structure, installation, or equipment used in oil exploration, oil well drilling operations, oil production, oil refining, oil storage, oil gathering, oil processing, oil transfer, oil distribution, or oil transportation and is associated with the supply chain of oil.
- A marine facility.
- A marine terminal.
- A small marine fueling facility.
- A drill ship, semi-submersible drilling platform, jack-up type drilling rig, or any other floating or temporary drilling platform.
- A pipeline that transports oil.
- An inland facility.
- A railroad that transports oil in bulk.
- (B) "Facility" does not include any of the following:
- A vessel, except a vessel located and used for any purpose described in subsection (f)(1)(A)5. of this section.
- Any aspect of a facility subject to chapter 6.67 (commencing with section 25270, aboveground petroleum storage tanks or chapter 6.75 (commencing with section 25299.10, underground storage tanks of division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, or an aboveground petroleum storage tank not associated with the supply chain of oil.
- A small craft refueling dock.
- Operations on a farm, nursery, logging site, or construction site that are either of the following:
- Do not exceed 20,000 gallons in a single storage tank; or
- Have a usable tank storage capacity not exceeding 75,000 gallons.
- 14 CCR § 790(n)(5) "Nontank Vessel" means a vessel of 300 gross tons or greater that carries oil, but does not carry oil as cargo.
- 14 CCR § 790(t)(4) "Tank Vessel" means any tanker or tank barge that carries oil in commercial quantities as cargo.
- 14 CCR § 790(v)(2) "Vessel Carrying Oil as Secondary Cargo" means any vessel that does not carry oil as a primary cargo, but does carry oil in bulk as cargo.
Levels of Financial Responsibility
Financial responsibility requirements for regulated facilities and vessels are established in 14 CCR § 791.7. View the regulatory text for determining financial responsibility (PDF).
The financial responsibility requirements are summarized in Table 1 below and on Requirements page.
Current OSPR Certificate of Financial Responsibility Amounts
| Category |
Sub-category |
COFR amount/calculation |
Minimum |
Maximum |
| Tanker |
all |
$1B |
$1B |
$1B |
| Tank Barge |
Large (>150,000 bbl capacity) |
$1B |
$1B |
$1B |
| Small (<150,000 bbl capacity) |
$12,500 x (30% of total cargo capacity) |
|
$562.5M |
| Non-tank Vessel |
CA or federal >7,500 bbl total oil capacity; private >6,500 bbl |
$300 M |
$300 M |
$300 M |
CA or federal 1,001-7,500 bbl; private
1,001-6,500 bbl |
[(Total bbl capacity – 1,000) x $5,670] + $18.9M |
$18.9M |
$50.1M |
| 501-1,000 |
$18.9M |
$18.9M |
$18.9M |
| 51-500 |
$10M |
$10M |
$10M |
| 11-50 |
$5M |
$5M |
$5M |
| 1-10 |
$2M |
$2M |
$2M |
| Marine Facility (e.g. terminals) |
|
$12,500 x RWCS |
$1M |
$300M |
| Offshore Platform |
Not drilling |
$12,500 x RWCS |
$1M |
$300M |
| Active drilling |
$12,500 x RWCS |
$10M |
$300M |
| Marine Pipeline |
|
$12,500 x RWCS |
$1M |
$300M |
| Small Marine Fueling Facility |
|
$12,500 x RWCS |
|
$600K |
| MTU |
|
$12,500 x (30% of max cargo capacity) |
|
$6.3M |
| Inland Facility (e.g. production, pipelines, rail) |
Risk to ephemeral or intermittent waterway |
$6,000 x RWCS |
|
$100M |
| Risk to perennial waterway |
$10,000 x RWCS |
|
$100M |
| Pipelines |
$10,000 x RWCS |
|
$100M |
| Rail |
$10,000 x RWCS |
|
$100M |
Reasonable Worst-Case Spill Volume Calculations
California’s facility contingency plan regulations establish RWCS volume calculations for each type of regulated facility. Table 2 summarizes the current RWCS volume definitions. View the regulatory text describing the RWCS volume calculations for both marine and inland facilities (PDF).
Table 2: Current Reasonable Worst-Case Spill Volume Definitions
| Category |
Sub-category |
RWCS amount/calculation |
| Marine Facility (e.g. terminals) |
|
Function of multiple factors1 |
| Offshore Platform |
Not drilling |
Function of multiple factors2 |
| Active drilling |
Daily vol for 30 days from uncontrolled blowout |
| Marine Pipeline |
Onshore |
Function of multiple factors3 |
| Offshore |
(Leak detection + shutdown time) * max flow rate + additional leakage |
| Small Marine Fueling Facility |
|
Function of multiple factors4 |
| MTU |
|
Total truck tank capacity |
| Inland Facility (e.g. production, pipelines, rail) |
Production facility |
10% of daily production from largest producing well |
| Pipeline |
Function of multiple factors5 |
| Other |
Function of multiple factors1 |
| Rail <10mph |
1% bulk oil6 |
| Rail <25mph |
5% bulk oil |
| Rail >25mph |
20% bulk oil |
1 Loss of capacity of in-line, break-out, and portable storage tanks not subject to Chapter 6.67 or Chapter 6.7 of Division 20, Health and Safety Code (Aboveground and Underground Storage Tank programs administered by Certified Unified Program Agencies on behalf of CA Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Office of the State Fire Marshal) needed for continuous operation of pipelines used to handle or transport oil; plus the amount of additional spillage reasonable expected to enter waters of the state during emergency shut-off, transfer, or pumping operations if hose(s) or pipeline(s) rupture or becomes disconnected, calculated as (maximum time to discover release + maximum time to shut down flow)*(maximum flow rate) + total linefill drainage volume; plus drainage volume from piping normally not in use.
2 Total tank storage and flow line capacity; plus portion of linefill capacity subject to loss during spill, taking into account availability, location of emergency shut-off controls and hydrostatic pressure; plus amount of additional spillage reasonable expected to enter marine waters during shut-off, transfer, or pumping operations if a hose or pipeline ruptures or becomes disconnected; plus daily production for 30 days from an uncontrolled blowout of highest capacity well.
3 (Maximum time to discover release + maximum shut-down response time)*(maximum flow rate) + (largest line drainage volume after shutdown of line section); or the largest foreseeable discharge for the line section(s) within a response zone based on maximum historical discharge; or the capacity of the single largest tank or battery of tanks within a secondary containment, adjusted for containment capacity.
4 (Maximum time to discover release + maximum time to shut down flow)*(maximum flow rate) + total linefill drainage volume
5 Loss of capacity of in-line, break-out, and portable storage tanks not subject to Chapter 6.67 or Chapter 6.7 of Division 20, Health and Safety Code, needed for continuous operation of pipelines used to handle or transport oil; plus the amount of additional spillage reasonable expected to enter waters of the state during emergency shut-off, transfer, or pumping operations if hose(s) or pipeline(s) rupture or becomes disconnected, calculated as (maximum time to discover release + maximum time to shut down flow)*(maximum flow rate) + total linefill drainage volume; plus drainage volume from pipelines normally not in use.
6 All rail RWCS have a minimum of 1 tank car.
Relevant Regulations and Statutes
SB 237 Language
§ 8670.28 (a)(10)(B) Commencing January 15, 2027, and at least once every 10 years thereafter, in order to increase public participation, the administrator shall solicit public input regarding the appropriateness of the reasonable worst case spill volumes for facilities. Based on this feedback, the administrator shall review and, as appropriate, revise the criteria and formulas for calculating reasonable worst case spill volumes to reflect the best available information. If revisions are appropriate, the administrator shall initiate a rulemaking action pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3), which includes a public notice and comment process.
§ 8670.37.51 (d)(3) Commencing January 15, 2027, and at least once every 10 years thereafter, in order to increase public participation, the administrator shall solicit public input regarding the appropriateness of the financial responsibility requirements for facilities. Based on this feedback, the administrator shall review and, as appropriate, revise the criteria and formulas for calculating the financial assurances and setting the maximum amount of a certificate of financial responsibility necessary to respond to an oil spill to reflect the best available information, pursuant to the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3), which includes a public notice and comment process.