Federal requirements under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA), which came into question following the 2010 Macondo deepwater well blowout and crude oil spill, appear likely to get a fresh look as US onshore crude production climbs and producers scramble to get it to market, suggested some participants in a recent Environmental Law Institute seminar.

"OPA began as a response to the Exxon Valdez spill, and was focused on marine transportation initially," said Russell V. Randle, a Partner at Patton Boggs LLP's Washington, DC, office who moderated the discussion. "But there also have been major spills involving pipelines, rail transportation, and barge transportation in the time since.

"As a policy matter, we're seeing symptoms of a much broader issue: We have to move a lot more domestic oil than we originally thought," he continued. "Much of it is in places that are a significant distance from where it can be refined. That's causing us to make a lot of difficult transportation choices."