US House Bill Addresses Legal Liability In Offshore-Drilling Disasters 6/10/2010

US House Bill Addresses Legal Liability In Offshore-Drilling Disasters


WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Thursday introduced legislation that would allow families of offshore-drilling disaster victims to recover more money in damages and make it harder for companies such as BP Plc (BP: 33.97, 1.02, 3.1%) to limit their liability.

The measure from Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.), along with Rep. Charlie Melancon (D., La.), comes as the oil spill from a BP well in the Gulf of Mexico, among the largest spills in U.S. history, continues in its eighth straight week.

Under the bill, families of workers who die on the seas would be able to recover damages for pain and suffering, and loss of companionship.

A measure to limit the liability of vessel owners to the value of the vessel and its cargo would be repealed, and changes would be made to class-action laws "so that states can seek effective legal remedies in their own courts," the committee said in a statement. The changes would apply to both pending and future legal claims, suggesting that the changes would apply to the current BP oil spill.