In 1990, congress passed the oil pollution act to establish policies regarding the prevention, containment, and cleanup of oil spills. which event provided the basis for this legislation

During 1967, there was a release of over 100,000 tons of crude oil from Torrey Canyon too the English channel totaling to $8 million clean-up related costs. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 was passed to avoid oil spills from facilities and vessels through enforcing removal of spilled oil.