(a) To receive a certificate of financial responsibility for a tank vessel or for all of the oil contained within that vessel, the applicant shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the administrator the financial ability to pay at least one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) for any damages that may arise during the term of the certificate.

(b) The administrator may establish a lower standard of financial responsibility for small tank barges, vessels carrying oil as a secondary cargo, and small marine fueling facilities. The standard shall be based on the quantity of oil that can be carried or stored and the risk of spill into waters of the state. The administrator shall not set a standard that is less than the expected costs from a reasonable worst case oil spill into waters of the state.

(c) (1) To receive a certificate of financial responsibility for a facility, the applicant shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the administrator the financial ability to pay for any damages that might arise during a reasonable worst case oil spill into waters of the state that results from the operations of the facility. The administrator shall consider criteria including, but not necessarily limited to, the amount of oil that could be spilled into waters of the state from the facility, the cost of cleaning up spilled oil, the frequency of operations at the facility, and the damages that could result from a spill.

(2) The administrator shall adopt regulations to implement this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 35, Sec. 34. (SB 861) Effective June 20, 2014.)