S. 870: Pollution Accountability Act of 2011
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S. 870: Pollution Accountability Act of 2011
112th Congress · introduced 2011-05-03 · Environmental Protection · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2011-05-03 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Pollution Accountability Act of 2011
Plain summary
Pollution Accountability Act of 2011 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to subject the owner, operator, or person in charge of any vessel, onshore facility, or offshore facility from which oil or a hazardous substance is discharged in violation of such Act: (1) to a civil penalty of the higher of the currently prescribed amounts (i.e., up to $25,000 per day of violation or up to $1,000 per barrel of oil or unit of reportable quantity of hazardous substances discharged), and (2) in any case in which such violation was the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct, to a civil penalty of the higher of the currently prescribed amounts (i.e., not less than $100,000, and not more than $3,000 per barrel of oil or unit of reportable quantity of hazardous substance discharged).
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
A “Yea” vote
If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.
PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).
What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Pollution Accountability Act of 2011
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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Alternatives
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] · 0 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-112s870.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/112/s>
Record fed-us-cong112-s870 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112