Historical buildup of oil spill response capability in Japan

With the large oil spill that occurred in 1971 as an impetus, Japan's Maritime Pollution and Disaster Prevention Law was amended in 1973 and subsequently in 1976. The amendments required owners of vessels and petroleum facilities to retain designated quantities of boom, sorbent, dispersant, and other items to minimize impact from spills. A large oil spill caused by a ruptured crude oil storage tank in 1974 led to the enactment of additional legislation: the Petroleum Complex Disaster Prevention Law. Under this, petroleum facilities are required to maintain designated quantities of oil boom, oil boom deploying vessels, skimming boats, and the like. These legislative measures, together with voluntary efforts, have contributed to a sound buildup of the nation's oil spill response force. However, the response capability including stockpiled materials and equipment has been designed primarily to cope with incidents in closed waters such as inland seas, bays, and ports, and hence not for a oil spill in open seas as large as that from the Exxon Valdez. As one of the measures under the 1990 International Convention for Oil Spill Preparedness, Response and Cooperation, the Government of Japan has entrusted the Petroleum Association of Japan with an oil spill response capability reinforcement project to cope with a large oil spill should one occur in Japanese waters or nearby seas. Under the scheme, during the 5 year period beginning in 1991, the Petroleum Association of Japan is scheduled to build up, using subsidies from the government, stockpiles of cleanup equipment and materials and to augment the existing response capability