Sen. Boxer Releases Bills Aimed at Preventing Spills

Sen. Barbara Boxer has released two bills in Washington aimed at preventing future oil spills like the one in the San Francisco bay last month. One of the bills would give more authority to the U.S. Coast Guard to control ships entering and exiting ports during emergency or hazardous conditions. The bill would also authorize $20m to upgrade the Coast Guard's vessel traffic service. The other piece of legislation would raise the liability limit for cargo ships. The bills have not yet been formally introduced. The Cosco Busan cargo ship spilled 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay on Nov. 7.