Circular issued by International Group clubs Executive summary Members are advised that new fines will be applicable in California from 1 January 2021 for ship sourced oil pollution damage in Californian State waters. For Members trading to California, these legislative changes will result in: A doubling of certain existing fines up to a maximum of US$1,000,000 for each violation, with each day or partial day of a violation being considered a separate violation, and The courts being empowered to impose a new additional fine of up to US$1,000 per gallon of oil spilled in excess of 1,000 gallons. In each case a fine may be imposed if the violator knowingly caused, or reasonably should have known that their actions would lead to, an oil spill into Californian State waters. Background On 24 September 2020, the Governor of California signed Californian Assembly Bill (AB) 3214 into law and that will provide for such increased penalties and fines by means of amendments to California's Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act (the "Act"). Under the current Act, such civil and criminal penalties can be imposed under various statutes, with Government Code §8670.3 defining liable persons ("violator") as an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, or corporation, including, but not limited to, a government corporation, partnership, and association, and thereby including shipowners, operators and Masters amongst other parties involved in the transportation chain. The original draft Assembly Bill set out to: Increase the level of Californian State certification of financial responsibility (COFR) - that a tank or non-tank vessel operating in Californian waters must demonstrate in order to cover damages caused by an oil spill – from US$1 billion to US$2 billion for tank vessels and US$300 million to US$600 million for non-tank vessels, Double the existing level of certain criminal fines that shall be imposed in the event of an oil spill, and Empower the co