The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has nearly doubled the limit of liability for oil-spill related damages from $75m to around $134m for offshore oil and gas facilities.

Damages that occur from oil spills are applicable in the liability cap. Other liabilities such as oil spill removal costs remain unlimited.

The rule, which goes into effect in January 2015, also features a mechanism to regularly update the limit of liability cap in the future to reflect changes in inflation over time based on the Consumer Price Index.

BOEM acting director Walter Cruickshank said: “BOEM is taking an important step to better preserve the ‘polluter pays’ principle of the Oil Pollution Act and further promote safe and environmentally responsible operations.

“This is the first administrative adjustment since the Oil Pollution Act was enacted in 1990 and is needed to keep pace with inflation, which has increased 78% since then.”

This change to BOEM’s regulations was proposed in February 2014.

The bureau said it fully considered all stakeholder comments before enacting the liability increase.