Walter B. Parker Act, which was signed into law in 1980 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, spilling an estimated 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a major environmental disaster for the state. Governor Steve Cowper, who held office at the time of the spill, appointed Walter Parker as the chairman of the Alaska Oil Spill Commission in 1989. The Alaska Oil Spill Commission was created by the Alaska state government to investigate the causes of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Oil spill governance in the United States that it makes it a mandatory requirement for U.S. tank vessels, onshore and offshore facilities to establish and submit oil spill response plans to the corresponding federal authority. The OPA requires new vessels operating and transporting oil in U.S. waters to have double hulls. Not all vessels are of the same size and for the same purpose hence the OPA makes provision for exempting certain vessels from having double hulls. However, by 2015 it is a requirement by law that all oil carrying vessels operating in the U.S. must have double hulls. The legal framework for enforcing oil spill governance