owner or operator
(26) “owner or operator”— (A) means— (i) in the case of a vessel, any person owning, operating, or chartering by demise, the vessel; (ii) in the case of an onshore facility, offshore facility, or foreign offshore unit or other facility located seaward of the exclusive economic zone, any person or entity owning or operating such facility; (iii) in the case of any abandoned offshore facility or foreign offshore unit or other facility located seaward of the exclusive economic zone, the person or entity that owned or operated such facility immediately prior to such abandonment; (iv) in the case of any facility, title or control of which was conveyed due to bankruptcy, foreclosure, tax delinquency, abandonment, or similar means to a unit of State or local government, any person who owned, operated, or otherwise controlled activities at such facility immediately beforehand; (v) notwithstanding subparagraph (B)(i), and in the same manner and to the same extent, both procedurally and substantively, as any nongovernmental entity, including for purposes of liability under section 2702 of this title , any State or local government that has caused or contributed to a discharge or substantial threat of a discharge of oil from a vessel or facility ownership or control of which was acquired involuntarily through— (I) seizure or otherwise in connection with law enforcement activity; (II) bankruptcy; (III) tax delinquency; (IV) abandonment; or (V) other circumstances in which the government involuntarily acquires title by virtue of its function as sovereign; (vi) notwithstanding subparagraph (B)(ii), a person that is a lender and that holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security interest in a vessel or facility if, while the borrower is still in possession of the vessel or facility encumbered by the security interest, the person— (I) exercises decision making control over the environmental compliance related to the vessel or facility, such that the person has undertaken responsibility for oil handling or disposal practices related to the vessel or facility; or (II) exercises control at a level comparable to that of a manager of the vessel or facility, such that the person has assumed or manifested responsibility— (aa) for the overall management of the vessel or facility encompassing day-to-day decision making with respect to environmental compliance; or (bb) over all or substantially all of the operational functions (as distinguished from financial or administrative functions) of the vessel or facility other than the function of environmental compliance; and (B) does not include— (i) A unit of state or local government that acquired ownership or control of a vessel or facility involuntarily through— (I) seizure or otherwise in connection with law enforcement activity; (II) bankruptcy; (III) tax delinquency; (IV) abandonment; or (V) other circumstances in which the government involuntarily acquires title by virtue of its function as sovereign; (ii) a person that is a lender that does not participate in management of a vessel or facility, but holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect the security interest of the person in the vessel or facility; or (iii) a person that is a lender that did not participate in management of a vessel or facility prior to foreclosure, notwithstanding that the person— (I) forecloses on the vessel or facility; and (II) after foreclosure, sells, re-leases (in the case of a lease finance transaction), or liquidates the vessel or facility, maintains business activities, winds up operations, undertakes a removal action under section 1321(c) of this title or under the direction of an on-scene coordinator appointed under the National Contingency Plan, with respect to the vessel or facility, or takes any other measure to preserve, protect, or prepare the vessel or facility prior to sale or disposition, if the person seeks to sell, re-lease (in the case of a lease finance transaction), or otherwise divest the person of the vessel or facility at the earliest practicable, commercially reasonable time, on commercially reasonable terms, taking into account market conditions and legal and regulatory requirements;
Source
33 USC § 2701(26)
Scoping language
None identified, default scope is assumed to be the parent (subchapter I) of this section.