Diluted bitumen, the crude oil substance to be transported by the Keystone XL pipeline, is currently defined in such a way as to exempt companies transporting it from paying into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. As such, the operators of the Keystone XL pipeline are exempt from paying into the fund that will be drawn upon to pay for cleanup efforts resulting from spills in the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund's funding comes from an 8-cent-per-barrel excise tax, but because of a 1980 law diluted bitumen is exempt, owing to the fact that in 1980 mass producing oil from diluted bitumen was not economically feasible.
The White House should change the definition of "oil" for the purpose of such taxation.