Oil is released into the environment from natural seeps and from human activities involved in the exploration, production, transportation, and refinement of oil and its distillation. The effect of oil on the marine environment depends on many factors including the type of oil and the characteristics of the environment into which the oil is released, along with related climatic and meteorological phenomena. In the marine environment, an oil spill environmental sensitivity index (ESI) has been developed to assess the potential risk to different types of shorelines based upon such factors as the shoreline geomorphology, coastal processes affecting the shoreline, and the biological productivity and sensitivity of shoreline habitat. For example, a coastal marsh would be considered a more sensitive endpoint than an exposed rocky headland subject to significant wave activity. At major oil spills, oiled birds, mammals, and larger animals are captured in photojournalist's images, but the impact to macrofauna and meiofauna often goes unreported and uncompensated. These biological resources are extremely important, as the organisms form the basis for the food chain in coastal and marine environments. Federal and state statutes as well as related regulations provide for comprehensive regulation of various phases of petroleum exploration, production, refinement, transportation, and storage, i.e., the oil industry. Missing from the current regulatory approach are mechanisms to minimize the role of human factors in oil spill prevention.