WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Legislation proposed by the Obama administration to respond to the massive Gulf oil spill foresees $118 million in one-time discretionary spending, the bulk of which is expected to be covered by well owner BP, senior administration officials said on Wednesday.

White House officials who briefed reporters on the legislation in a conference call from Washington said it would enable the federal government to speed assistance to those affected if the spreading spill worsens, which seems likely.

It also would lift an existing cap on damages liability for the responsible company—BP in this case—relating to economic losses caused by the oil spill.

BP is struggling to contain the oil gushing unchecked from its Gulf of Mexico seabed well, which officials acknowledge threatens serious economic and ecological damage to U.S. Gulf Coast states, affecting tourism, fisheries and wildlife.

“No one in the administration will rest or be satisfied until the leak is stopped at the source and oil in the Gulf is contained and cleaned up and people in this region are able to get back to their lives and livelihood,” Carol Browner, assistant to the president for Energy and Climate Change, said on the conference call.

The legislation being sent to Congress also called for a 1 cent per barrel increase in the tax that oil companies pay the existing Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, Jeff Liebman, acting deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, told the conference call.

The proposal would increase the tax from 8 cents per barrel to 9 cents per barrel starting this year.

Liebman described the expected $118 million oil spill response spending as “discretionary” and “one-time” and said BP, as the responsible party in cleaning up the spill and mitigating its effects, was expected to cover most of this.

The officials said the oil spill response legislation also foresaw unemployment assistance of up to 26 weeks of benefits to workers who were left without jobs as a result of a “spill of national significance” —the category already being applied to the big leak from the BP-owned well.

There also would be additional funding for increased federal inspections of fisheries and oil installations and for studies of environmental impact.

At the same briefing, Browner praised U.S. Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman for a climate change and energy bill they are introducing in the Senate and promised to work to pass it into law.

She said administration officials would review the details of the bill in the coming days but declined to comment on specific aspects of this proposed legislation.