Clinton Administration News

Marcus Jadotte has joined Crowley as senior vice president of government relations, leading the company’s advocacy activities across all its businesses.Jadotte will spearhead the company’s continuing advocacy for laws and regulations that support the domestic maritime industry, while expanding awareness of Crowley’s growing defense and civilian government services among federal, state and local officials. He will be based in Washington, D.C.Jadotte comes to Crowley after his tenure as vice president of federal government relations at Raytheon Technologies.

On May 8, 2013, Dr. John P. Holdren will be the keynote speaker in the President’s Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology President Nariman Farvardin. Holdren is Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The President’s Distinguished Lecture Series, which launched in fall 2012, offers access to influential scientists, technologists and policymakers who are shaping 21st century society.

Two Coast Guard small boats set a security zone around the 900-foot container ship Cosco Busan. The ship hit the San Francisco Bay Bridge Nov. 7, 2007 spilling an estimated 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay.(U.S. City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court, under the State's Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act and other state laws, against the parties responsible for the November 7 oil spill incident in the San Francisco Bay. In that incident, the M/V Cosco Busan, a 65,131-ton, 900-ft.

Fog, which has shrouded parts of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast in recent weeks, could remain an intermittent threat to shipping and crude oil imports through April, according to a government meteorologist. In February, March and April sea fogs can form quickly along the Gulf coast as warm moist air heading in from the Gulf hits cooler coastal waters, causing the moisture to condense. “All of a sudden it’s like you drive into a brick wall and the visibility goes down to a sixteenth of a mile. Most ships don’t do much traveling in that,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Kent Prochazka. It’s a phenomenon that can disrupt the steady traffic of crude oil tankers to Gulf Coast terminals and refining centers such as Corpus Christi…

Just when it seemed as though the U.S. Navy, which has served more than any other military sector as the budget whipping post in the post Cold War era, was positioned to attract long overdue funds, the budget rug was once again pulled. In proposing a Pentagon budget of $379 billion … a $48 billion increase … the Bush administration has again shorted the U.S. Navy. Reaction from Capitol Hill was swift and without censor, as lawmakers and lobbying groups weighed in with equal fury, according to numerous wire reports and hastily written press briefings. "The trend in shipbuilding worsens in this budget," said Rep. Ike Skelton, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, according to one wire report. In another report, Sen. Edward M.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that they are taking action to better coordinate federal programs affecting protection of wetlands and streams. Completing a regulation proposed by the Clinton Administration in 2000, the Army Corps of Engineers is adopting EPA's approach to the Clean Water Act's definition of "fill material," which has been in place since 1977. The regulation will not only remove ambiguity from Clean Water Act's regulations, but also enhance environmental protection of our wetlands and streams by prohibiting the dumping of trash or garbage in them. In addition, the agencies will apply new conditions to permits issued to regulate the placement of dirt and rock from mountaintop mining in streams.

OPEC has seemingly bowed to U.S. pressure for cheaper oil by agreeing to higher output limits, immediately agreeing to turn up the taps by 1.45 million barrels daily, or seven percent. Iran, OPEC’s second largest producer, opted out of the deal, saying it feared a price plunge and complaining about interference from Washington. The action, which has been anticipated given the strong political pressures placed on the OPEC ministers, immediately sent petroleum prices into a tailspin, with Brent futures dropping $1.26 to $24.25 per barrel. OPEC won applause from the Clinton administration, which said there was now no need to release national emergency supplies to ease election year political pressure from consumers irate at high gasoline prices.

On October 1, 1993, President Clinton announced his shipyard initiative, a five-part plan to assist shipyards in transitioning from their primary role as builders of Jones Act vessels and U.S. Navy ships in support of the Cold War to internationally competitive shipyards capable of building ships for a wide variety of uses. A cornerstone of this plan is the Maritime Guaranteed Loan Program, commonly referred to as the Title XI Program. The President's shipyard initiative revitalized the important role of the Title XI Program in helping to maintain a fleet of vessels able to engage in the coastwise or Jones Act trade and maintaining our shipyards.

OPEC has seemingly bowed to U.S. pressure for cheaper oil by agreeing to higher output limits, immediately agreeing to turn up the taps by 1.45 million barrels daily, or seven percent. Iran, OPEC's second largest producer, opted out of the deal, saying it feared a price plunge and complaining about interference from Washington. The action, which has been anticipated given the strong political pressures placed on the OPEC ministers, immediately sent petroleum prices into a tailspin, with Brent futures dropping $1.26 to $24.25 per barrel. OPEC won applause from the Clinton administration, which said there was now no need to release national emergency supplies to ease election year political pressure from consumers irate at high gasoline prices.

Ever since two enterprising reporters for the Baltimore Sun decided, in 1997, to take a closer look at ship scrapping, first at a Baltimore shipyard dismantling a Navy ship, and subsequently an in depth review of scrapping conditions in Alang, India, the light of public attention has been shining on this oldest of maritime practices. With this scrutiny, the world of scrapping ships will be forever changed — hopefully for the better. Following the end of the Cold War, the Navy's downsizing its fleet, and the requirement to replace tankers with more modern and environmentally safer ships, the demand to decommission and dispose of obsolete vessels is increasing at a pace more rapid than the capacity exists to handle this demand. Certainly, this is true in the U.

Put in financial peril because of NATO bombing against Serbia which literally blocked its source of business, Danube shippers and port operators received good news when it was divulged that Romania's government decided to write off the debts owed to the state by Danube shippers and port operators. The debts included unpaid taxes and contributions to the state and social security budgets over April 1999-June 2000, as well as penalties, the cabinet said in a statement issued after a special meeting. Data put shippers' total debts at some 39 billion lei. Romanian shippers say they have lost some $150 million in trade since April 1999, when NATO destroyed bridges over the Danube in Serbia, on Romania's western border, blocking traffic on the river. The U.S.

Congress has approved $29.9 million for the Maritime Loan Guarantee Program, or Title XI program, a $27.9 million increase over the President's Fiscal Year 2001 budget request. Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) and chairman of the Title XI Coalition, said, "We're pleased that Congress has recognized that the Title XI program is an important component of our nation's maritime policy and has agreed to significantly increase funding levels over those requested by President Clinton in his Fiscal Year 2001 budget. "Thanks to the strong Congressional support for this program, $29.9 million in new money will be available to facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars in new ship construction, creating thousands of shipyard and seagoing jobs," Walker stated.

U.S. By early afternoon, crude oil for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading at $28.30 a barrel, a 35-cent rise, taking total gains in the last six trading sessions to $2.50 a barrel, or ten percent. A statement by OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez on Sunday spurred the day's advance. Rodriguez, the former energy minister of Venezuela said on Sunday that the 11-member producers' cartel had a consensus to cut crude oil supplies but had not decided by how much. "For the time being there is a consensus to cut but how much we don't know," Rodriguez said. Rodriguez's remarks came after the former Venezuelan energy minister met with departing U.S. Energy Secretary Richardson in Vienna.

Congress has approved $29.9 million for the Maritime Loan Guarantee Program, or Title XI program, a $27.9 million increase over the President's Fiscal Year 2001 budget request. Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) and chairman of the Title XI Coalition, said, "We're pleased that Congress has recognized that the Title XI program is an important component of our nation's maritime policy and has agreed to significantly increase funding levels over those requested by President Clinton in his Fiscal Year 2001 budget. "Thanks to the strong Congressional support for this program, $29.9 million in new money will be available to facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars in new ship construction, creating thousands of shipyard and seagoing jobs," Walker said.

ssistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management, C. Stephen Allred signed agreements with BP, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil Company, Shell, and Walter Oil and Gas Corporation, addressing deepwater Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas leases issued in 1998 and 1999. Under the agreements these companies will pay royalties on oil and gas produced under leases issued in 1998-1999. Revenue will be received for products starting from October 1, 2006 onward. Deepwater leases issued during this time included a royalty incentive to encourage companies to explore for oil and gas in areas where the costs to explore and produce were high. The incentive allowed companies to produce a set volume of oil and gas before they would begin paying royalties.

President George W. Bush on recently said he was open to pending proposals in Congress to expand oil and natural gas leasing in federal waters provided it was at least 100 miles offshore. About 3 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would be opened to oil and natural gas drilling under a bipartisan Senate bill but the legislation could face problems from Florida and other coastal lawmakers as it moves to the floor. There are also efforts in the U.S. House to expand the areas in which industry can drill, although it remains unclear whether high energy costs will soften longstanding resistance to the idea from voters. Currently, only the central and western Gulf of Mexico and limited parts offshore Alaska are open to industry.

Avondale Industries, Inc. has agreed to pay $357,750 in penalties for safety and health violations at its shipyard in Avondale, La., and implement a revised safety and health program as part of a settlement agreement announced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). "We are pleased Avondale has agreed to resolve this matter," said Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman. "Avondale's new management has shown they are serious about eliminating safety hazards. OSHA originally inspected the shipyard in October 1998 following union complaints of possible imminent danger from falls, and other health issues. Based on that inspection, OSHA issued 60 citations against the shipbuilder last April and proposed fines of $537,000.

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing dismissed suggestions that his company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. would control the Panama Canal when it begins operating container ports at each end of the strategic waterway. Li was responding to remarks by President Bill Clinton, who said last week that he did not expect any adverse consequences from "the Chinese running the canal". "We cannot possibly control the canal," Li said. Li has strong ties to China. U.S. lawmakers have expressed concerns that this could eventually give China effective control of the 51 mile (82 km) long canal once the U.S. military pulls out. The Clinton administration has repeatedly assured them that China will not take it over.

The Clinton Administration, long an opponent of Jones Act reform, has proposed a one-year waiver to allow the use of foreign-built ships to transport U.S. food aid abroad, most notably to Russia. The plan would add up to seven dry-bulk and breakbulk ships suited to carry food aid, according to U.S. Marad estimated. "This waiver," said Rob Quartel, president of the Jones Act Reform Coalition (JARC), "would bring Jones Act reform to foreign consumers, while American businesses and consumers continue to bear the burden that may approach $17 billion annually. The waiver proposal, attached to this year's Marad authorization bill, would allow foreign-built bulk ships immediate eligibility to carry U.S. food aid, as long as the ships are registered under the U.S. flag and employ U.S. crews.

The U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced it will delay its decision on whether oil companies can drill for oil and natural gas off California's coast, until August 16, 1999. The MMS was scheduled to decide by June 30 if drilling would be allowed on 40 undeveloped leases off the central coast of California, but said it needs more time to review the oil company requests. The plans to drilling offshore California are receiving opposition from California Gov. Gray Davis, who opposes any expanded offshore drilling, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who asked the Interior Department this week to deny the oil company requests.

The USCG published Interim Rules concerning new licensing regulations for Towing Vessels on November 19, 1999. These rules were generated in order to improve the safety record of the towing industry. There was great controversy over the evolution of these rules. Licensed individuals and operating companies considered these rules to be unnecessary overkill and were extremely reluctant to actively support the process. The Coast Guard aggressively pursued their objective and probably became so inured or jaded by industry’s vocalizations that the USCG failed to hear many legitimate concerns. As a result the Interim Rules published in 1999 were at best incomplete or at worst defective.

Unless things change dramatically, I am writing as the last Deputy Administrator of the Maritime Administration (MarAd). At least the MarAd we have known, sometimes loved, but always needed for the last 50 years. As I look at the Administration's budget proposals to transfer management of the Maritime Security Program (MSP) to the Department of Defense (DOD) and eliminate funding for the Title XI shipbuilding loan guarantee program, I cannot help but conclude that MarAd's days are numbered as a freestanding federal agency. This is not simply melodramatic doom saying from a former bureaucrat whose first credo in life is perpetuation of the species (or in this case the agency).

The Clinton administration said that oil prices have soared to "dangerously high" levels, and crude oil could be sold from the nation's emergency stockpile if already-tight supplies are disrupted by Y2K computer problems at the end of the year. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson sent to the White House contingency plans for selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if necessary. The reserve, created after the 1970s Arab oil embargo, holds about 572 million barrels of oil in underground caverns. While the millennium computer bug problem is a major concern, Richardson also made it clear that the administration was closely monitoring current oil prices with an eye toward possible action if necessary.