Bob Menendez News

NY Waterway announced plans to repower four more of its older ferries, transitioning from traditionally diesel driven units to hybrid technology before eventually operating on pure electric.The private company, which runs ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley, was awarded $7.298 million in grant funding for the project through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Passenger Ferry Grant program with the support of NJ TRANSIT.Each ferry upgrade consists of removing all main engines and generators…

The U.S. Treasury Department is getting ready to renew in the coming days Chevron Corp's license to operate in Venezuela, but likely without the greatly expanded terms the U.S. oil major sought, four people close to the talks said.The last U.S. energy producer in Venezuela asked President Joe Biden's government in March for a license that would allow it a greater say in its joint ventures with Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, a first step to reviving output and controlling where oil is sent.In a reversal of earlier hopes for a broadly expanded authorization…

The United States on Monday rejected China’s disputed claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, a move that Beijing criticized as inciting tensions in the region and which highlighted an increasingly testy relationship.China has offered no coherent legal basis for its ambitions in the South China Sea and for years has been using intimidation against other Southeast Asian coastal states, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.“We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful…

The U.S. oil refining industry's association is not opposed to lifting the country's 40-year-old ban on crude exports as long as the move is part of a bigger effort to lower barriers to trade, the group's new head said on Tuesday. "We're not opposed to lifting the export ban, but we would like to think there could be a broader discussion," about all trade barriers in petroleum markets, Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), told reporters. Other trade barriers include the Jones Act, which requires ships servicing coastal businesses to be built in the United States and mostly staffed by U.S.

China asked the United States to take no position on the South China Sea issue after US Navy Officer Robert Thomas promised to back the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in patrolling areas of the waterway. "We hope the United States will strictly honor its commitment of not taking positions or sides on territorial sovereignty issues," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei. The U.S. navy officer suggested on Tuesday that the Southeast Asian countries form a combined maritime force to patrol areas of the South China Sea. "If ASEAN members were to take the lead in organizing something along those lines, trust me, the US 7th Fleet would be ready to support," Robert Thomas, commander of the US navy 7th Fleet, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in Malaysia.

NY1 reported that NY Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is set to speak before a Congressional committee, looking at port security. Some of the topics to be discussed include information sharing between city, state and federal authorities and what can be done to improve security standards. Representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard will also speak. It was also reported that local senators are planning to introduce legislation to increase federal funding for transit security. Senators Charles Schumer and Bob Menendez from New Jersey are asking for an extra $300 million for 2006. The legislation will also call for a change in the way grants are given out, making big cities like New York a higher priority in getting security funding. Source: NY1