Pallone 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…

Frank Joseph Pallone Jr., the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 6th congressional district, says that the battle against the Trump Administration’s push for seismic blasting and drilling for oil and gas in the Atlantic Ocean has made progress.In 2017, President Trump signed an executive order that supports offshore oil and gas drilling along the East Coast. On June 25, Pallone secured House passage of an amendment that prohibits federal spending to advance oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic Ocean."It’s now time for the Senate to take up the underlying legislation, because we need to protect our shores from the Trump Administration’s dangerous offshore drilling plans.

A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee passed a bill on Thursday to repeal the U.S. ban on oil exports, providing momentum in the chamber for overturning the 40-year old trade restriction. The House Energy and Power subcommittee passed the bill by a voice count. The legislation, sponsored by Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas, is expected to be voted on by the full Energy and Commerce committee next week. Passage by the full panel would set it up for a wider vote by the Republican-led House, where it is expected to pass. The measure, however, still faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate. Barton said the energy landscape has changed since 1975 and repealing the ban would provide jobs and help allies diversify their oil supplies.

Congressman Frank Pallone has issued the following statement in response to the Department of the Interior’s announcement of the proposed lease sale for nearly 344,000 acres off of the New Jersey coast for commercial wind energy development. “I am pleased that the Department of the Interior is moving ahead to pursue energy development in the Atlantic from renewable resources. Here in New Jersey, we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of our vast coastline to produce clean, renewable energy. By working to harness the natural wind power off of our shores, New Jersey can lead the way in building a far more sustainable energy industry right here at home. “Wind energy development also has the potential to create jobs, while simultaneously expanding our domestic clean energy resources.

Congressman Sam Farr (CA-17) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation in both houses of Congress to help protect the oceans from damage caused in the event of cruise ship pollution. "Every week a typical 3,000 passenger cruise ship generates over a million gallons of raw sewage, gray water and oily bilge water and at the moment it is legal for them to dump this waste almost anywhere in the ocean," said Farr during a press conference to announce the bill. The legislation, known in the House as H.R. 4101, the Clean Cruise Ship Act, closes existing loopholes in federal law by creating a 12 mile-wide coastal zone in which cruise ships are prohibited from dumping.

Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced a bill (S. 3035) to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to prevent oil spills and increase liability limits, and for other purposes. This is a companion to the bill (H.R. 5431) introduced the day before by Representative Pallone (D-NJ). Both bills automatically died when the 108th Congress ended last week. (HK Law).

In its daily press briefing, the White House included a lengthy discussion of the process that led to the Administration’s approval of the acquisition by Dubai Ports World (DPW) of U.S. port facilities owned by P&O Ports. The White House also released a Fact Sheet outlining the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Representative Nadler (D-NY) wants the process stopped until Congress can review it thoroughly. Representative Pallone (D-NJ) is seeking legislation to keep ownership of American ports out of the hands of foreign governments. Representative Saxton (R-NJ) indicated that a Congressional hearing would be held in the near future to examine the planned transaction.

Representative Pallone (D-NJ) introduced a bill (H.R. 3692) to establish a program with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Coast Guard to help identify, determine the sources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse impacts on the marine environment and navigation safety, in conjunction with non-Federal entities, and for other purposes. (HK Law)