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Dianne Feinstein News

08 Nov 2021

US Navy Oiler Harvey Milk Launched

(Photo: General Dynamics NASSCO)

San Diego shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO christened and launched the future USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206), the second ship for the U.S. Navy’s John Lewis-class fleet oiler program.In 2016, General Dynamics NASSCO was awarded the contract by the U.S. Navy for the detailed design and construction of the next generation of fleet oilers, the John Lewis-class (T-AO 205). The contract calls for the design and construction of six 742-foot-long oilers with a full load displacement of 49,850 tons. Designed to transfer fuel to U.S.

04 Sep 2020

NASSCO Lays Keel for Future USNS Harvey Milk

(Photo: General Dynamics NASSCO)

Shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO on Thursday laid the keel for the future USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206), the second of six vessels in the John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oiler program for the U.S. Navy.At 746-feet in length and displacing 49,000 tons, the future USNS Harvey Milk will provide logistics support to carrier strike groups around the world. Fleet oilers serve as a supply lifeline for Navy vessels carrying out missions in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and beyond.

03 Sep 2019

8 Dead, 26 Missing After Dive Boat Fire

Eight people were confirmed dead from a predawn fire that sank a boat off a Southern California island and 26 others who were on the scuba diving vessel were missing, a local sheriff said.The fire broke out aboard the Conception, a 75-foot (23-metre) boat, at about 3:15 a.m. while it was moored just off the shore of Santa Cruz Island, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.Passengers slept in the ship's lower quarters, officials said, while five crew members who were above deck on the bridge escaped.The Coast Guard searched the coastline of Santa Cruz Island for any other possible survivors but had not found anyone, officials said."This isn't a day that we wanted to wake up to for Labor Day and it's a very tragic event…

13 May 2016

Senate Approves Strong Funding for USACE

The FY ’17 Energy & Water Development (E&WD) and Related Agencies appropriations bill has been approved by the U.S. Senate in a 90-8 vote, significantly increasing funding in Fiscal Year 2017 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works Program. The House version of this bill, which passed out of the Appropriations Committee last month, is awaiting floor action. Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) President Michael J. Toohey underscored the work of Chairman Cochran and Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Senate E&WD Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), as well as Senate Majority Leader McConnell, that was key to the passage of this strong funding bill.

03 May 2016

Hueneme Port Expands Ship Pollution Reduction Program

The Port of Hueneme launched the second phase of its Grid-Connected Shore Power System, celebrating another next step forward in reducing air emissions and minimizing environmental impact. Among the community leaders attending the ribbon cutting were Congresswoman Julia Brownley, County Supervisor Kathy Long, Ms. Sabiha Khan with Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office, Port Hueneme Mayor Douglas Breeze, and VCTC chairman Keith Millhouse. By connecting to the Port’s Grid-Based Shore Power System, refrigerated cargo vessels calling the Port can shut down their auxiliary marine engines and operate on shore power in lieu of diesel fuel dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

15 Apr 2016

WCI Applauds Increased FY'17 Funding

The Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) praised the bipartisan leadership of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Vice Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and Senate Energy & Water Development (E&WD) Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for the 30-0 vote approving the fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill that increases funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works Program. The Corps’ Civil Works mission funded in the Senate bill is $6 billion, an increase of $11 million above the FY 2016 enacted level, and $1.378 million above the President’s budget request. It restores the 23 percent cut to the Corps’ budget proposed by the Administration for FY ’17.

09 Oct 2015

US Senators Introduce Bill to Limit Offshore Drilling

A group of U.S. Senators on the West Coast have introduced a bill Wednesday aiming to prohibit offshore drilling on the outer continental shelf of California, Oregon and Washington.   First introduced in 2010, the West Coast Ocean Protection Act, would amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently block drilling off the U.S. West Coast, stating that "the Secretary of the Interior shall not issue a lease for the exploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas in any area of the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of the State of California, Oregon or Washington."   The legislation was introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

22 May 2015

WCI Applauds Increased USACE Funding

Today WCI applauded the leadership of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Senate Energy & Water Development (E&WD) Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) for the 26-4 vote approving the FY 2016 appropriations bill that increases funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works Program. The overall size of the Corps’ Civil Works mission portion of the Senate bill is $5.499 billion and adds $768 million to the Administration request. “Important to (the) American commerce and public safety, the committee rejects the President’s budget recommendation to cut Army Corps of Engineer(s)…

17 Dec 2014

Phase 1 Dredging Wraps Up in Redwood City

Photo: Port of Redwood City

Phase 1 of maintenance dredging of the Redwood City Harbor and Channel was completed this week, bringing the Port of Redwood City channel to a depth of 28 feet. The $12.8 million project, completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), will enable ships to operate more efficiently when navigating the Port's channel. Phase 2 of the dredging project to restore the channel to it authorized depth of 30 feet will occur in mid-2015. The last time the channel was dredged to its authorized depth was December 2009. Since then areas of the channel have silted in.

16 Dec 2014

Meet SFFD’s New Fireboat Technology

(Photo: Jensen Maritime Consultants)

Surrounded on three sides by water with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Golden Gate Strait to the north, and San Francisco Bay to the East, the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) currently relies on two old and refurbished fireboats, the Phoenix (built in 1954) and the Guardian (built in 1951) to serve as fire protection assets for the waters around the City. San Francisco requires fireboats for a wide range of protective coastal duties. Since San Francisco lies near a major earthquake fault line…

16 Apr 2013

U.S. Navy Names Research Vessel to Honor Sally Ride

Sally Ride (Photo: Scripps)

U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the nation's newest research vessel will be named R/V Sally Ride, in honor of the former UC San Diego faculty member who was the first American female astronaut and the youngest American to fly in space. The ship is owned by the U.S. Navy, will be operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and will have its home port at the Scripps Nimitz Marine Facility in Point Loma on San Diego Bay. "Sally Ride's career was one of firsts and will inspire generations to come," said Mabus. Dr.

15 Oct 2010

Fleet Week Brings 1.5 Million Visitors to San Francisco

Under clear skies and with calm seas, they came by the hundreds of thousands to San Francisco Fleet Week 2010, the largest such gathering in more than twenty years to take place in the City. The USS Makin Island -- known as the Navy's "Green Ship" for its revolutionary hybrid technology came to San Francisco early to showcase its disaster relief capabilities. In addition, five more 3rd Fleet United States Navy ships, plus two from the Canadian Navy, the US Coast Guard Cutter Active and two historic vessels of WWII and Vietnam era vintage made up the annual Parade of Ships. Over the three day weekend, an estimated 1.5 million visitors thronged to the City with more than 24,000 going onboard the ships berthed for tours.

11 Feb 2008

Senator Calls for "Protectively Located" Fuel Tanks on Ships

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last week called on the Coast Guard to strengthen standards for preparedness and recovery in the wake of the Cosco Busan oil spill. Senator Feinstein urged the Commandant of the Coast Guard to update the prepared contingency plan for the San Francisco area. Senator Feinstein also urged the Coast Guard to require that all ships carrying a large amount of fuel be double-hulled. Senator Feinstein’s letter comes in the wake of a disappointing preliminary report released by the Coast Guard last week, which analyzed the response to the Cosco Busan spill.

28 Jul 2005

Schwarzenegger Announces $5M Port Security Grant

Governor Schwarzenegger joins Admiral Kevin J. Eldridge, USCG, Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District and Matt Bettenhausen, Director, Office of Homeland Security, State of California, onboard a UTB-41 Coast Guard boat to observe coast guard port security drills. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a $5 million grant to improve port security at 11 of California's ports during a visit to the San Diego Coast Guard Joint Operations Center. "In California, we have many threat targets, including large urban areas, mass transit, railways, and international icons like the Golden Gate Bridge," said Gov. Schwarzenegger. California's ports bring in 43 percent of the nation's cargo containers.

11 Jul 2006

Senate Plan Includes CA Port Security Initiatives

According to the SB Sun, California would get $30m for a controversial fence along the Mexican border under a Senate plan that allocates $288m for nationwide construction on the border. The measure, which also sets aside $65m for border security - including 1,000 new Border Patrol agents - is one of several spending bills the Senate is expected to consider this week that would provide billions of dollars to California for such projects as food stamps, wildfire protection and Inland Empire perchlorate treatment. But the $31.7b Department of Homeland Security bill is by far the largest and would provide some of the most direct funding for California's anti-terrorism efforts and its attempts to block illegal immigration.

03 Oct 2002

Federal Mediator Steps In

According to reports, dockworkers agreed to federal mediation Wednesday in the labor dispute with shippers as political pressure mounted in Washington, D.C. In the first breakthrough since shippers locked longshoremen out of West Coast docks Friday, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union agreed to have federal mediator Peter Hurtgen meet with both sides to talk about the thorny subject of technology. The announcement came as California's senior U.S. senator, Dianne Feinstein, called on President Bush to declare a national emergency and invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, a 1947 law that would force both sides back to work for at least 80 days. It would be the first invocation of the act since former President Jimmy Carter unsuccessfully tried to end a costly coal miners strike in 1978.

06 Aug 1999

McCain Bill Promotes Cruise Ship Tourism Between U.S. Ports

Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced the U.S. Cruise Ship Tourism Development Act of 1999. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Frank Murkowski (R-AK) are original co-sponsors. "Allowing cruise ships to travel between U.S. ports will be a huge victory for port cities, the cruise ship industry, and create great traveling options for the public," McCain said. "The status quo is not serving anyone's interest. The bill, which also permits, under specific and limited circumstances, non-U.S. flag cruise vessels to temporarily operate in the U.S., would allow the Secretary of Transportation to issue permits to cruise ships already operating in other markets, to operate in the U.

23 Aug 1999

U.S. Delays Decision On Oil Drilling In California Waters

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.