Lead Federal Agency News

Choosing the year’s ‘top stories’ is always a difficult task. Many compelling story threads played out, each dramatically impacting the North American waterfront, and in particular, the workboat sector – each in their own unique way.The Infrastructure Battle ContinuesThe EXECUTIVE SUMMARY H.R. 2396, the “Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act”, will ensure that the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is used for its intended purpose – maintaining Federally-authorized harbors. The legislation would allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to dredge all Federal harbors to their constructed widths and depths. Unfortunately, Washington continues in chaos with another continuing resolution on the budget; the next one expires on December 20th.

The U.S. Coast Guard, today released its newest strategy to address its expanding role in the Polar Regions.As the Arctic region continues to open, and strategic competition drives more actors to look to the Arctic for economic and geopolitical advantages, the demand for Coast Guard leadership and presence will continue to grow.As the Nation’s primary maritime presence in the Polar Regions, the Coast Guard advances national interests through a unique blend of polar operational capability, regulatory authority, and international leadership across the full spectrum of maritime governance.

The US Coast Guard has published its Maritime Commerce Strategic Outlook. This forward-facing document should be read by everyone in the Coast Guard and by those associated with the US maritime sector. It is intended to guide the Service’s efforts in securing the strategically critical maritime transportation system (MTS) and the marine environment. To accomplish this, the Coast Guard must be Semper Paratus – Always Ready, as it has been for most of its 228 years. The Coast Guard must also be relevant – ready and able to accomplish the tasks important to the MTS and marine environment.

President Donald J. Trump visited the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), Oct. 3, to discuss relief efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with Navy and Marine Corps leadership.   "This is some ship," said Trump. "It has done a tremendous service for Puerto Rico and for the U.S. Virgin Islands."   Kearsarge and the 26th MEU are assisting with relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.    The Department of Defense is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the lead federal agency, in helping those affected by Hurricane Maria to minimize suffering and is one component of the overall whole-of-government response effort.

The amphibious assault ships USS Wasp (LHD 1), USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) and dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) along with the Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are supporting the lead federal agency in providing humanitarian relief efforts for Hurricane Irma. Wasp, the first Navy platform to arrive in the vicinity of the U.S. Virgin Islands, is providing medium and heavy lift helicopters to transport people and supplies. Wasp's helicopters are conducting medical evacuations for intensive care patients from St. Thomas to St. Croix and conducting site assessments on the initial damage in St. Thomas. Wasp departed for Sasebo, Japan, Aug. 30, to assume duties as the forward-deployed flagship of the amphibious force of the U.S. 7th Fleet.

Though most visible to the general public for its work at America’s airports, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) also helps to secure the country’s transportation network in a number of other ways, including assisting the U.S. Coast Guard in securing the nation’s critical maritime facilities, structures, systems, assets and services. America’s vast marine transportation system encompasses some 25,000 miles of navigable waterways, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway…

The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, chaired by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), will hold a hearing next week to review U.S. policy in the Arctic and how the agencies with the largest presence in the Arctic intend to implement such policy. It is declared U.S. policy, relative to the Arctic region, to meet national security and homeland security needs, protect the environment, ensure sustainable natural resource management and development, strengthen institutions for cooperation among Arctic nations…

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) reported that Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay broke ice Friday afternoon in the Port of Lorain, Ohio, in an attempt to prevent ice jams from forming and causing flooding of the surrounding areas. The cutter responded to a request from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lead federal agency for flood mitigation and response, who determined that the area would benefit from ice-breaking operations. The cutter, Neah Bay, a 140-foot ice-breaking tug homeported in Cleveland, arrived in Lorain Friday morning after transiting from Monroe, Mich., where the crew battled ice in the River Raisin to relieve flooding there.

The U.S. Coast Guard completed Arctic Shield 2013 after a successful summer season of sustained operations and outreach efforts in the Arctic region Friday. Arctic Shield focused on Western Alaska and the Bering Strait and consisted of a three-pronged approach of operations, outreach and an assessment of the Coast Guard's capabilities in the Arctic. This regional operation aligns with the Coast Guard Arctic Strategy and its three key objectives: improving awareness, modernizing governance and broadening partnerships.

With a stifling heat wave affecting most of the country last week, it’s hard to picture U.S. Coast Guard units focusing on our nation’s Arctic interests. But for a dedicated group of Coast Guard men and women, the Arctic is all that is on their mind. As the nation’s lead federal agency for ensuring maritime safety and security in the Arctic, the Coast Guard will perform its statutory missions to ensure the Arctic remains a safe, secure and environmentally protected region. After a successful Arctic Shield 2012 operation on the North Slope and Barrow…

The Coast Guard 17th District announced its Arctic Shield 2013 plans to protect the maritime community in the Arctic and to strengthen their partnerships with federal, state, local, tribal and community members Wednesday. “We are committed to having a sustained presence in the region,” said Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, commander, Coast Guard 17th District. After a successful Arctic Shield 2012 operation on the North Slope and Barrow, this year, the Coast Guard will focus on Western Alaska and the Bering Strait to increase maritime domain awareness.

US Department of Energy grants Pangea LNG Project permission to export LNG from its South Texas LNG Project, Corpus Christi Bay. The U.S. Department of Energy has granted Pangea long-term, multi-contract authorization to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to free trade agreement (FTA) nations. Pangea LNG will be authorized to export up to 8 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG produced from domestic gas fields for a 25-year term commencing on the date of its first export. That amount is equal to 1.09 Bcf/day of natural gas. Pangea LNG has also filed an application with DOE requesting authorization to export LNG to any country with which the U.S. does not have a free trade agreement in effect. That application, which was filed in December, is pending.

Arctic resources and national security perspectives deliberated at the recemt Arctic Imperative Summit. Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, and Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, commander, Coast Guard 17th District, attended the 2012 Arctic Imperative Summit that was held in Anchorage and Girdwood Aug. 24-27, 2012. As the nation’s lead federal agency for ensuring maritime safety, security and stewardship in the Arctic, the Coast Guard is responsible for conducting its statutory missions in the Arctic to ensure it remains a safe, secure and environmentally sustainable region. The admirals discussed Arctic resources and national security perspectives for the region and highlighted the Coast Guard’s Arctic Shield 2012 operation which focuses on outreach…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has issued a request to determine whether there is competitive interest in the construction of a transmission system between the Rhode Island coastline and Block Island, an important step in evaluating a transmission project proposed by Deepwater Wind that would deliver electrical power from its proposed 30 megawatt Block Island Wind Farm in state waters. BOEM received an application from Deepwater Wind requesting a right-of-way grant for an eight nautical mile-long, 200-foot wide corridor in federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf to connect their proposed offshore wind farm, located in Rhode Island state waters approximately 2.5 nautical miles southeast of Block Island, to the Rhode Island mainland.

The U.S. Coast Guard and 50 other federal, state and private organizations will conduct the triennial Spill of National Significance Exercise or SONS 2010 from March 22-25 in the northeast region of the U.S. SONS 2010 is a full-scale exercise designed to test response to a Spill of National Significance. A SONS is a spill that due to its severity, size, location, complexity or impact requires extraordinary coordination of federal, state, local, and responsible party resources to contain and clean up. As the lead federal agency for pollution incidents in coastal zones, the Coast Guard conducts this type of exercise every three years. Since 1994, exercises have taken place in Pennsylvania., Alaska, Texas, California, and the Midwest.

The horrific attacks on 9-11, and the subsequent increase in maritime security required to protect against asymmetric maritime attacks, has dramatically changed the U. S. Coast Guard. They have changed the service's emphasis on port security as well as its ethos in the eyes of the nation it serves. Previously, the Coast Guard received national media attention mostly when it was involved in a dramatic at-sea rescue leaving a public perception of the service as lifesavers. Since 9-11, because of its port security efforts and its overall role in Homeland Security, the Coast Guard has received more national level public, political and media attention than at any other time in its long history and its public image is rapidly shifting from lifesaver to protector. Consider the following examples.

Since 9-11 all facets of the media have combined to focus national policy makers, in and out of government, along with the general public on the asymmetric terrorist threat facing the United States and its global trading partners. Lengthy newspaper articles or Op-ed pieces, documentaries on television such as The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel, along with talk radio banter have spotlighted multiple areas of concern. These have included airplanes, tanker trucks, critical infrastructure and the country's bustling seaports such as New York and Los Angles. The maritime nexus in particular has received a lot of attention as over 90 percent of the nation's commerce travels by water.

During the largest terrorism drill in U.S. history last year, the FBI and U.S. Coast Guard got into a tussle off the shores of Connecticut, fighting over how each agency's tactical assault team would be involved in the boarding of a hijacked ferry, the Hartford Courant reported. The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General released a report on April 3 that detailed the disagreement between agencies during the massive TOPOFF exercise, much of which was run in and around New London. That portion of the report concluded, "In our judgment, unless such differences over roles and authorities are resolved, the response to a maritime incident could be confused and potentially disastrous." It was a year ago that dozens of agencies - federal…

The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure conducted a hearing which discussed the Coast Guard's move to the Department of Homeland Security. JayEtta Z. Hecker, Director, Physical Infrastructure, U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) testified that USCG levels of effort in some mission areas, such as fisheries enforcement and drug interdiction, have dropped sharply since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Delays in the planned modernization of cutters and other equipment, responsibility for new security-related tasks as directed under the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA)…

The Coast Guard is alerting mariners along the Gulf coast from Tampa, Fla., to Galveston, Tx., to be on alert and report any sightings of debris possibly related to the tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia to the Coast Guard. There are no confirmed reports of debris in the Gulf of Mexico as of 5 p.m. An Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) was transmitted to mariners via marine radio channel 16 (VHF-FM). The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been designated as the lead federal agency for the search, find, and secure efforts in response to the loss of space shuttle Columbia. Coast Guard ships, aircraft and personnel along the Gulf coast are standing by ready to assist and support FEMA as necessary. As of 3 p.m.

Investigators from the Coast Guard marine safety office here are continuing to look into what caused a Holland America cruise ship to spill partially treated wastewater into Gastineau Channel here August 17. The Juneau Harbormaster contacted the Coast Guard around 8 p.m. August 17 reporting that a brownish color substance discharged form the Ryndam. Coast Guard MSO Juneau investigators responded to the scene immediately and took samples of the discharge flowing from the Ryndam. Preliminary findings suggest that roughly 40,000 gallons of wastewater from sinks, showers and the sewage system transferring into the number six portside double bottom holding tank exceeded capacity, and subsequently discharged out a vent and into Alaska waters.

Intertanko has filed a remedy brief in the North California District Court case of Northwest Environmental Advocates against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of a Shipping Industry Ballast Water Coalition, which consists of INTERTANKO, the American Waterways Operators, Chamber of Shipping of America, International Council of Cruise Lines, Lake Carriers’ Association, and the World Shipping Council. This brief, whose four main arguments are detailed below, sets out the ‘remedy’ that should be imposed as a result of the Court ruling that the EPA’s long-standing exclusion from Clean Water Act (CWA) requirements of operational discharges from ships is not authorised by the CWA and is therefore invalid. Background. In 1973, shortly after the U.S.