AAPA and representatives from East Coast ports recently met with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) about pending rulemaking.
'As currently proposed, [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's] vessel speed restriction rule places the safety of mariners and the surrounding ecosystem beneath the North Atlantic right whale,' stated Cary S. Davis, AAPA CEO and president. 'Though America's ports and maritime industry support responsible and reasonable efforts to preserve the species, we call on the Biden administration to heed the consistent warnings of Congress and industry to craft a wiser and more balanced policy outcome.'
Final stages of rulemaking
The meeting with OIRA, a White House Office of Management and Budget division, comes in the last stages of the rulemaking process before the NOAA rule is likely to be finalized.
The coalition of interests urging caution and prudence on the vessel speed restriction rule includes four Democratic House of Representatives members. Mary Peltola (D-AK), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Brendan Boyle (D-PA) wrote in December to the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service urging the agency to suspend the proposed changes to expand the current North Atlantic right whale vessel speed rule.
Opposition signaled in DHS appropriations bill
Recently, the House Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill included language prohibiting funds from being used to implement or enforce the vessel speed restriction rules. While this bill sends a strong signal of opposition to the administration, it will be challenging to retain the text in the final DHS appropriations bill, AAPA said.
The House Natural Resources Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee will hold a hearing Thursday and consider bipartisan legislation that would prevent the implementation of the vessel speed restriction rule.
Since the rule was proposed, AAPA has expressed opposition by submitting official comments to NOAA, joined industry alliances to push back, wored with members of Congress in both parties to support legislation withdrawing or delaying the rule until real-time speed monitoring systems are implemented and raised safety and economic concerns directly with NOAA leadership 'on many occasions.'
Approaching extinction
NOAA has warned that North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction with approximately 360 individuals remaining, including fewer than 70 reproductively active females.
Entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes are primary causes of mortality.
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