Freighter just through locks at Sault Ste Marie. Photo: Odalaigh via Flickr.
Attempts to limit state authority over ballast water rules fell flat last Friday, but the legal tug-of-war continues this week as lawmakers consider the nation’s environmental spending.
Last week’s decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit supported states in regulating water used in balancing shipping vessels more strongly than federal rules.
This week the U.S. House of Representatives votes on a spending bill that includes an amendment penalizing states with stronger protections by withholding Environmental Protection Agency funding of any kind.
That means states like New York, which have strong ballast water rules, would lose Great Lakes restoration funding, according the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Ballast water containing invasive species has had devastating impacts on the Great Lakes and inland waterway systems, said Thom Cmar, an attorney with the council’s Chicago office.
“Here, states have stepped up… to fill a void and create additional measures their scientists say are necessary to protect against invasive species,” he said.
The bill would “unjustly rob the Great Lakes states of essential funding,” he said on his blog.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the amendment earlier this month in an effort to cut down on government spending and encourage economic recovery.
Do not expect much from the Coast Guard as they have been expected to act before with creation of a national standard and policy, but have only delayed any meaningful action in order to follow a plan of international economic shipping interest,the IMO along with their dilution is the solution plan. It will take a President to instruct Congress to create comprehensive ballast water legislation to fix all the national security issues ballast water poses. Legislation is needed authorizing the Coast Guard to carry out a mission with a set goal and quick time line in order to create meaningful protection. A program requiring mandatory installation of technology to kill bacteria and virus needs to begin now. Unfortunately because of our lack of leadership allowing the continued free pass to foreign ships to pollute our waters,supplying cheap manufactured goods supplied to our largest employers, retailers, may create better job numbers with more low paying service jobs in an election year. Sadly the problem of ballast water is interlaced, not only with Americans health and environment, but also with large business that have foreign economic interest promoting global economic growth as the path to create American jobs and unfortunately most American politicians indorse this policy for money to run. Reality is, jobs are created where it is cheapest and to continue to insure that foreign ships bring foreign goods into our country can do it cheaply without expensive technology instalation to protect our health and environment will insure continued jobs as store clerks to sell foreign products in our country as Americans largest employment oppertunity.