The Biden Administration has set a new path to implementing requirements for compliance with the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA). The Office of Management and Budget is currently reviewing a new Supplemental Notice...more
When Congress enacted H.R.7776, the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23 NDAA), it included several provisions that addressed the requirements for so-called discretionary waivers of...more
In honor of World Oceans Day, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) reintroduced legislation aimed at addressing the ocean impacts of climate change and reforming federal ocean management to better...more
Mitigating the negative effects of climate change has been a signature issue of the Biden Administration, and if Thursday morning’s hearing on the decarbonization of the maritime industry is any indication, it will also be a...more
Lawmakers have scheduled their first oversight hearing on the issue of decarbonization in the maritime industry. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Transportation is slated...more
As the Biden Administration finds its stride in the first 100 days, we are starting to see movement on several of its key priorities. Chief among them: pivoting to a clean energy economy. A campaign that promised investments...more
Last January, policy professionals from our K&L Gates Maritime Group published a long list of their predictions for the year ahead. This year we are coming back with one major prediction: In the next four years, issues...more
On Tuesday, 20 October, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Chair Kathy Castor (D-FL) introduced the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2020,...more
Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR), chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recently introduced the Maritime Transportation System Emergency Relief Act (Maritime Relief Act). The bill could be...more
The Jones Act is the foundational law of the American maritime industry, and compliance with it is essential whether you are a vessel operator in the U.S. domestic trades or a foreign operator serving the U.S. market. The...more
K&L Gates maritime professionals work at the intersection of the U.S. federal government and the maritime business. We asked some of them for their predictions about the year ahead regarding the Trump administration, the...more
In December 2019, the U.S. Congress managed to defy expectations and enact several pieces of significant legislation....more
On Tuesday evening, the House passed S. 140, the vehicle for reauthorization of the U.S. Coast Guard, unanimously by voice vote. The bill’s passage marks a successful compromise in a protracted struggle over the legislation’s...more
The massive public attention focused on the Jones Act in Puerto Rico immediately after Hurricane Maria was eerily analogous to the public spotlight on the law during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (the “Gulf Spill”) in the...more
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) primary method of regulating ballast water and other discharges is the Vessel General Permit (VGP). Under its Clean Water Act authority, the EPA established the VGP to impose...more