|
High court says states usually can’t set tanker-safety standards Unanimous ruling says unique local waterway conditions can be addressed, but Coast Guard’s national standards govern design, operation, seaworthiness Laurie Asseo Associated Press Writer
States generally cannot set their own safety standards meant to prevent oil spills from tankers, except when they address unique local waterway conditions, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The unanimous ruling March 6 said a federal law enacted after the massive 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska pre-empts several rules enacted by Washington state regarding tanker staffing and operation.
“Uniform national rules regarding general tanker design, operation and seaworthiness have been mandated” by federal law, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court.
“The state of Washington has enacted legislation in an area where the federal interest has been manifest since the beginning of our republic and is now well established,” Kennedy said.
Washington Gov. Gary Locke called the decision “a major setback for states that want to take prudent steps to prevent oil-spill catastrophes. Under this ruling, oil-spill protection for the entire nation will be set at the lowest common denominator, with no recognition that some marine habitats deserve a higher level of protection.”
Court rules for administration The justices ruled for the Clinton administration, which argued that Washington state’s rules for staffing and operation of oceangoing tankers upset the federal government’s authority to adopt uniform national rules.
Federal law allows states to set liability rules for pollution caused by oil spills, Kennedy noted.
States can regulate their own ports and waterways, so long as the rules are based on “the peculiarities of local waters” and do not conflict with federal rules, he said. But it is up to the Coast Guard to regulate the design, construction, maintenance, staffing and operation of tanker vessels, Kennedy said.
The justices ruled that Washington state rules on tanker crew training, English-language proficiency, navigation watch requirements and accident reporting affected operations outside state waters and therefore were superseded by federal rules.
They ordered a lower court to consider whether federal law pre-empts other Washington state rules, including one involving watch requirements during limited-visibility times.
The decision reversed a federal appeals court ruling that said states could adopt their own rules for oil-tanker operations.
Maine also affected Maine last year revised its 30-year-old state regulations that govern tanker safety to include operations and maintenance standards for existing oil terminals and construction standards for new terminals. The Department of Environmental Protection estimates there are 100 or more spills in Maine’s harbors annually.
Maine sided with Washington in the Supreme Court case, maintaining that state rules are part of a “coordinated approach” to state and federal regulation of vessels.
Oil shipments to Portland Harbor have reached 106 million barrels a year, making it one of the larger East Coast oil importers, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
In September 1996, the Julie N rammed the old Portland Bridge and spewed 180,000 gallons of oil into Portland Harbor, blackening Fore River marshes, oiling birds and wildlife and shutting down the port.
Congress enacted the Oil Pollution Act a year after the Exxon Valdez drove onto a charted reef and dumped about 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound.
The federal law said it does not pre-empt states “from imposing any additional liability or requirements” regarding oil discharges within their jurisdictions.
In 1994, Washington state officials adopted standards for training, language, staffing and drug-testing of oil tanker crews.
The rules were challenged in federal court by the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, known as Intertanko.
A judge upheld the rules. After the federal government joined Intertanko’s appeal, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the state rules on staffing and operation of oil tankers. That decision was reversed by the Supreme Court.
| 