President Trump signed on December 4 the law S. 140, the “Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018” (the “Act”). This law authorizes appropriations for the USCG and for the Federal Maritime Commission through Fiscal Year 2019, reauthorizes the Department of Commerce’s hydrographic services program administered by NOAA through Fiscal Year 2023, and establishes uniform standards for the management of vessel discharge.
Two provisions, sections 317 and 508, require executive branch officials to recommend legislative measures to the Congress. US will treat those provisions based on Article II, section 3 of the Constitution, which provides the President the discretion to recommend to the Congress only “such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
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Moreover, the reference in section 709(a)(2) of the Act to the “antitrust laws” should not give the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) the authority to interpret the antitrust laws in the first instance, which is a responsibility traditionally within the province of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, Mr Trump.
The law also eliminates the Small Vessel General Permit program for vessels under 79 feet, and it excludes all fishing vessels from VGP requirements. As a result, fishing tenders, factory trawlers and floating fish factories in Alaska will be excluded from the incidental discharge regulations, which apply to merchant ships.
Furthermore, the bill incorporates a cabotage exemption for the America’s Finest. This is an American-built trawler that includes too much foreign-formed steel to meet the Jones Act.
Currently, the US EPA and the US Coast Guard each have ballast water regulations under two different statutes. These do not fully agree regarding compliance, the American Association of Port Authorities mentions.
Commenting on the bill, Mr. Trump said that several provisions of this Act raise constitutional concerns. In fact, one provision, section 319, require the Secretary of the respective department in which the USCG is operating to notify the Congress and then wait 18 months before closing, pausing operations, or significantly reducing personnel at a USCG air facility.
I reiterate the longstanding understanding of the executive branch that these types of provisions encompass only actions for which such advance notification is feasible