Maritime Law, Environmental Law

U.S. Coast Guard and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Sign Agreement on Offshore Oversight

by David Dickman, Megan Roberts-Satinsky | Venable LLP on 5/15/2013

On May 9, 2013, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced that they had entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) concerning offshore safety and environmental regulations....more

Bureau Of Safety And Environmental Enforcement Announces New Rule For Safety And Environmental Management Systems

by Paul B. Smyth, Robert (Bob) P. Thibault | Perkins Coie on 4/10/2013

In an effort to reduce the occurrence of accidents, injuries and spills during oil and gas activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) of the U.S. Department of...more

EPA Finalizes Vessel General Permit

by Monica Derbes Gibson, David Dickman, Megan Roberts-Satinsky, Margaret Strand | Venable LLP on 4/3/2013

On March 28, 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Discharges Incidental to the Normal Operation of a Vessel...more

EPA Issues 2013 Vessel General Permit

by Christine Jochim Boote, Barry Hartman, Stefanos Roulakis | K&L Gates LLP on 4/2/2013

On March 28, 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a new Clean Water Act Vessel General Permit (2013 VGP) that regulates discharges from commercial vessels greater than or equal to 79 feet in...more

U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Proposes To Designate Almost 740 Miles Of Critical Habitat For The Loggerhead Sea Turtle

by Katrina Diaz | Nossaman LLP on 4/2/2013

On March 25, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the Northwest Atlantic Ocean Distinct Population Segment of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta...more

Revised MARPOL Annex V: Just Who Should Take Out the Trash?

by Diane Galloway, Richard Gunn, David Handley, Lisa Mason, Sarah Rogers | Reed Smith on 3/11/2013

Following a review by the Correspondence Group established by the Marine Environment Protection Committee in 2006, various amendments to MARPOL Annex V Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships took...more

Proposed Rule Would Regulate U.S. Navy's Impact On Marine Mammals

by Erik Beck | Nossaman LLP on 2/5/2013

On January 31, 2013, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a proposed rule to regulate the impact of United States Navy exercises on marine mammals. The rule would affect areas off the Southern California,...more

TRANSACTIONAL: Corporate/London: Maritime Boundaries: UNCLOS and disputes over the right to explore and develop offshore reserves...

by King & Spalding on 1/17/2013

Despite the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) providing nations with a 200 mile offshore area (an “Exclusive Economic Zone) for exploiting maritime reserves, international waters remain...more

District Court Allows Action For ESA Violations To Proceed Regarding Naval Operations Off The Atlantic Coast

by Paul Weiland | Nossaman LLP on 12/28/2012

On December 26, 2012, in Strahan v. Roughead, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied a motion brought by federal defendants to dismiss as moot plaintiffs’ claims that the Navy is operating...more

European Union May Adopt More Stringent Sulfur Content Limits for Marine Fuels

by K&L Gates LLP on 6/14/2012

On May 23, 2012, the European Union (EU) announced that an agreement in principle (strictly, a "compromise proposal") had been reached by the two arms of the EU legislature (the Council of the EU and the European Parliament)...more

U.S. - Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement

by Giancarlo Schievenini on 5/22/2012

The United States and Mexico have signed an agreement concerning the development of oil and gas reservoirs that cross the international maritime boundary between the two countries in the Gulf of Mexico....more

Sailing by Looking in the Rearview Mirror: EPA's Unreasonable Deferral of Ballast-Water Regulation to a Now Ineffective Coast...

by Fenwick & West LLP on 4/18/2012

Major structural changes in government since national security became a dominant priority threaten to undermine regulatory protections of the nation's environment. One troubling environmental threat is the introduction of...more

O'Malley's Proposed Wind Farms May be Key to Boosting Maritime Workforce

by Duane Morris LLP on 3/1/2012

Originally published in the Baltimore Business Journal - February 24-March 1, 2012. With no offshore wind farms yet built off U.S. Coastlines, Gov. Martin O'Malley has proposed the Maryland Off-shore Wind Energy...more

Oil Pollution in Australia - Charterers Now Strictly Liable

by Nathan Cecil on 2/28/2012

New Commonwealth laws have come into effect which extend strict liability for oil pollution to Charterers and increase penalties fortyfold....more

Costa Concordia – Lessons Learned and Path Forward

by King, Krebs & Jurgens, PLLC on 2/8/2012

When the Costa Concordia ran aground on a reef off Giglio Island near the Tuscan coast of Italy last month, owners and insurers of vessels certainly paid attention. How could they not? The incident was the...more

Riding the Wave: Confronting Jurisdictional and Regulatory Barriers to Ocean Energy Development

by Morrison & Foerster LLP on 10/15/2011

Wave energy conversion (WEC) is a burgeoning form of hydrokinetic power which takes advantage of energy carried by ocean waves to generate electricity. The global energy potential from ocean energy resources is truly...more

Shipping must take lead role over climate change

by John A. C. Cartner on 9/15/2011

Each of us deals with systems that shape our lives beyond our individual control. We measure money activities and express them in business terms. Money comprises a contrived social system which, if it were to disappear,would...more

LACUNA IN MARITIME INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

by Ike Okorie on 8/18/2011

1. An Overview of Maritime Administration and Safety In Nigeria. Growing concern for the future of the Nigerian marine and coastal environment in relation to pollution threats has placed NIMASA in the forefront in the...more

McAfee & Taft RegLINC - May 2011: New guidance on identifying waters protected by the Clean Water Act By Robert J. Joyce

by McAfee & Taft on 5/25/2011

On April 27, EPA issued a draft of its controversial new Guidance on Identifying Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act (“Guidance”). The guidance is the latest effort by EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers (the “Agencies”)...more

Coast Guard and EPA Tackle Enforcement Issues for Vessel General Permit Requirements

by Venable LLP on 2/21/2011

The Vessel General Permit (VGP) program applies to more than 61,000 commercial vessels in the United States and to more than 8,000 foreign vessels operating in the navigable waters of the United States. Upon implementation in...more

Oil Pollution Responder Immunity

by Nathan Cecil on 12/31/2010

-Oil Pollution Responder Immunity Now Part of Australian Law- Please find attached a link to our recent update on the introduction of statutory immunity from civil suit to those responding to prevent or minimise oil...more

Ignoring the Law at Sea is a Dangerous Business

by John A. C. Cartner on 11/2/2010

The unresolved tension between a master and a rig manager, between legal and commercial considerations, is often the key to why accidents happen. The tension is obvious. The master's duties are to protect the safety of the...more

Have We Lost SIght of Equal Protection under the Law?

by John A. C. Cartner on 10/13/2010

The Prestige oil spill case is a shameful example of a shipmaster being criminalised in a way that would not be inflicted on a shoreside person caught up in the same circumstances.act. Hence, criminalisation is a phenomenon...more

La navegabilidad del buque en el régimen jurídico de la seguridad marítima

by Max Navas on 9/27/2010

Presentación de la exposición y defensa del trabajo de Suficiencia Investigadora en Derecho de los transportes y de la navegación, realizada ante el Tribunal de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de...more

The European Union's role in the prevention of vessel-source pollution and its internal influence

by Nengye Liu on 7/29/2010

The EUhas the institutions and the comprehensive legal regime to regulate the prevention of vessel-source pollution within the Member States and these are reviewed here together with the international conventions. The EU has...more

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Maritime Law › Environmental Law