U.S. DEVELOPMENTS – JANUARY 2021
Circular Ref: A(21)23
Issue Date: 05 Feb 2021
Please find attached, as Annex A, the monthly report from Chamber of Shipping America, (CSA) for January 2021.
The report, inter alia:
1. Updates on a number of executive orders introduced by the Biden Administration, including on environmental policy, with the re-entry of the US into the Paris Agreement and increased focus on eliminating fossil fuels under the Green New Deal. Of note are other executive orders which freeze pending regulatory projects (which may impact the developing EPA VIDA regulations) and the ‘Buy American’ executive order which may be interpreted as a potential support or indeed strengthening of the Jones Act;
2. Reports that CSA will develop outreach programmes to incoming US Secretaries of Commerce, Homeland Security, Transportation, US Trade Representative and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency as few, if any, nominations for these key positions have had exposure to the maritime industry;
3. Provides an overview of the CSA position concerning ongoing work of CSA, ICS and the IG to further clarify the newly implemented California Oil Spill Regulation (which increases the minimum and maximum fines due for oil spills and enables additional uncapped fines of $1,000 per gallon of oil spilled in excess of 1,000 gallons). CSA provides an analysis of the pros and cons to ongoing industry efforts to amend the existing statute;
4. Advises of the release of the US National Maritime Cyber Security Plan which had been developed under the previous administration. It remains unclear as to whether provisions in this plan will be altered under the new administration; and
5. Notes that ongoing ‘This Week in Maritime’ roundtable discussions will now be held once a month, as opposed to once a fortnight.