OCEANS: Senate panel approves sanctuary expansions, double hull legislation

Josh Voorhees
E&E Daily reporter
05/16/2008

The Senate Commerce Committee yesterday unanimously approved legislation to require new ships to be built with double hulls to prevent oil spills and vastly expand existing marine sanctuaries.     

S.2699 would require cargo ships to double hull their fuel tanks in order to reduce the risk of an oil spill in the event of an accident.   

The bill comes in response to various high-profile spills, including the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and last November's fuel oil spill in San Francisco Bay. That spill occurred when a single-hull container ship, the Cosco Busan, struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.     

The requirement echoes international regulations that will require oceangoing freight vessels on international voyages that have a certain fuel capacity -- approximately 158,500 gallons -- to provide extra protection for fuel tanks by 2010.   

In addition to requiring double hulls, the bill would also strengthen the Coast Guard medical review process for licensing pilots and merchant mariners; direct the Coast Guard to improve its vessel tracking system; and phase out federal liability limits for oil spills from single-hull tanker ships.

Sanctuary expansion    

The committee approved two bills that together more than double the size of existing marine sanctuaries off the coast of Northern California and in the Great Lakes.    

A national marine sanctuary is roughly akin to a national park in federal waters more than 3 miles off state shores. The designation does not prohibit commercial fishing but does bar oil drilling and other development.    

H.R. 1187 would add more than 1,000 square nautical miles to Northern California's extensive network of marine sanctuaries. The proposal would nearly double the size of the Gulf of Farrallones and Cordell Banks sanctuaries, expanding their boundaries westward and northward off the coast of Sonoma County, Calif. 

A popular nesting ground for elephant seals and sea lines, the protected area hosts more than one-third of the world's whale and dolphin species including the largest concentration of endangered blue whales.    

The second sanctuary bill, S. 2281, would give an eightfold expansion to Lake Huron's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary, known as "shipwreck alley," currently contains 116 wrecks preserved in the lake's cold, fresh waters. The expansion pushes the boundary eastward to the international boundary to protect another 178 shipwrecks.

Commerce Dept. nominees 

Two nominees for posts at the Commerce Department received unanimous support from committee members.    

William Brennan, who currently serves as deputy assistant secretary for international affairs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was tapped earlier this year by President Bush to serve as assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy administration of NOAA.

The White House withdrew its previous nominee to fill the post, attorney Jane Luxton, after she faced bipartisan opposition in the committee.     

Brennan has already taken over part of the duties of the deputy secretary post. He has served as acting director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program since June 2006.  

If confirmed by the full Senate, Brennan would replace James Mahoney, who resigned in April 2006 citing health reasons.  

The committee also gave its full support to Lily Fu Claffee for the position of Commerce Department general counsel. That position was previously held by Luxton.  

Claffe currently serves as deputy general counsel for the Treasury Department. Prior to that, she was deputy associate attorney general at the Justice Department. 

Allison Winter contributed to this report.