Page 23: of Marine News Magazine (April 2016)

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Unsuccessful in using the Coast

Guard Authorization bill, and now, trying with the energy bill, Monte- sano is con? dent that the VIDA lan- guage will pass at some point during this session of Congress. He adds with enthusiasm, “We’re very optimistic about our chances. We have the sup- port of several key ? gures in Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle, and we’ll be working with them and our cosponsors to push this forward, but we’re feeling very, very good.”

Meanwhile, back on the local lev- el, progress is also being made. And, that’s important because just because the federal government passes a stat- ute doesn’t mean that the states won’t chafe under its yoke. According to

Montesano, New York sent a letter to

EPA that endorses the idea of a nation- al standard. Separately, California, late last year, actually enacted a long-term delay of implementation of its ballast water standard. And, Montesano in- sists, “We believe that the California – what California did last year, in es- sence, made the closing argument for the need for a national standard.”

Beyond the need for a uniform standard, AWO says that the bill will save the taxpayers a lot of money.

Montesano explains, “Precisely.

There’s really no need for duplicative federal regulations. In fact, there’s an attorney who works for the American

Maritime Partnership who, having done a survey of federal regulations, is convinced that this is the only in- stance where you have two federal agencies regulating the same thing.”

Asked who would ultimately be in charge of a uniform standard, Mon- tesano responds without hesitation, “That’s an excellent question and

VIDA does de? ne that. Under VIDA, the Coast Guard would be responsible for – in consultation with EPA – for developing and implementing the standard and enforcing it.” He went 23 www.marinelink.com MN

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