Page 21: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 1988)

cussed in the foregoing paragraphs, are sure to again require the indus- try's attention in 1988. Moreover, it is already apparent that 1988 pre- sents an agenda crowded with a wide range of issues that have seri- ous and far-reaching implications for the industry. For example, the vapor emissions debate will contin- ue to consume large portions of the industry's time and resources. AWO is poised to give detailed attention to the anticipated proposals of the

Coast Guard to establish testing re- quirements for marine personnel in the Administration's pursuit of its drug and alcohol program. The As- sociation is also committed to secur- ing in 1988 a final and enduring resolution to the subject of tank barge pilotage. Achieving a rational

AWO's legislative activities serve two primary functions: the first, and most significant, revolve around ac- tive participation in the federal leg- islative process to influence the out- come of House and Senate action on specific bills. This objective is many times achieved with the help of industry coalitions. The second ob- jective is maximizing AWO member involvement in the legislative and political process. The Association's legislative objectives are reinforced by member involvement on specific issues. Under the chairmanship of

William P. Morelli, associate gen- eral counsel and director of govern- ment relations, Midland Enter- prises Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, the

AWO Legislative and Legal Com- mittee, in conjunction with the board of directors, guides the Asso- ciation's activities in the legislative area.

Much of AWO's resources in 1987 were devoted to eliminating mari- time services from the scope of the recently concluded U.S.-Canada

Free Trade Agreement. In response to Canada's interest in gaining ac- cess to the entire Jones Act trade (inland, coastwise and Great Lakes), the U.S. Trade Representative al- ternatively proposed "grandfather- ing" the existing Jones Act while allowing Canadian vessel operators access to any new or expanded cabo-

March, 1988 implementation of Annex V,

MARPOL 73/78, and assisting in the development of a regulation to decrease occupational exposure to benzene in the marine industry, also loom large on the 1988 horizon.

AWO welcomes the challenges and the opportunities which these issues present. The Association's analysis and advocacy on these mat- ters substantially improves the like- lihood of their successful resolution.

For each issue so addressed and resolved, one additional step is taken toward the ultimate objective of an environment of regulatory rea- son and stability. The process is ongoing, the issues are varied, the obstacles are many. The single con- stant is the objective. tage laws enacted after the effective date of the trade agreement. AWO, along with all segments of the U.S. maritime industry, organized to- gether to mount an unprecedented battle to save the Jones Act and the future of the U.S. merchant ma- rine.

This battle was waged on a vari- ety of fronts: in the Executive branch, the Congress, and in the media. Legislative efforts initially revolved around building support for concurrent resolutions intro- duced by Representative Walter

B. Jones (D-NC), House Merchant

Marine and Fisheries Committee

Chairman, and Senator John B.

Breaux (D-La), Chairman of the

Senate Merchant Marine Subcom- mittee, expressing opposition to us- ing the Jones Act in negotiations with Canada. These resolutions re- ceived overwhelming bipartisan support, with a majority of repre- sentatives and senators signing on as cosponsors. Despite the Congres- sional outcry, the U.S. Trade Repre- sentative refused to take maritime services off the negotiating table.

Procedurally, the timetable es- tablished for approval of the agree- ment made it critical that maritime services be deleted from the text prior to submission to Congress.

Once sent to Congress, a special "fast-track" process forbids any amendments to the agreement. Ac- cordingly, the second phase of the legislative battle required a revision to the "fast-track" procedures to allow one amendment to be in or- der—the elimination of maritime services. This revision was approved by the Senate Rules Committee.

The House Rules Committee an- nounced its intention to take similar action; pressure on the U.S. Trade

Representative greatly intensified.

Shortly before U.S. and Canadian negotiators put the finishing touches on the text, Congressional oversight hearings were announced, implementing the third phase of legislative efforts. The announce- ment of these hearings followed months of communication between senators and representatives to the

U.S. Trade Representative, the Sec- retaries of the Treasury, Transpor- tation, Defense, and the President and his staff. The decision to elimi- nate maritime services was finally made public on December 7, 1987, a major victory for AWO and the mar- itime industry.

The AWO membership actively participated in this united effort to save the Jones Act. Operators— inland and coastal—urged their rep- resentatives and senators to co- sponsor the Jones and Breaux reso- lutions, and asked members of the

Senate and House Rules Commit- tees to vote for a rules change so

Congress could eliminate maritime services from the FTA if the trade negotiators did not. AWO members traveled to Capitol Hill and con- tacted officials at the highest levels of the Administration to seek assis- tance.

Despite this victory, the prece- dent established by placing mari- time services on the bargaining ta- ble might cause the issue to find its way into the GATT negotiations, and in the discussions leading up to a U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agree- ment. As a part of its agenda for 1988 and beyond, the Association will monitor and strive to influence future U.S. negotiating positions on maritime issues.

AWO continues to identify areas where the Jones Act should be mod- ernized to reflect transportation patterns of today. Most notably,

AWO advocates extension of the

Jones Act to all transportation ac- tivities within the 200-mile >u- sive Economic Zone. Specifically,

AWO has sought clarification that transportation of valueless material, i.e., sewage sludge and dredged ma- terial, falls under the jurisdiction of

U.S. cabotage laws.

This issue gained prominence in

May 1986 when the City of New

York contracted with a foreign ship- yard to build four barges for sewage sludge disposal at an EPA-desig- nated site 106 miles off the coast of

New Jersey. Legislation was intro- duced, H.R. 82, to require that fu- ture construction be performed in

U.S. shipyards and that towing of existing and future barges be per- formed by U.S. companies utilizing

U.S. crews. The bill was unanimous- ly approved by the House of Repre- sentatives in July 1987, and the Sen- ate Commerce, Science and Trans- portation Subcommittee on Mer- chant Marine held a hearing on sim-

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