Page 20: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 1993)

Two Years After OPA '90...

HIGH STAKES & UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Thomas A. Allegretti, senior vice president-operations, AWO &

Jennifer Arnold Kelly, manager-regulatory affairs, AWO

August 1992 marked the two year anniversary of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the statutory deadline for for promulgation of several of the most significant regulations man- dated by the Act. Profound changes have swept over the barge and tow- ing industry in the two years since passage of this monumental legisla- tion. Business as usual is, the post-

OPA environment, a thing of the past. Real change has occurred, and that change seems destined to en- dure. Neither the government nor the industry nor the public will coun- tenance a retreat from the height- ened commitment to marine safety and environmental protection which

OPA 90, and the catastrophic spills which prompted it, have demanded.

Despite the unquestioned signifi- cance of the changes which have occurred thus far, however, the most profound effects of OPA may well lie ahead. Moreover, the series of dis- crete regulations which the Coast

Guard had and will put forth will, at some point, give rise to a new, inte- grated marine safety regime. What will that regime look like? How will government and industry summon the creativity and manage the part- nership needed to shape the new and potentially more complex pieces which must be added to that pic- ture? And how will all those pieces, old and new, combine to provide a clear, coherent model which leads to a better, safer marine transporta- tion system? Further complicating the challenge is the need to do all this while keeping the U.S. mer- chant fleet competitive and produc- tive.

The barge and towing industry realized from the outset that the post-OPA environment would be very different from that in which it had previously operated. The de- mands of that new climate on both the industry and the Coast Guard would be unprecedented. AWO's efforts to manage this changing en- vironment have taken a variety of forms: early agreement with the

Coast Guard leadership that close cooperation is essential; the devel- opment of a special tracking system to keep abreast of some 15 OPA- mandated projects which will affect the barge industry; prompted by

AWO members, the establishment of a special subcommittee of the

Towing Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC) — the Subcommittee on

OPA Implementation — to provide early input to the Coast Guard on regulatory projects affecting our industry; and active participation in the Coast Guard-sponsored regu- latory negotiation tank vessel re- sponse plans.

Of the 15 Coast Guard rulemakings AWO identified as pri- orities for the industry, the associa- tion has been involved in each, ei- ther by submitting written com- ments, through direct advocacy with

Coast Guard project officers, by seek- ing assistance from key members of

Congress, or via our work in the

TSAC Subcommittee on OPA imple- mentation.

While those efforts have met with notable success, it is undoubtedly (Continued on page 25)

Jennifer Arnold Kelly Thomas A. Allegretti

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