Page 110: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1994)

JIM S PUMP REPAIR INC.

Established 1974 avy Funding Approvals • Both Houses of Congress approved the plan provide nearly $3.7 billion to construct a lclear-powered aircraft carrier, agreeing to nd the ship the way the Administration re- xested: $2.46 billion in new budget authority us $1.2 billion previously appropriated as part 'the FY 94 budget. • Both Houses also approved the $2.7 billion :quested for three additional Arleigh Burke ass destroyers equipped with the Aegis system ? computer-controlled radars and anti-aircraft rissiles. • Both Houses approved amounts requested ir shipborne anti-aircraft missiles: $258 million ir 240 short-range RAM missiles. • The conferees approved $398 million — $24 lillion more than requested — for a set of evelopment programs to create better anti- ircraft defenses for non-Aegis ships. • $507 million was approved to continue de- eloping a new class of nuclear-powered subma- ine. • $54 million was approved to modernize two upply ships with new machinery and more pacious quarters to accommodate a largely ci- ilian, smaller, and therefore less expensive rew. • $352 million was approved for components or nuclear reactors and to modify the power ilants on existing nuclear-powered vessels. • The conference report endorsed a Senate >roposal earmarking $5 million to speed the >rocess of modifying Navy vessels to provide ;eparate quarters for women. • $601 million was approved by both Houses o buy two RoRo cargo ships. The conferees also ipproved a Senate initiative adding to the bill 5220 million to buy two additional ships for inversion to floating depots to carry tanks and )ther equipment for the Marines. •itudds Calls For Markup Of Towing

Safety Bill

Merchant Marine & Fisheries Committee

Chairman Gerry E. Studds (D-Mass.) called a meeting of his committee for markup of the bill he authorized earlier this year, HR 4058. Mr.

Studds offered an amended version of the bill, which would require inspection of towboats that propel barges carrying passengers or hazardous substances and impose much stricter crewing and licensing standards on the towing industry.

The Studds amendment was offered to HR 3282, a towing safety bill introduced by Rep.

Billy Tauzin (D-La.), Mr. Studds and the bi- partisan leadership of the Committee.

The Studds amendment is a study on safety in the barge industry, and incorporates the find- ings of both the National Transportation Safety

Board (NTSB) and two recent U.S. Coast Guard reports on crewing, licensing and inspections standards for towboats. "A year ago, Americans were shocked to learn that the towboats pushing enormous barges along their coastlines and through their rivers, barges laden with oil or toxic chemicals ... are not required to have a compass onboard, much less a chart. Ensuring the carriage of these very basic navigational tools is common sense and a good first step towards improved waterway safety," said Mr. Studds, "but it is only a first step... To get to the root cause of 62 percent of the reported accidents in the towing industry — human error — we must require that those operating these vessels demonstrate that they know what they are doing and that the vessels themselves carry a crew of suitable size and training to operate safely. "We should bring the towing industry in line with the rest of the maritime industry and re- quire vessels to be operated by licensed masters and crewed by sufficient seamen so that fatigue from unrelenting 100-plus-hour weeks does not contribute to accidents. And we should make sure that when it really counts, when people or hazardous cargoes are involved, that the towing vessels are in as good a shape as the barges they move."

House Approves Wetlands Conservation

Act

The renewal of a successful program to en- courage public-private efforts for the long-term protection and conservation of wetlands in the

U.S., Canada and Mexico was approved by the

U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 368- 5. The legislation, HR 4308, would extend and increase the effectiveness of the North Ameri- can Wetlands Conservation Act that became law in 1989. To date $110 million in federal dollars have been matched by $212 million to conserve 1.3 million acres of wetlands in the

U.S. and Canada alone. "Wetlands are among the most biologically productive habitats on earth, serving as breed- ing and wintering grounds for a diverse array of fish and wildlife. In the last two centuries, however, more than 50 percent of the wetlands in the lower 48 states have been destroyed. The

North American Wetlands Conservation Act was enacted to help halt this disastrous decline by fostering innovative public-private partner- ships to protect, enhance, restore and manage wetlands ecosystems," said Mr. Studds, one of the bill's sponsors.

The bill, authored by Rep. John Dingell CD-

Mich.) and also sponsored by Reps. Jack Fields (R-Texas) and Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), increases the authorization level for the program from the current level of $15 million annually to $20 million in FY 95 and FY 96 and $30 million in FY 97 and FY 98.

The bill also requires a more detailed report- ing on funded projects which have ranged from only a few acres to over 60,000 acres. In addi- tion, the Secretary of the Interior is directed to cooperate with the Council which makes fund- ing decisions under the law to develop and implement a strategy to ensure that projects address the need to preserve the range and diversity of wetland habitats and their depen- dent life forms.

The House also approved the renewal of the

Sikes Act, the 1960 federal law which governs the management of fisheries, wildlife and other natural resources on military lands. The law is intended to encourage cooperation between the

Departments of Defense and the Interior as well as state natural resource agencies to conserve resources on the nearly 25 million acres of land on 900 military installations worldwide.

Introduced by Rep. Studds and Rep. Don

Young (R-Ark.), HR 3300, the Natural Re- source Management on Military Lands Act, requires DOD to, where warranted, prepare management plans for natural resources (wet- lands, fish, wildlife, land, forests, etc.) that are not at odds with the military missions of the installations.

Finally the House approved $18.9 million for the operation of the Federal Maritime Commis- sion (FMC) in FY 95. The FMC is an indepen- dent body that regulates international and do- mestic shipping to ensure ocean transportation is available on a fair and nondiscriminatory bases.

Coast Guard Regulatory Reform Bill

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