United States: Ninth Circuit Confirms California’s Jurisdiction Over Vessel Fuel Standards Out to 24 Miles - Mondaq ® Ltd

Posted - 14 April 2011 - by Jonathan K. Waldron, Conor T. Warde and Jeanne M. Grasso

New Development

On March 28, 2011 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected an appeal by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association ("PMSA"), a mutual benefit corporation comprised of owners and operators of U.S. and foreign-flag vessels, in which it sought to prevent the state of California from expanding its enforcement of vessel fuel standards to 24 miles, well beyond the state's traditional 3-mile territorial limit. Unless PMSA successfully appeals this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, a vessel en route to a California port will continue to need to switch to low-sulfur fuel once the vessel is within 24 miles of the California coast. As the Court itself stated in its opinion, "We are clearly dealing with an expansive and even possibly unprecedented state regulatory scheme. However, the severe environmental problems confronting California (especially Southern California) are themselves unusual and even unprecedented."

Background

Complete story at:
http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/article.asp?articleid=129492