Maritime Regulatory and Government Relations

Maritime Regulatory

We assist clients in their efforts to comply with regulations and directives of governmental agencies, such as the US Department of Homeland Security, including the US Coast Guard (USCG) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP); the US Department of Transportation; the Surface Transportation Board (STB); National Transportation Safety Board; the US Maritime Administration (and its Office of Cargo Preference); the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the US Department of Labor; the US Department of the Interior, including the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM); the Department of Defense, including the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the US Transportation Command; the Military Sealift Command; the Federal Maritime Commission; and the US Department of State.

Our maritime regulatory practice encompasses the Jones Act and other coastwise trade laws and regulations; the construction and documentation of vessels and marine assets; citizenship determinations for the purposes of documentation, trade eligibility, and restructuring; manning requirements and exemptions applicable to offshore operations on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS); and the USCG’s enforcement of various regulations. We also handle matters before CBP (including investigations, seizures, protests, classification disputes, fines, penalties and forfeitures, advisory rulings, convention and treaty analyses, visas/immigration, tariffs and duties, and the assessment of vessel repair duty), the USACE (including permits and authorizations under the Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act (CWA)), deepwater port licensing, and representations arising out of government-sponsored programs, such as government-impelled cargoes and federal procurement (solicitation and bid protests) and contract disputes and audits. Our practice includes advising clients on issues arising before the US Coast Guard and regulatory compliance in the areas of marine recovery and the operation of autonomous surface vessels for offshore space recovery programs.

Government Relations

For more than three decades, Jones Walker’s Government Relations Practice Group has been actively involved in drafting and implementing laws affecting the maritime industry, such as the Maritime Security Act of 1995 (and its several reauthorizations), the American Fisheries Act, and recurring spending and authorization bills and laws that authorize and appropriate federal funding for maritime initiatives, including the Coast Guard Re-Authorization Act; the Water Resources Development Act; the National Defense Authorization Act; the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill; the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill; and the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.

We address the many legislative and regulatory issues of regional, national, and international scope that affect the operations of maritime clients, both domestically and abroad. We closely follow federal legislative and executive activities and participate in agency rulemakings and other proceedings before regulatory agencies. We also prepare, support, or oppose legislative initiatives on behalf of our maritime clients.

To accomplish these objectives, our government relations team works with policymakers in the White House, on Capitol Hill, and throughout the federal government. For example, Jones Walker’s experience in coalition-building led to the development of an integrated coalition of more than 100 inland ports, waterway operators, shippers, and advocacy groups. The firm now advises this coalition on everything from organizational matters to strategic communications and federal advocacy.

Representative experience includes:

• Assisting clients with regulatory compliance for construction of a shallow-water offshore pipeline, including discussions with such regulatory agencies as the USACE, the USCG, and local port authorities.
• Assisting clients in connection with regulatory requirements for the utilization of foreign steel in US-built vessels for the purposes of Jones Act compliance. The work involves significant interpretation and research of the applicable regulations and ruling letters previously issued by the USCG, as well as dialogue with representatives of the USCG’s National Vessel Documentation Center. One issue involved several vessels that were under construction at a shipyard and had significant impacts on the potential registration and flagging necessary for the operation of those vessels for their intended purpose.
• Advising clients in marine regulatory matters, including compliance with coastwise trade laws of the United States and filings with the USCG and CBP.
• Regularly advising clients on issues related to vessel documentation, citizenship, trade eligibility and qualifications, loss of trade eligibility, inspections, manning, riding gangs, and construction and rebuild laws/regulations applicable to US flag vessels and certain offshore installations.
• Regularly working with clients and industry groups to address manning and crewing issues, including OCS manning.
• Regularly advising clients regarding marine pollution and environmental compliance, the Oil Pollution Act and financial responsibility requirements for operations on the OCS, and dealings with federal regulatory authorities, such as the USCG, BSEE, and BOEM.
• Conducting investigations and assessments of civil penalties by CBP related to the entry of merchandise/duties and enforcement of various laws, including coastwise trade laws and the Vessel Repair Statute. Matters include regular filings with CBP, the declaration and entry of vessel repairs and equipment purchases for US flag vessels working outside the United States, exemptions to the payment of vessel repair duty, and protests.
• Conducting investigations and safety and health audits related to the Occupational Safety and Health Act and Mine Safety Act.
• Performing judicial review of regulatory agency decisions in US district courts under the Administrative Procedure Act and in US Courts of Appeals under the Hobbs Act.

Areas of substantive law include:

• The Shipping Act of 1916, as amended
• The Shipping Act of 1984, as amended
• Coastwise trade laws of the United States, including the Jones Act and its various provisos (the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 and Merchant Marine Act of 1936, the Passenger Vessel Services Act, the Towage Statute, and the Dredging Statute)
• The Oil Pollution Act of 1990
• The Clean Water Act
• The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
• The Contract Disputes Act
• The Competition in Contracting Act
• The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
• The American Fisheries Act
• The Marine Mammal Protection Act
• The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
• The Wreck Act
• The Refuse Act
• The Migratory Bird Treaty Act
• The National Environmental Policy Act
• The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (implementing the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships)
• The Ports and Waterways Safety Act (PWSA)
• The Deepwater Port Act of 1974
• The Cargo Preference Act of 1904
• The Cargo Preference Act of 1954
• The Food Security Act of 1995
• The Maritime Security Act of 1995 (Maritime Security Program)
• Public Resolution 17 (government-impelled cargoes)
• The Maritime Transportation and Security Act of 2002
• The Vessel Repair Statute
• The Biannual Coast Guard Authorization Acts
• The Biannual Water Resource Development Acts