The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the rulemaking process for establishing new Hudson River barge anchorages to conduct an additional assessment of the waterway.
While some environmentalists and public officials are celebrating the decision as a victory that they believe is the death knell of the plan, it’s clear from the Coast Guard announcement that the process will continue, even if additional anchorages are not approved at its conclusion.
The controversial proposal from the shipping industry would create 10 commercial shipping anchorages on the Hudson from Yonkers north to Kingston, N.Y.
After receiving more than 10,000 comments from industry leaders, public officials, environmental groups and members of the public, the Coast Guard announced on June 28 that it was halting the anchorage review process to conduct a formal risk identification and evaluation of the river, known as a Ports and Waterways Safety Assessment (PAWSA).
The comments came in response to the service’s 2016 advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) aimed at seeking public input and examining whether there is a need for a proposed rule on new anchorage grounds on the Hudson to promote safe navigation. An ANPRM is an optional, pre-rulemaking tool for seeking information from the public.
This story is from the September 2017 edition of Professional Mariner.
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This story is from the September 2017 edition of Professional Mariner.
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