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United States News Title: Day 60 In The Gulf: For God’s Sake Mr President – Waive The Jones Act And Ask For Help Now! National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today announced the development of specific guidance to ensure accelerated processing of requests for Jones Act waivers should they be received as a part of the BP oil spill response. [After 60 days - "accelerated processing" is not what is required. Swallow your pride, admit the mistake, wave the Jones Act and move on with the job at hand - cleanup the spill] Currently, 15 foreign-flagged vessels are involved in the largest response to an oil spill in U.S. history. No Jones Act waivers have been granted because none of these vessels have required such a waiver to conduct their operations in the Gulf of Mexico. [Only two of the ships are "skimmers". 8 of the ships are support ships and 5 of the ships are laying booms. Skimmer vessels work in teams. The "skimmer" ship vacuums the oil while the support ships act as the "vacuum bag" and are filled with the oil as it is vacuumed. All 15 of these vessels are "restricted" and working outside of our 12 mile limit] However, in order to prepare for any potential need, Admiral Allen has provided guidance to the Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Maritime Administration to ensure any Jones Act waiver requests receive urgent attention and processing. [Urgent processing? Inspect the vessels for safety and security compliance and grant waivers immediately! This is ridiculous!] “While we have not seen any need to waive the Jones Act as part of this historic response, we continue to prepare for all possible scenarios,” said Admiral Allen. “Should any waivers be needed, we are prepared to process them as quickly as possible to allow vital spill response activities being undertaken by foreign-flagged vessels to continue without delay.” ["While we have not seen any need to waive the Jones Act as part of this historic response". The incompetence is obvious, the incompetence has been noted, we, the people have asked that you correct the incompetence and this is what we get, a stubborn refusal to waive the Jones Act. How can they not recognize that additional skimmers, support vessels and "boom boats" are needed immediately! That additional "dredgers" are needed to berm the coast before any more oil reaches our shores!] To date, the administration [not BP, but the Administration] has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization and the European Union’s Monitoring and Information Centre. In some cases, offers of international assistance have been turned down because the offer didn’t fit the needs of the response. Generally, federal law prohibits a foreign-flagged vessel from transporting merchandise between points in the United States encompassed by the Coastwise laws. CBP makes determinations as to whether or not the Jones Act applies to the activities of a foreign-flagged vessel operating within U.S. waters. [Stop the BS, admit it was wrong to not waive the Jones Act and accept the offers of foreign assistance and move on to the job at hand - clean up the spill] Even if the Jones Act applies, a foreign flagged vessel can still conduct certain planned operations as part of the BP oil spill response if the vessel is an oil spill response vessel and meets the requirements of 46 USC § 55113. [Political CYA while the oil continues to flow, the oil continues to pool, our shore line comes under assault and our Gulf Coast is decimated - and we get this .....Remember this in November, remember who put politics before cleaning up this spill - Remember who sacrificed the Gulf to try and deflect responsibility for their inaction, to protect their political position rather than protect the gulf] The guidance provided by Admiral Allen would route waivers related to the BP oil spill response through the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, who will forward requests immediately through the National Incident Commander for expedited clearance. [Just the solution! Rather than waiving the Jones Act, set up some additional procedures, maybe a committee or two. Isn't there some way we can get AG Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano involved too? If we work at it, I'm sure there is a way to get another dozen or so Attorneys involved rather than adding a single ship or crew to the cleanup effort. ] A Jones Act waiver can be submitted by any interested party, either inside or outside the U.S. government. The Jones Act, passed in 1920, and similar laws governing coastal shipping were created to encourage development of American merchant marine for national defense and commercial purposes. [A politically motivated piece of legislation passed as a "payback" to Unions. This is a National crisis of enormous scale - waive the damn "Act' today.] The Unified Command continues to look at all available options for assistance as we continue to fight BP’s oil from impacting our shores and our communities. Assistance provided to date includes containment and sorbent boom, skimmers and containment vessels, and engineers and scientists with vital experience in oil spill cleanup operations. [The Country is well aware of just how inadequate the response has been to date. The President, the Congress and all of the Federal Government is aware of the fact that the States and the American People are calling for the Jones Act to be waived (with the exception of security and safety inspections) immediately]
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#1. To: no gnu taxes (#0)
That he won't because the Union might get pissed off is disgusting.
Just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass, and last year the Obama administration granted BP a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) exemption for its drilling operation.
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