Government Regulations News

The Interior Department has now approved more than 19 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.The Biden-Harris administration today announced the approval of the SouthCoast Wind Project – the nation’s 11th commercial-scale offshore wind energy project approved under President Biden’s leadership. With today’s approval, the Department and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have approved over 19 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy from offshore wind energy projects – enough to power more…

When U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump started talking about new import tariffs on the campaign trail, Danny Reynolds checked the tags on wedding dresses in his bridal salon and sped up some shipments to his independent clothing store in Indiana."I was grabbing tags specifically to look at the country of origin and it was China, China, China, China, China, China," said Stephenson's of Elkhart boutique owner Reynolds, who moved deliveries of around 20 bridal gowns ahead…

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden released a long-awaited study on the economic and environmental impacts of liquefied natural gas exports on Tuesday, saying the results underscored the need for a cautious approach to new permits.Biden in January had paused the Department of Energy's approvals of U.S. LNG exports to big consumers in Asia and Europe so that his administration could conduct the review, triggering complaints from the oil and gas industry."The main takeaway is that a business-as-usual approach is neither sustainable nor advisable…

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has released an interim staff memorandum providing an update on the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the United States Coast Guard (USCG) following allegations of pervasive sexual assault and misconduct.The memorandum details how the USCG concealed “Operation Fouled Anchor” from Congress, failed to address both historic and persistent sexual misconduct at the USCG Academy, and neglected to help victims and hold perpetrators…

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to back the anti-automation stance of some 45,000 union dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, whose labor talks are at an impasse over that polarizing issue.The ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group are facing a Jan. 15 deadline to finalize talks, which stalled over automation. That cutoff comes just five days before Trump's inauguration.The ILA says automation kills jobs while employers say it is necessary to keep U.S.

Developing offshore wind projects off Sweden's coasts is not commercially viable currently, a government commission tasked with reviewing and speeding up the system for authorizing new wind parks said on Friday.The commission recommended that Sweden should switch to an auction system for offshore wind farms, widely used in other countries, but the head of the commission said that this would not in itself lead to more wind parks being constructed."The analysis shows that with today's market conditions…

Maersk expects global trade growth rising as much as 7% next year, bolstered by strong demand from the United States where a potential port strike and tariffs on foreign-made goods loom, an executive at the global carrier said on Wednesday."We predict anywhere between 5 and 7% (growth) overall," Charles van der Steene, regional president for North America at Maersk, told Reuters. "And at this stage, there's nothing that would indicate that it could not be the case," he said on the sidelines of the Reuters NEXT conference.Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and "resilient" demand from U.S.

The lush river valleys of El Zaino y La Arenosa in western Panama, home to hundreds of families that eke out a living farming, fishing and raising cattle, could soon be submerged by a massive man-made reservoir designed to ensure the viability of the Panama Canal in the face of a changing climate.Tres Hermanas, with its farms, two schools, churches and a medical clinic, is one of dozens of towns that would disappear in the next six years if the state-owned Panama Canal's ambitious $1.6 billion project goes ahead.

India's Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd  said on Tuesday it would finance its Colombo port terminal project through internal accruals and a capital management plan, withdrawing its request for funding from the U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC).DFC last year said it would provide $553 million in financing for the port terminal project, which is partly owned by the Adani Group. The company, however, said the Colombo West International Terminal project is progressing well and is on track for commissioning by early 2025.DFC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Ports-to-edible oils Adani Group…

With a strike possible again next month at East Coast and Gulf Coast container ports and President-elect Donald Trump planning to increase tariffs, the nation’s major container ports are expected to see a continued surge in imports through next spring, according to the Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.“Either a strike or new tariffs would be a blow to the economy and retailers are doing what they can to avoid the impact of either for as long as they can,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.

Spoiler Alert: we already know what to do. Some of it just isn’t physically possible. Help isn’t going to come from South Korea.Just two days following Donald Trump’s historic election victory, positioning him to become just the second U.S. President to be elected twice, in separate, non-following terms, the headlines curiously turned to shipbuilding. Which is a nice thing, since the average American thinks very little about that industry on a daily basis. Digging deeper, it seems that America’s once dominant shipbuilding industry needs help…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced its approval of the Construction and Operations Plan for the Maryland Offshore Wind project.This is the final approval needed for the project from BOEM following the Department of the Interior’s September 2024 Record of Decision. This significant milestone advances the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.“I am pleased to announce BOEM’s approval of our nation’s tenth commercial-scale offshore wind energy project.

Federal regulators on Wednesday gave Cheniere Energy  permission to introduce natural gas into its Corpus Christi expansion project, a document showed.The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said Cheniere could introduce natural gas to its fuel gas and hot oil systems. The decision follows an October 17 order allowing Cheniere to take liquefied gas from the Stage 3 plant to its refrigerated liquid storage facilities.The decision moves Cheniere Energy one step closer to producing first LNG from its Stage 3 LNG plant.Cheniere is the largest U.S.

Washington comes to grips with the reality that the domestic intermodal equation includes four modes. One of them is by water. It’s about time.One of the great things about spending five years in retirement (I mean, aside from being blissfully idle while you toiled) is that, when you do come back to work, you enjoy a truly fresh perspective in all aspects of your job. Not only does this provide new energy, more importantly, a half decade of change is much easier to discern. Nowhere…

North Korea has likely received more than 1 million barrels of oil from Russia over an eight-month period this year in breach of U.N. sanctions, according to an analysis of satellite imagery published on Friday by the British-based Open Source Centre and the BBC.North Korean oil tankers have made more than 40 visits to Russia's Far Eastern port of Vostochny since March, the report on the research group Open Source Centre's website said."Dozens of high-resolution satellite images, AIS (Automatic Identification System) data and imagery released by maritime patrol missions tasked with monitoring North Korea’s U.N.-sanctions busting activities show North Korean tankers repeatedly loading at an oil terminal at the Russian port of Vostochny…

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he is nominating former Wisconsin Representative and Fox Business News host Sean Duffy to be transportation secretary.If confirmed, Duffy will oversee aviation, automotive, rail, transit and other transportation policies at the department with about a $110 billion budget as well as significant funding that remains under the Biden administration's 2021 $1 trillion infrastructure law and EV charging stations."I’m eager to help you usher in a new golden age of transportation," Duffy wrote on social media.Trump has vowed to reverse the Biden administration's vehicle emissions rules. He…

The European Union has widened its sanctions against Iran over Tehran's support of Russia in its war with Ukraine, the European Commission said on Monday.The Commission said it had added the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its director Mohammad Reza Khiabani, among others, to its sanctions list.The fresh sanctions are against vessels and ports used for transporting Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), missiles and related technologies and components.

Moteurs Baudouin has announced that its 6F21 engine has obtained the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Tier 3 Recreational Certification.Introducing the Baudouin 6F21 EngineThe 6F21 is a state-of-the-art, EPA Tier 3-compliant engine designed for efficiency, power, and environmental responsibility. With its advanced engineering, this engine offers high fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and robust performance, making it ideal for recreational and light commercialvessels.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday extended a license protecting Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum from bondholders to March 2025, a key decision amid a seven-year-long legal case in which the refiner's parent might be auctioned to pay creditors.Citgo's parent, PDV Holding, was found liable by the court for Venezuela's debts from asset expropriations and debt defaults. The case has opened a route for creditors to fight for a piece of Venezuela's crown jewel - Citgo's 807,000…

The Philippines expects U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific and support for its treaty ally amid South China Sea tensions to remain steady under Donald Trump, driven by bipartisan resolve in Washington, its ambassador to the U.S. said on Thursday.Both Democrats and Republicans prioritize countering China’s influence, including in the South China Sea, Jose Manuel Romualdez said, suggesting that military cooperation, economic ties and security commitments with the Philippines will continue."It is in their interest that the Indo-Pacific region remains free…

Project will integrate electric assets, charging infrastructure and solar power equipment. Gateway Terminal in New Haven, CT, an Enstructure company, will receive funding to purchase and install electric equipment through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program. The grant allocation includes $34,000,000 to purchase electric gantry cranes, material handlers and yard trucks, replace current diesel assets, and install solar panels as part of Enstructure’s progress towards zero emissions targets.

The British Columbia ports labor dispute continued on Tuesday, impacting exports at Canada's biggest port in Vancouver with no sign of negotiating progress.International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 foremen began limited strike actions on Monday at 8:00 a.m. Pacific time (16:00 GMT) and their employer, the B.C. Maritime Employers Association, locked out workers at 4:30 p.m.Industries and provincial governments across Canada are alarmed by the dispute, which is occurring at the same time as a partial strike is blocking 40 percent of container traffic of the Port of Montreal…

Final Rule is Effective Today, 5 November.Today, November 5, 2024, the Department of Transportation (DOT) published a final rule in the Federal Register to provide temporary qualification requirements for mock oral fluid monitors, provide for consistent requirements by identifying which individuals may be present during an oral fluid collection, and clarify how collectors are to document that a sufficient volume of oral fluid was collected.  To learn more about this final rule, view the rule at https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/frpubs.