Supreme Court Circumscribes State Authority Over Shipping

The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the lower court decisions in the cases of United States v. Locke and the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO) v. Locke, ___ U.S., ____ (March 6, 2000). Gary Locke is the Governor of the State of Washington. INTERTANKO brought suit against the state after the state promulgated a series of regulations imposing different equipment and operating standards on vessels navigating state waters than those imposed by international conventions or federal regulations. The United States later intervened in support of INTERTANKO. Both the district court and the court of appeals largely upheld the position of the State of Washington.

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded. The Court held that state regulations dealing with general watch procedures, crew English language skills, and training and drills were subject to field preemption under Title II of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act (PWSA). The state regulation requiring the reporting of certain marine casualties regardless of where in the world they occurred was found to be preempted by the U.S. Coast Guard marine casualty reporting requirements. The Court remanded the issues concerning the remaining Washington State regulations for further consideration by the lower courts in light of its rulings on the first four regulations.

Title II of the PWSA, now codified largely at 46 U.S.C. 3703, directs the U.S. Coast Guard to promulgate regulations addressing the design, construction, alteration, repair, maintenance, operation, equipping, personnel qualification, and manning of tank vessels on the navigable waters of the United States. In the 1978 case of Ray v. Atlantic Richfield Company, the Supreme Court held that the PWSA and Coast Guard regulations promulgated thereunder preempted state pilotage regulations, limitations on tanker size, and tanker design and construction rules. The state regulation concerning tug escort was upheld.

Following the oil spill from the M/V Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989, Congress enacted the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), expanding the authority of the U.S. Coast Guard to regulate tankers and other vessels navigating the waters of the United States to reduce the risk of future oil spills. The State of Washington enacted similar, but different, legislation. The U.S. Coast Guard promulgated regulations implementing OPA 90. Regulations were also promulgated by the State of Washington to implement...