Legal matters of maritime concern in Hawaii, Oceania, and beyond.
Shoreline construction and land use will be the topic of an upcoming seminar entitled, "Coastal Engineering and Land Use Issues in Hawaii". The date is August 14, 2008. I will specifically present materials and information on construction in the shoreline area.
The seminar reservation information is available here.
Let me know if you can attend…
Heard this report on NPR yesterday and thought it worthy of posting.
Environmental groups announced that the White House is considering use of the Antiquities Act to declare several ocean zones as "monuments," which are tantamount to federal "parks." The White House Council on Environmental Quality did not confirm the report, but did say that…
Congress held hearings yesterday to review the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board's marine casualty investigation program. Concerns were expressed about training, tour lengths and dissemination of information and recommendations.
The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's office provided testimony.
The NTSB provided comment denoting some bureaucratic wrangling in the wake of the…
The Coast Guard issued an interim rule with a request for comments by July 21, 2008.
The rule intends to implement the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers qualification requirements for vessel security officers.
I had earlier posted about the UFO Chuting v. Smith case. The Ninth Circuit held that the State of Hawaii’s partial ban on parasailing off the coast of Maui did not violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and was not preempted by federal law.
The parasail operator filed a Petition for a Writ…
On Monday, May 19, 2008, I will be giving a presentation to the Hawaii State Bar Association’s Admiralty Section. The title is "Federal and State Regulation of Hawaiian Ocean Waters."
Co-presenting is Deputy Attorney General Bill Wynhoff, who represented the State of Hawaii in the UFO Chuting case posted here.
The talk will be…
The Coast Guard has proposed new safety regulations for commercial fishing industry fishing vessels. The Notice includes a good history of the Coast Guard’s attempts to oversee the safety of the commercial fishing fleet.
They are available for download here. Public comment is due by July 29, 2008.
