Hawaiioceanlaw.com

Supreme Court Review of Ninth Circuit Parasailing Case Sought

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 of Certiorari seeking U.S. Supreme Court review. 

Two questions are presented for review:  first, "Does Hawaii's five-month seasonal ban on parasailing in navigable (federal) waters off Maui's coast violate the Supremacy Clause because it furthers neither the purposes nor the objectives of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 1379(a), the predominant federal regime enacted by Congress in 1972 for the safety and well being of humpback whales?" and second, "Does the enactment of legislation mooting a judgment which granted all of the relief sought, including a permanent injunction, deprive the prevailing party, here petitioners, of the right to attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. s. 1988?"

Presentation on Federal and State Regulation of Hawaii Waters

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 held at the Bar Association conference room at 1132 Bishop Street, 9th floor.  We start at noon. 

What About Kawaihae? TWIC Implementation Issues

West Hawaii Today reports some implementation issues with the TWIC program on the Big Island.

I posted about the TWIC program earlier here and specifically about the TWIC registration in Hilo, here.

Detailed Analysis of Coast Guard's Authorization Bill for 2008

The Winston Strawn firm in D.C. published a detailed analysis of the Coast Guard authorization bill posted earlier here.

Coast Guard Proposes Fishing Vessel Safety Equipment Changes

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.

More on USA v. Lei Shi

I wrote an earlier post about this case, here. 

Prof. Shaun Martin of California Appellate Report has some interesting analysis about the opinon.

Mow Back the Naupaka - So Say Kahala Beachgoers

On the shoreline front, KITV did an investigative piece about a growing dispute between Kahala oceanfront lot owners who are said to use vegetation to curtail access laterally at the beach.

Securing LNG Facilities - Coast Guard Authorization Bill Triggers DC Fight

Busy week in Washington, D.C. with a big fight between Congress and the Administration over whether the Coast Guard should be responsible for securing Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) facilities or whether that cost is properly paid by the facility owner.  The White House threatened a veto.  The Commandant of Coast Guard issued a statement as did the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),  here.

A side note in the bill is the transfer of the Administrative Law Judges from the Coast Guard to the National Transportation Safety Board.  These ALJ's handled merchant marine licensing suspension and revocation matters. 

The House, not fazed by the White House threat of veto, passed the bill.

Universal Crimes and the Extraterritoriality of U.S. Law - U.S. v. Lei Shi

The Ninth Circuit just affirmed the conviction and sentence for a Chinese sailor who killed a Taiwanese Captain and Chinese First Mate on a Seychelles-flagged, Taiwan-owned fishing vessel sailing on the high seas.  USA v. Lei Shi, No. 06-10389.

Disclosure:  At the time of this incident, I was a Judge Advocate with the Coast Guard and assisted with the prosecution of this case as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Ballast Water Treatment Plans - Draft EAs

I earlier posted the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Hawaii-based vessel, M/V Moku Pahu.  The U.S. Coast Guard released other Ballast Water Treatment Draft Environmental Assessments relating to vessels in the Atlantic Ocean.

For anyone interested in comparing the EA's, they are posted below:

M/V Atlantic Compass

M/V Coral Princess