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November 2010 www.marinelink.com 24 COLUMN GOVERNMENT UPDATE U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 About the Author Dennis L. Bryant, Maritime Regulatory Consulting, Gainesville, FL Tel: 352-692-5493 Email: dennis.l.bryant@gmail.com On Friday, October 15, President Obama signed into law the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 3619). This is the first such authorization act for the Coast Guard since 2006. The statute is lengthy (128 pages) and addresses a wide variety of maritime issues. This ar- ticle will attempt to identify those provi- sions expected to have the most impact or of the most interest. I have grouped these provisions into broad categories, al- though there is some natural overlap. USCG authority and organization The Coast Guard is provided specific authority to enforce the U.S. coastwise trade laws and its personnel are to be trained with regard to these laws. This provision is somewhat redundant, in that the agency, since its founding as the Rev- enue Cutter Service in 1790, has had this authority. This specific law enforcement mission has not been emphasized within the Coast Guard for many years, but that is about to change. Since the Coast Guard has more actual presence on the water than does the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), look for en- hanced enforcement of these trade laws. The authority to establish anchorage grounds and to enforce anchorage ground regulations is being extended from three nautical miles to twelve nautical miles offshore. In addition, the maximum penalty for violation of anchorage ground regulations is being increased from $100 to $10,000 (the penalty has not been President Barack Obama, accompa- nied by the first lady, commends as- sembled members of the Coast Guard Cutter Coho, Coast Guard Station Panama City and Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Panama City for their service to the country and for their response efforts to the Deepwa- ter Horizon incident at the station, Aug. 14, 2010. (U.S. Coast Guar d photo by Chief Petty Of ficer John Edwar ds)
