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Safe Harbor
 Dedicated to new developments that steer the transportation community.
 

Stepp & Sullivan, P.C.
Attorneys at Law

Houston, Texas

  


BUSH DEFENSE PLAN LEADS NAVY OUT TO ROUGH BUDGETARY SEAS











COAST GUARD, OTHER AGENCIES SIGN ENVIRONMENTAL PACT

 

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Although President Bush is calling for the biggest defense buildup in two decades, the number of Navy warships and aircraft actually will drop over the next several years under his plan. The proposed five-year defense plan would not buy enough ships and aircraft each year to sustain the current force through 2007. To compound the problem, the Navy plans to retire a number of ships and aircraft earlier than expected to cut its operating costs. The cut in force could put further strain on the Navy, which has been forced to deploy several carrier and amphibious task forces early to meet the demands of the war on terror.

The navy needs to build eight to 10 ships a year to sustain its force level, and the shipbuilding plan calls for only five ships in each of the next two years, seven in the following two years and 11 in 2007. That will drop the combat fleet below the current force of 316 ships. However, the Navy insists that the fleet will stay above 300, which is considered the minimum needed to meet global commitments

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, February 5, 2002.—

 The Coast Guard recently joined other federal, state and local agencies in Alaska, along with Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, and signed an agreement ensuring the protection of archaeological and historic resources in the state when responding to oil or hazardous material spills.

The agreement, between the Alaska-based representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Department of Agriculture, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, establishes the guidelines and procedures to obtain pertinent information about archaeological and historic resources that may be at risk in an emergency response to a spill or release.
Led by the DOI’s Pamela Bergman, the 10-year effort institutionalizes a process for reconciling the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act with the emergency response requirements of the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

The new Alaska guidelines and the national agreement are available on the Alaska Regional Response Team's website at www.akrrt.org/plans.shtml.

Source: The Times-Picayune, February 7, 2002.◆