Detroit News:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/OPINION01/703270309/1008
Editorial
March 27, 2007
Ballast rules could sink state shipping industry
The Detroit News
It's no surprise that Gov. Jennifer Granholm must travel the world to get new business for Michigan. State government has a bad habit of giving existing business the back of its hand.
The most recent case in point is the Great Lakes shipping industry. The shippers and port owners have filed suit in Federal Court, contending that Michigan's fees, inspections and permit requirements for international vessels are a barrier to international and interstate commerce. They have a point.
Worse, shippers and port operators say Michigan officials have been uncooperative to the point of being "vindictive" in working out a compromise on the state's shipping regulations.
State lawmakers two years ago, in an empty pro-environment gesture, adopted legislation requiring all ocean-going vessels operating in Michigan waters to install equipment to deal with ballast water, obtain permits, pay fees and submit to inspections. The fees are small, but could grow at any time. And so far, Michigan is the only state to impose these rules. They went into effect this year.
John Jamian, president of the Seaway Great Lakes Trade Association, says the technology for dealing with ballast water hasn't yet been certified either by the U.S. Coast Guard or the shipping insurers association. The ship owners are reluctant to install equipment that could cost from $350,000 to close to $1 million per ship just to comply with Michigan regulations when it hasn't been officially approved by federal regulators.
And the fees, inspection and permits are imposed not only on ships that do discharge ballast water in Michigan, but also on all of those that do not. Jamian contended that less than 5 percent of the 100 or so ocean-going vessels that put into Michigan ports each year discharge ballast.
Patrick Sutka, president of the Nicholson Terminal and Dock Company, the primary operator of port facilities in the Detroit area, notes that the rules will just send shippers to Windsor and Toledo, which don't have these regulations. And if they discharge ballast water there, any unwanted species in that ballast could easily migrate to Michigan waters.
So the rules will have no effect on protecting the Great Lakes within Michigan's boundaries, but they will kill business.
The state has offered to waive the equipment rules for a year, but not the permit, fee or other requirements.
The result will be that Michigan could lose up to $1 billion each year in economic activity, the industry contends. In addition, cargo unloaded in Ontario or Ohio will have to be brought to Michigan in trucks. Jamian estimated that one ship's cargo, typically steel, would fill more than 800 trucks, adding to congestion on Michigan roads.
A spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality said it was "disappointed" the shippers and port operators are fighting legislation designed to protect state waters. But as the industry officials note, the regulations do no such thing.
This is an issue that should be handled by Congress and applied to all of the states along the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes.
In the meantime, the Legislature should quickly suspend this law and the administration's regulations. If Granholm is serious about protecting Michigan's economy, the governor will lead such an effort.
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