U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES STATES CAN?T SET TANKER SAFETY RULES

U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES STATES CANÆT SET TANKER SAFETY RULES    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that states can't enact design, safety and environmental standards for oil tankers that conflict or supplement federal regulations.
   The ruling struck down regulations the state of Washington enacted in 1994 to regulate tanker traffic along its coast and in Puget Sound. The state's legislation was aimed at protecting Washington's waters from a spill similar to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989.
   'Four state regulations were invalidated that covered crew training, English language proficiency requirements, manning requirements relating to number of licensed officers on the bridge, and casualty reporting requirements. The Supreme Court sent several regulations dealing with specific needs relating to navigation in Puget Sound back to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to examine.
   The court, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, based its decision mainly on the Port and Waterways Safety Act of 1972, which required the Coast Guard to issue regulations on tanker design and operation, as well as other regulations for vessel traffic and navigation.
   The appeals court had upheld the Washington regulations, in a lawsuit brought by the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners in 1995. INTERTANKO represents about 80 percent of the world's independently owned tanker fleet.