Puerto Rico port arguments set

Puerto Rico port arguments set    The Federal Maritime Commission has scheduled oral arguments on a consolidated group of cases meant to determine the applicability of U.S. shipping laws on the Puerto Rico Ports Authority.
   The cases have been in the works for years. Separate petitions claiming the PRPA has violated the Shipping Act have been filed by Odyssey Stevedoring of Puerto Rico, Inc., International Shipping Agency, Inc., and the joint petitioners San Antonio Maritime Corp. and Antilles Cement Corp.
   The PRPA has been fighting the claims on the belief that it has 'sovereign immunity' from any FMC adjudication related to PRPA operations.
   The Puerto Rico cases put a slightly different twist on how the Shipping Act applies to states. The FMC notes in its notice for oral arguments in the case that the U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled in cases in California and South Carolina that the Shipping Act does apply to states, and that states are immune only from privately filed complaints.
   The FMC also notes that the Solicitor General's Office has expressed doubts about whether Puerto Rico is entitled to 11th Amendment immunity. The 11th Amendment deals with the relationship between the federal government and states, and how the laws of each apply and overlap.
   The oral arguments will be presented at the FMC's Main Hearing Room in Washington, D.C.