[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 185 (Friday, December 18, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2015

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                               speech of

                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 10, 2015

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, Section 310(b) of H.R. 4188, the Coast Guard 
Authorization Act of 2015, requires the Coast Guard to prepare a Port 
Access Route Study for Nantucket Sound. The study would include the 
area subject to a lease for the Cape Wind Project. That lease is the 
subject of pending litigation that challenges, among other claims, the 
Coast Guard's terms and conditions under section 414 of the Coast Guard 
and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006 for failing to protect 
navigational safety. It is important that we do not interfere in this 
litigation, and section 310(b) does not make any presuppositions about 
the validity of the Coast Guard's actions under section 414. In 
addition, section 310(b) does not make any presuppositions about the 
validity of the lease for that Project. It is for the court to decide 
whether the Coast Guard properly set the terms and conditions for that 
project in accordance with section 414, and the Department of the 
Interior imposed proper conditions on the lease.
  Section 310(b) is needed because, when the Atlantic Coast PARS began, 
Nantucket Sound had been excluded. The PARS must review how any project 
in Nantucket Sound would impact the navigational safety of current 
marine transportation and vessel activities. The Coast Guard is also 
directed to review existing regulations to improve navigation safety. 
The goal of the report is to identify the impact to the current and 
future navigational activities and how to avoid unsafe operating 
requirements on vessels, and revise existing regulations to improve 
navigational safety in Nantucket Sound.

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