US Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy has announced that the Maritime Administration (MARAD) will officially take on the oversight of deepwater port licensing from the US Coast Guard (USCG).
The change is intended to streamline environmental reviews, accelerate license approvals and lower domestic energy costs.
President Trump’s administration is now in the process of approving a number of licenses within the Gulf of America, all of which are set to increase the nation’s energy revenue.
US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, said:The Deepwater Port Program is a key pillar of President Trump’s energy dominance strategy. With this change, we’ll soon accelerate project approvals so the nation can safely utilise more of its abundant natural resources, create more high paying jobs, and lower energy costs for American families.
In order to oversee the licensing process; MARAD will assume both National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and environmental compliance review duties. USCG will instead support as a Cooperating Agency, and will remain responsible for overseeing safety, design, construction, and operations of deepwater port facilities.
The transition is intended to advance President Trump’s Executive Order on ‘Unleashing American Energy’.
First established in 1974; the Deepwater Port Act of (DWPA) put into place a licensing system for the ownership, construction, operation and decommissioning of deepwater port structures located beyond the US territorial sea for the import and export of oil and natural gas. It sets out conditions for deepwater port license applicants to meet, including the minimisation of
adverse impacts on the marine environment and submission of detailed plans for construction, operation, and decommissioning of deepwater ports.
Since 1975, thirty-one Deepwater Port License Applications have been filed for approval, with eighteen applications filed for licenses to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), five filed to export LNG, six filed to export oil and two filed for licenses to import oil.
