The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community
Issue link: http://sea-technology.epubxp.com/i/653412
www.sea-technology.com March 2016 / st 45 US House Passes Coast Guard Authorization Act The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously ap- proved the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 4188), which authorizes the Coast Guard and Federal Mar- itime Commission through fscal year 2017 and includes provisions to improve Coast Guard mission effectiveness, help modernize the service's aging vessels and other as- sets, and reform U.S. maritime transportation laws. The bill, a product of negotiations between the House and the Senate, includes many provisions from a similar Coast Guard bill that unanimously passed the House in May. Contracts to US Maritime Firms For Handling NDRF Vessels The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded contracts with a total award value of $1.96 billion over eight years to seven U.S. maritime frms to manage, main- tain and operate 48 National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) vessels through January 2024. These Maritime Administra- tion contracts are funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Sealift Fund. The 18 contracts awarded to the seven U.S. maritime frms total $953.5 million for the four-year base contract, which runs through January 2020. The contracts also in- clude two two-year options, bringing the total award value to $1.96 billion. The contracts were awarded to the companies for maintaining the ships in good mechanical condition and ensuring that crews are available to operate them when needed. Forty-six of the vessels are part of the Department of Transportation's Ready Reserve Force, a feet managed by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) that provides rapid mass movement of Department of Defense equipment and supplies to support U.S. Armed Forces and respond to na- tional and humanitarian emergencies. Additionally, two vessels are used to support Missile Defense Agency opera- tions. Each certifed, mission-ready vessel is maintained so that it can be fully activated and deployed quickly. The 46 Ready Reserve Force vessels have been activated hundreds of times since 2002. Comprehensive Review of US Federal Coal Program The U.S. Interior Department will launch a comprehen- sive review to identify and evaluate potential reforms to the federal coal program in order to ensure that it is properly structured to provide a fair return to taxpayers and refect its impacts on the environment, while continuing to help meet our energy needs. The programmatic review will examine concerns about the federal coal program that have been raised by the Gov- ernment Accountability Offce, the Interior Department's Inspector General, members of Congress and the public. The review, in the form of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), will take a careful look at issues such as how, when and where to lease; how to account for the environmental and public health impacts of federal coal production; and how to ensure American taxpayers are earning a fair return for the use of their public resourc- es. Consistent with the practice during two programmatic reviews of the federal coal program that occurred during the 1970s and 1980s, the Interior Department will also in- stitute a pause on issuing new coal leases while the review is underway. The pause does not apply to existing coal production activities. There will be limited, commonsense exceptions to the pause, including for metallurgical coal (typically used in steel production), small lease modifca- tions and emergency leasing, including where there is a demonstrated safety need or insuffcient reserves. Pending leases that have already completed an environ- mental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act and received a fnal Record of Decision or Decision Order by a federal agency under the existing regulations will be allowed to complete the fnal procedural steps to secure a lease or lease modifcation. During and after the pause, companies can continue to mine the large amount of coal reserves already under lease, estimated to be enough to sustain current levels of production from federal land for approximately 20 years. The programmatic review is expected to take approxi- mately three years. 2015 Was the Warmest Year in the Record Books Earth's 2015 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and NOAA. Globally averaged temperatures in 2015 shattered the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.23° F. Only once before, in 1998, has the new record been greater than the old record by this much. The 2015 temperatures continue a long-term warming trend, according to analyses by scientists at NASA's God- dard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York (GIS- TEMP). NOAA scientists concur with the fnding that 2015 was the warmest year on record based on separate, indepen- dent analyses of the data. Because weather station loca- tions and measurements change over time, there is some uncertainty in the individual values in the GISTEMP index. Taking this into account, NASA analysis estimates 2015 was the warmest year with 94 percent certainty. The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.8° F since the late 19th century, a change largely driven by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emis- sions into the atmosphere. Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 15 of the 16 warmest years on record occurring since 2001. Phenomena such as El Niño or La Niña, which warm or cool the tropical Pacifc Ocean, can contribute to short- term variations in global average temperature. A warming El Niño was in effect for most of 2015. Weather dynamics often affect regional temperatures, so not every region on Earth experienced record average tem- peratures last year. For example, NASA and NOAA found that the 2015 annual mean temperature for the contiguous 48 United States was the second warmest on record. ST capital report