Pacific Merchant Shipping Association v. Goldstene

The Ninth Circuit upheld California rules requiring oceangoing vessels traveling within 24 miles of the state’s coastline to switch to low-sulfur fuels, rejecting the shipping industry’s argument that the state lacked legal authority to impose the rules on vessels outside of its three-mile coastal jurisdiction.  Affirming the district court, the circuit court held that the plaintiff failed to establish that the Submerged Lands Act preempts the state rules.  In a previous decision in 2008 (Pacific Merchant Shipping Association v. Goldstene (9th Cir. 2008)), the Ninth Circuit held that the state could not enforce a rule that established emissions standards for auxiliary engines that oceangoing vessels use for producing steam and heating water and heavy fuel oil without a waiver under the Clean Air Act.