DHS Grants Jones Act Waiver for Hurricane Relief in Puerto Rico; US Industry Enraged
The Department of Homeland Security in a Sept. 28 move temporarily waived the Jones Act -- a law requiring goods traveling between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-made and -flagged ships -- for vessels headed to Puerto Rico to provide relief from Hurricane Fiona. The waiver runs Sept. 13-24.
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The hurricane brought the worst flooding since Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017. It caused widespread damage on its path, leading to island-wide power outages, some of which still carry on in certain areas, USDA said.
As a result, DHS dropped the Jones Act requirement for ships looking to provide relief. “In response to urgent and immediate needs of the Puerto Rican people in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona, I have approved a temporary and targeted Jones Act waiver to ensure that the people of Puerto Rico have sufficient diesel to run generators needed for electricity and the functioning of critical facilities as they recover from Hurricane Fiona," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. "The decision to approve the waiver was made in consultation with the Departments of Transportation, Energy, and Defense to assess the justification for the waiver request and based on input from the Governor of Puerto Rico and others on the ground supporting recovery efforts."
In response, the American Maritime Partnership -- a trade group representing a majority of the U.S. domestic maritime industry -- expressed its fury over the move via a letter to Mayorkas. The group said that all involved U.S. agencies have found there to be no diesel fuel shortage on the island, and that it is truck distribution, and not maritime transportation, which rules as the chief transportation issue related to hurricane relief.
The group further argued that the waiver is "unlawful." The U.S. must first make a determination of the non-availability of American vessels before a waiver such as this is granted, the letter said. "In this case, DHS simply ignored the U.S. vessel availability element of the Jones Act waiver statute," the group said. "Further, your public statement about the waiver actually implied that no American vessels were available, when our members advise that was not the case." The move sets "the worst possible precedent," and will open the doors for a spate of new waiver requests, the letter argued. No waiver such as the one requested here has ever been granted and no retroactive vessel availability survey has been conducted until now, the group said.