Braden Boucek, vice president of Litigation for Southeastern Legal Foundation, is bringing awareness to a proposed rule by the Biden administration that can “make boating impossible” in the Atlantic seaboard.
In an attempt to protect the endangered Right Whale, the Biden administration’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed a new rule that would bar boaters from traveling over 10 knots, which is approximately the speed of a golf cart, through North Atlantic Right Whale seasonal management areas.
The new rule would apply to all vessels 35 feet in length.
On Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Boucek said the rule would do little to protect the endangered whales and instead be a burdensome regulation for commercial fishermen, who Boucek noted are “the ultimate conservationists” and have no intent to strike whales.
“Supposedly, whales, which are, of course, way bigger than the size of these boats that are regulated, are being struck by boaters traveling more than 10 knots. Now, of course, no boater on earth wants to hit a whale, not just because they’re the ultimate conservationist but because it presents a mortal threat to not just the whale but also the craft and crew. No one is hitting these whales intentionally. So it’s dubious to me that threatening to punish boaters with jail time and crippling fines is a way of getting them to avoid whales,” Boucek explained.
Boucek said the rule can be published “any day” as it has cleared every hurdle to be implemented.
“It could become a rule any day and it would not be uncommon for an outgoing administration to just crank it out and leave a mess behind for the incoming administration,” Boucek said.
Regarding the timing of the regulation possibly going into effect just before the Trump administration takes office, Boucek said it is a “tactical” strategy for the Democrats, noting how if the Trump administration attempts to repeal the regulation, legal challenges can be filed.
“It’s a flood the zone strategy. It gums up the works for the incoming administration and it gives their side something to sue over if these rules are repealed,” Boucek said.
Boucek said the new rule has come about from a decades-long push from environmental groups to lower the speed limit for vessels in the Atlantic.
“One of the unique aspects of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act is that it essentially allows any interested person to initiate rulemaking and to sue an agency for failing to implement it. So there are very well funded conservation groups out there that exist to do nothing more than badger these agencies to enact rules and then sue them when they don’t, and a lot of times it’s like pushing on an open door depending on who’s in charge,” Boucek explained.
“So case in point, there are environmental groups that have been lobbying for a speed restriction rule on the Atlantic coast for decades, at least going back to the 90s,” Boucek added.
Boucek said NOAA’s new rule is a perfect example of government overreach, as while Congress did not pass the rule, violation of the regulations come with criminal punishment and civil fines.
“That’s the critical difference between a regulation and a law. It’s not less mandatory. It just means you can’t vote on it or hold the person who voted for it accountable,” Boucek said.
If the rule is published and becomes law, Boucek said the Southeastern Legal Foundation and its partners at the Texas Public Policy Foundation are “ready to sue.”
“We will ensure that we will take all actions necessary,” Boucek said.
Watch the full interview:
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Lobster Boat” by James St. John. CC BY 2.0.
