Riverkeeper statement on proposed Hudson River Protection Act

Congressmen Pat Ryan and Marc Molinaro have introduced the Hudson River Protection Act. Riverkeeper Staff Attorney Drew Gamils has the following statement:

“Riverkeeper commends Congressmen Ryan and Molinaro for introducing the Hudson River Protection Act to permanently protect the Hudson River from additional anchoring areas. The Coast Guard attempted to unlawfully sidestep the restrictions Congress set forth in the Elijah E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act with MSIB 2023-001. While we are happy the Coast Guard recently suspended its ill-conceived policy with the release of MSIB 2023-003, more needs to be done to establish long-lasting protections for the Hudson River and limit the creation of new anchoring areas. The Hudson River Protection Act can help achieve this goal. Riverkeeper strongly supports prohibiting large commercial vessels from anchoring on the Hudson River outside federally designated anchorage grounds, except in cases of great emergency.”