Central Louisiana News

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has introduced the American Offshore Worker Fairness Act, a bill aimed at creating a level playing field for U.S.-flagged vessels and foreign-flagged vessels in offshore energy activities in U.S. waters. The bill also seeks to strike a balance between maximizing employment opportunities for Americans in Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activities and ensuring the smooth operation of offshore wind turbines and oil and gas rigs or mobile offshore drilling units. Additionally, the bill aims to improve oversight of foreign-flagged vessels and the mariners who work on them.

"U.S. and Louisiana mariners and maritime companies must be able to compete on a level playing field in the Gulf of Mexico for all offshore energy activities," said U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy. "We cannot continue to lose to foreign vessels who take advantage of loopholes, avoid paying taxes, and hire foreign workers. This bill finds the balance that maximizes opportunities for U.S. companies and workers and avoids project delays."

The American Offshore Worker Fairness Act addresses existing loopholes in current law that allow foreign vessels to operate in U.S. waters with foreign crews, undermining U.S. mariners and companies. These foreign vessels often hire mariners from low-wage nations, resulting in lower labor costs. The bill aims to rectify this by:

• Ensuring that mariners on foreign-flagged vessels engaged in offshore energy activities in U.S. waters are either U.S. mariners (U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents) or citizens of the nation where the vessel is flagged. Certain vessels, such as oil rigs, mobile offshore drilling units, and offshore wind installation vessels, are exempt from this requirement.
• Introducing a new domestic market survey requirement for foreign vessels laying pipelines or cables on the Outer Continental Shelf. This would allow foreign vessels to perform this work only if a U.S. flagged vessel is not available or capable of doing so.
• Requiring foreign mariners serving in U.S. waters to obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), thereby improving oversight of foreign-flagged vessels and the mariners on board.
• Sunsetting all current letters of OCSLA non-applicability, which exempts certain foreign vessels from hiring Americans or lawful permanent residents for offshore activities, and limiting future letters to be valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
• Limiting the number of foreign mariners that may receive a visa sponsored by a vessel's letter of OCSLA non-applicability to 2.5 times the number of persons required by the vessel's safe manning document.
• Creating greater transparency on enforcement for violations of the Jones Act.
• Increasing funding and extending the authorization for Maritime Centers of Excellence.

The House version of the legislation was included in the Coast Guard reauthorization earlier this Congress.

For more information, please read the bill text here.

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