DC District Court Lets Plaintiffs in Jones Act Case Amend Complaint
The U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia in a Nov. 14 order granted a motion from plaintiffs in a Jones Act challenge for leave to amend their complaint. The plaintiffs -- the Offshore Marine Service Association, Shipbuilders Council of America and Capt. Paul Radtke -- challenged, among other things, CBP's "issuance of and failure to revoke twenty-five letter rulings," claiming that they departed from the Jones Act's requirements by allowing foreign vessels to ship merchandise between U.S. points if they also engage in ancillary activities not regulated by the act (Captain Paul Radtke, et al. v. CBP, D.C.C. #17-2412).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The Jones Act requires cargo shipped between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-made and U.S.-flagged vessels. The plaintiffs' case also contests CBP's denial of OMSA's request for a ruling that deals with decommissioning activities and a 2012 ruling on the transportation of "nodes" -- tools used to measure seismic data on the Outer Continental Shelf. In 2019, CBP also revoked five of the 25 letters underlying the first claim but left the rest in place and made some other changes.
The plaintiffs later moved to amend their complaint to "expand the complaint's discussion of the Jones Act and CBP's letter rulings, provide additional information on the effects that CBP's actions have had on Plaintiffs, and update the claims to reflect the modifications and revocations of letter rulings that CBP made in its 2019 decision." The District Court granted the motion, and denied the defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings as moot.