U.S. approves LNG transport waiver for Puerto Rico after hurricane By Reuters

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration late on Sunday accepted a waiver of U.S. transport guidelines to handle Puerto Rico’s pressing want for liquefied (LNG) after Hurricane Fiona.

The Homeland Safety Division (DHS) issued a waiver of the Jones Act, a century-old regulation that requires items moved between U.S. ports to be carried by U.S.-flagged ships “to handle Puerto Rico’s wants as restoration efforts from Hurricane Fiona proceed,” the division stated.

In late September, the DHS accepted a Jones Act waiver to make sure Puerto Rico had “ample diesel to run mills wanted for electrical energy and the functioning of crucial amenities.”

Hurricane Fiona hit on Sept. 18, inflicting an island-wide energy outage for its 3.3 million folks.

Final month, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi requested the White Home for a waiver to extend the provision of gas after the storm.

A gaggle of eight Home lawmakers had requested Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for “a one-year waiver from the Jones Act for Puerto Rico” which faces “an unprecedented uphill battle to rebuild its houses, companies, and communities.”

Mayorkas stated Sunday’s LNG waiver choice was made – just like the one in September – after consultations with the departments of transportation and power “to evaluate the justification for the waiver request and based mostly on enter from the Governor of Puerto Rico and others on the bottom supporting restoration efforts.”

He famous that in 2020, Congress eradicated the U.S. authorities’s authority to concern long-term complete waivers besides if required to “handle a right away hostile impact on army operations.” All different waivers, DHS stated, “have to be reviewed on a case-by-case foundation.”

In 2017, DHS underneath then President Donald Trump waived the Jones Act necessities for one week to permit oil and gasoline operators to make sure sufficient gas reached emergency responders throughout Hurricane Irma and following Hurricane Harvey.