Alan S. Lowenthal Blue Whales, Blue Skies Act

This bill is a proper exercise of Congress's power to regulate commerce among the several states and with foreign nations, and to provide for the general welfare. The authority to establish a voluntary program to reduce vessel speed along the western coast of the United States falls squarely within the Commerce Clause, as it regulates the use of navigable waters and the channels of interstate and foreign commerce. The program is voluntary, thus avoiding any potential conflicts with the Tenth Amendment by not commanding state action or imposing mandates. Furthermore, the federal government has …

This bill exceeds the limited and enumerated powers delegated to Congress by the Constitution. The regulation of vessel speeds off the western coast for the purpose of reducing air pollution and protecting whales is not among the powers granted to the federal government in Article I, Section 8. Such matters are properly reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment. Furthermore, the bill's reliance on voluntary reductions does not cure the constitutional defect, as it still establishes a federal program that intrudes upon state sovereignty and the liberty of the people. The Commerce Clause …

The proposed legislation seeks to direct a federal officer to establish a program aimed at reducing air pollution and harmful underwater acoustic impacts and the risk of fatal vessel whale strikes through voluntary speed reductions by vessels on the western coast. Under the Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3), Congress may regulate interstate and foreign commerce, which includes navigable waters and vessels engaged therein. However, the Constitution also reserves to the states powers not delegated to the United States (Tenth Amendment). Where such voluntary measures do not impose …

This bill falls within the enumerated power of Congress to regulate commerce among the several states, as established in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), which held that commerce includes navigation and that Congress may regulate all commercial intercourse affecting more than one state. The voluntary speed reduction program for vessels on the western coast of the United States directly concerns navigation and maritime commerce, which are subjects of federal authority. Additionally, the Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18) empowers Congress to enact laws that are appropriate an…