Digital Extra

Under legislation expected to be filed as early as today in the General Assembly, all oil barges plying state waters would have to have two hulls now or be escorted by an additional tug as a precaution against spills.

The double-hull proposal is the most far-reaching of a package of four bills presented by the special state Senate commission investigating January's North Cape oil spill.

In a report that accompanies the proposed legislation, the commission acknowledges that the double-hull provision edges into an area of federal jurisdiction. But the commission says it does so with legal precedent, because it gives oil companies the alternative of sending an escort tug along instead.

No states have yet been successful in mandating double hulls any earlier than the 2015 deadline. The reason is that interstate commerce is regulated by the federal government.

Wisconsin has come the closest with a bill now in its legislature -- which the Senate commisson's proposal mirrors.

The Senate commission says that the Interstate Commerce Act provides a wide loophole for states wanting to protect their beaches and wildlife. Thus, such states as Washington, California, Alaska and Florida have passed tough oil regulations by presenting the legislation as a means of environmental protection.

A 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision provided the precedent.

The court said, "We find no constitutional or statutory impediment to permitting Florida . . . to establish any requirements or liabilty concerning the impact of oil spills on Florida's interest or concerns."

To do so, the court said, "is to allow federal admiralty jurisdiction to swallow most of the police power of the states over oil spillage -- an insidious form of pollution of vast concern to every coastal city."

Lawmakers in Connecticut and Massachusetts are considering similar legislation.

Last month, at a day-long conference on the North Cape spill, representatives from both states, as well as Rhode Island, spoke of the importance of acting together to prevent the oil industry from boycotting any state that adopted tough new regulations.

Sen. Domenic A. DiSandro III, chairman of the Senate commission, has said that if all three states pass the legislation, it would be much more economically difficult for the industry to ignore them.

DiSandro, who said this week that the legislation would be filed by tomorrow, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But Thomas Allegretti, president of the American Waterways Operators, an oil shipping organization, called double-hull proposal "a legally cute way" of getting around federal law.

If passed, Allegretti said, Rhode Island's law would probably be challenged in court, just as Wisconsin's most likely will.

The North Cape barge went aground off Moonstone Beach on Jan. 19, spilling 828,000 gallons of home heating fuel. The disaster killed hundreds of thousands of lobsters, hundreds of birds and hurt other marine life. Some 250 square miles of fishing grounds was closed for weeks, and the spill's total economic cost is still unclear.

The spill occurred after a fire broke out on the barge's tug, Scandia, and both vessels were set adrift.

The single-hull barge had no crew aboard, nor a workable anchor. The Coast Guard dropped tug crew members aboard the barge in an effort to unleash the anchor, but heavy seas made the job impossible.

The Senate commission also proposes that all barges entering Rhode Island have crews and workable anchors.

During the commission's hearings, members heard testimony that many oil companies operate manned barges now and that unmanned barges, such as the North Cape, were not even required to have anchors.

The commission also asks for passage of two resolutions.

One resolution urges Congress to pass similar legislation introduced at the federal level by Representatives Jack Reed and Patrick Kennedy under the Towing Vessel Safety Act of 1996.

The other resolution asks the Coast Guard to change the designation of Rhode Island Sound from an inland waterway to a coastal waterway.

Such a change would force oil barges to carry lighter loads.