U.S. lawmakers criticize Biden administration Puerto Rico fuel waiver By Reuters

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) -A bipartisan group of Home of Representatives lawmakers criticized the Biden administration resolution on Friday to waive U.S. transport guidelines in September for the supply of gasoline to Puerto Rico.

The Sept. 28 Jones Act waiver allowed for the supply of diesel sourced from the mainland United States by British Petroleum Merchandise North America.

Home Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Peter DeFazio, a Democrat, and high committee Republican Sam Graves expressed “issues and disappointment” over the waiver.

“We don’t perceive how the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS)… made a retroactive willpower that no U.S.-flag vessels may have carried out the transfer for which the waiver was granted,” the letter stated to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that was additionally signed by Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation subcommittee chair Salud Carbajal and rating Republican Bob Gibbs.

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.

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 supply of gasoline after the storm.

The lawmakers agreed with the Maritime Administration that consideration of a waiver whereas a vessel is already underway is “novel and problematic” and stated they “wish to higher perceive the reasoning in your resolution to problem a waiver for a corporation that seemed to be gaming the Jones Act waiver course of.”

BP (NYSE:) and DHS didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. A spokeswoman for Buttigieg stated the division would reply to the lawmakers.

On Sunday, DHS granted a second waiver to deal with Puerto Rico’s pressing want for liquefied .

On Monday, the White Home stated “gasoline firms are reminded that any request to waive the Jones Act … ought to be made utilizing the usual processes and timelines with which these firms are very acquainted.”