Maine Lobster Industry Gets EPA Help as Susan Collins Clings to Seat
Maine Lobster Industry Gets EPA Help as Susan Collins Clings to Seat
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration’s latest bid to help the Maine lobster industry -- and possibly the re-election chances of Republican Senator Susan Collins -- is giving the sector more time to start using less-polluting diesel engines.
The change is set to come in the form of an Environmental Protection Agency rule granting boat builders as much as seven extra years to keep installing older engines in high-speed commercial vessels. The White House Office of Management and Budget finished an interagency review of the measure on Aug. 13, setting up its release soon.
The additional time is targeted to a small segment of vessels, with pilot boats and lobster fishing boats the primary beneficiaries. Lobster fishing interests and marine manufacturers pushed for the change, warning the EPA there are no certified, compliant engines that will safely fit on small lobster boats without transmitting heat that jeopardizes live catch in onboard holding tanks.
“Live lobster and heat are a lethal combination,” the Maine Lobstermen’s Association has warned the administration.
Maine’s entire congressional delegation, including Collins, cheered on the EPA proposal last year, calling it a “commonsense solution” that “prevents lobstermen from being burdened by requirements that are impossible to meet with the currently available technology.”
The EPA has estimated the industry would save at least $5.4 million by continuing to install less-expensive, older engines.
It’s not the first time the Trump administration has moved to boost Maine’s lobster industry. In a roundtable with commercial fishermen in June, President Donald Trump threatened to slap new tariffs on China and the European Union in retaliation for duties on U.S. lobster. Trump even dubbed Peter Navarro the “lobster king” in tapping his trade adviser to pursue the issue.
Later that month, Trump signed a memo directing his agriculture secretary to consider offering financial aid to lobster fishermen who have lost revenue because of Chinese tariffs. Maine accounts for approximately 80% of the annual American lobster harvest, and Collins and other members of the state’s congressional delegation have been pushing for the step for at least a year. Trump also lifted Obama-era prohibitions on commercial fishing in protected waters off New England that had been challenged by lobstermen.
Collins is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent GOP senator in the November election, and she has pitched her ability to get things done for Maine in a divided Washington as her chief calling card. Collins has trailed Democratic nominee Sara Gideon in recent polls, including a 5-point margin among likely voters in a recent Bangor Daily News poll.
The Collins-Gideon contest could help decide control of the Senate next year. Democrats need a net gain of at least three seats to take over in the chamber if Joe Biden wins the presidency and four seats if he loses.
Collins has refused to say if she will vote for Trump this fall -- she pointedly opposed him in 2016 -- as she needs Trump’s voters to have a chance of winning. Though Collins has touted her role in passing the previous stimulus package, including aid to small businesses, she has been frustrated at the failure to deliver a fresh round of help for small businesses, the Postal Service and state and local governments.
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