OMB Hits the Brakes on Right Whale Rule

The government's research shows that most deaths occurred when the whales were hit by vessels traveling faster than 13 knots.

"Ship strikes of right whales are a huge issue to us," said Gregory Silber, coordinator of recovery activities for endangered whales at the fisheries agency, which is part of the Commerce Department. "The agency believes it is one of the main factors holding this population in check."

The rule would cover ships longer than 65 feet, including tankers, barges, cruise ships, ferries and whale-watching and fishing boats. The agency estimated the cost to commercial shipping at $49.4 million, not counting indirect costs such as port delays.

Some ship operators complained in comments that the rule could put them out of business.

"I would hate to think we have spent our lives working hard on the water with long hours day after day, generation after generation, to have a speed limit rule be the end of our business," Leslie M. Davis Sr., owner of a charter-fishing service in Atlantic Beach, N.C., told regulators.

The letter that Sens. Kennedy, Snowe and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) wrote to Bush last week cited their "grave concern" that the administration "is not acting strongly or swiftly enough" to protect the whales. Public interest groups favoring the new restrictions also criticized the delay.

"We have been trying to get this rule out, in any form, for years," said Kyla Bennett, director of the New England office of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

"This has been deliberately pushed into an abyss, and it's not coming out anytime soon," Bennett said. "It's not politically palatable to this administration to put out a rule that will have an economic impact on industry."

Another advocacy group, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, of Yarmouth Port, Mass., carried a similar message to the White House in a meeting in March.

Cindy Skrzycki is a regulatory columnist for Bloomberg News. Her e-mail address iscskrzycki@bloomberg.net.