The Washington State Office of Maritime Safety was created in 1991. Its stated purpose was to promote the safety of maritime transportation in order to protect Washington's waters from oil spills. The new office, headed up by attorney Barbara Herman has aggressively pursued its perceived task by issuing numerous regulations setting equipment and operational standards for ships entering the waters of Washington State. These regulations used the standard of Best Achievable Protection (BAP's) in formulating their rules. Intertanko sued the State of Washington claiming that the federal government had preempted the state's jurisdiction and asking the court to void many of the regulations. Based on Section 1018 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), the district court granted a summary judgement in favor of the state.
On June 18, 1998, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed the local district court's summary judgement. In a surprising development, the Appellate Court refused to consider arguments by the United States attacking some of the BAP regulations. If you are reading this on MAC's Internet home page, this decision may be viewed by clicking here