Says language would clarify 2021 law
Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, on Nov. 16 introduced a bill that would ban barges from anchoring for extended periods on the Hudson River between Yonkers and Kingston, including locations in the Highlands.
The proposed Hudson River Protection Act, introduced with Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Republican who is a former Dutchess County executive, would amend a 2021 law to remove “any uncertainty related to geographic definitions,” Ryan said in a statement.
The 2021 law states that the Coast Guard “shall suspend the establishment of new anchorage grounds” between Yonkers and Kingston. The Coast Guard said in a July directive that, in retrospect, the law only applies to waters in the Port of New York, which extends to the Mario Cuomo Bridge at Tarrytown, and that barges were free to anchor as long as needed north of that point. Its directive has since been put on hold.
Ryan’s bill would add a line to the law stating that the Coast Guard will prohibit any vessel anchoring between Yonkers and Kingston except at anchorage grounds established before Jan. 1, 2021.
With all that is going on, who is in bed with the Coast Guard on this issue?