Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation allowing the state to establish guidelines for tanker avoidance zones after the U.S. Coast Guard last year proposed designating 10 new areas in the Hudson River where commercial oil vessels could anchor.

The bill (S.5197B/A.6825A), sponsored by Sen. Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park, and Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, D-Columbia, Dutchess, amends state navigation law to allow New York to establish guidelines that would prevent oil tankers from anchoring in certain areas of the river, as well as set up minimum conditions under which petroleum-bearing vessels are allowed to navigate on the Hudson. Under the new law signed Tuesday by the governor, the state Department of Environmental Conservation will consult with the Coast Guard, the Department of State, the New York State Board of Commissioners of Pilots and at least one licensed Hudson River pilot to establish the new guidelines.

Shipping and energy industry groups have argued the anchorage sites are needed because of increased traffic on the river from the crude oil exports. But environmental groups and other critics said the plan would turn one of the country's scenic treasures into a “parking lot” for barges up to 600 feet long and present risks. Thousands of area residents submitted public comments opposing the plan to the Coast Guard under a federal notice of proposed rule-making.

In June, the Coast Guard temporarily suspended the plan pending a Ports and Waterways Safety Assessment on how waterways in the northern part of the Hudson are being used and managed. Those public meetings are still planned for Poughkeepsie on Nov. 7 and 8 and in Albany on Nov. 15 and 16, a Coast Guard official said Thursday.

— ALM Staff