## Facts

- Environmental organizations petitioned for a writ of mandamus to compel the U.S. Coast Guard to issue regulations that the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) required by specific statutory deadlines.
- OPA § 4110 required the Coast Guard, by August 18, 1991, to promulgate regulations setting “minimum compliance standards and use requirements” for tank level and pressure monitoring (TLPM) devices on tankers.
- The Coast Guard issued a 1997 temporary rule adopting interim, industry-based TLPM standards, but the rule expired in 1999 and did not include equipment “use requirements.”
- After the temporary rule expired, the Coast Guard conceded no TLPM regulations were in effect and indicated it did not intend to undertake further TLPM rulemaking.
- OPA § 4116(c) required the Coast Guard, by February 18, 1991, to issue escort-vessel regulations defining waters (including Prince William Sound and other specified areas) where single-hulled tankers must be escorted by at least two towing vessels.
- The Coast Guard relied on earlier escort-related rulemakings and exemptions as satisfying or displacing § 4116(c)’s requirements.
- Petitioners filed directly in the D.C. Circuit under OPA’s judicial review provision, 33 U.S.C. § 2717(a).

## Issues

1. Whether mandamus should issue to compel the Coast Guard to promulgate permanent TLPM regulations—including both minimum compliance standards and use requirements—required by OPA § 4110.
2. Whether mandamus should issue to compel additional escort-vessel regulations under OPA § 4116(c) for specified waters and a two-tug escort requirement for single-hulled tankers.
3. Whether OPA’s judicial review provision and its timing limits barred challenges that, in substance, attacked the adequacy of the Coast Guard’s earlier escort-related regulations.

## Decision

- The petition was granted in part and denied in part.
- As to OPA § 4110, the court granted mandamus and ordered the Coast Guard to promulgate regulations establishing minimum compliance standards and use requirements for TLPM devices.
- As to OPA § 4116(c), the court denied mandamus, concluding that much of the claim was time-barred to the extent it challenged prior regulations and that the remaining showing did not meet mandamus standards.

## Legal Principles

- Mandamus may compel agency action when petitioners show a clear and indisputable right to relief, the agency has a clear duty to act, and no other adequate remedy exists.
- When Congress imposes a time-specific, nondiscretionary duty to issue regulations, prolonged agency inaction can constitute a violation of a clear statutory command warranting mandamus.
- Temporary or partial regulatory action does not satisfy a statutory obligation to promulgate permanent regulations containing all required components, especially where interim rules expire and required elements (such as “use requirements”) are never issued.
- Statutory review provisions with filing deadlines can bar belated attacks on existing regulations; parties generally may not avoid time limits by reframing an untimely challenge to the substance of prior rules as a “failure to act” claim.

## Conclusion

The D.C. Circuit compelled the Coast Guard to complete overdue TLPM rulemaking mandated by OPA § 4110, holding that expired interim standards could not excuse noncompliance, but declined to order further escort-vessel rulemaking under OPA § 4116(c) because the petition largely amounted to an untimely challenge to prior regulations and did not establish a clear, unperformed statutory duty warranting mandamus.


In re Bluewater Network & Ocean Advocates, 234 F.3d 1305 (D.C. Cir. 2000)