Federal appeals court upholds Michigan ballast water law, allows states to take action to stop the spread of invasive species in the Great Lakes

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit just issued a decision in Fednav, Ltd. v. Chester, upholding Michigan’s ballast water statute and rejecting the shippers’ federal preemption and Constitutional challenges. Fednav, Ltd. v. Chester, 547 F.3d 607 (6th Cir. 2008). (A teaching excerpt of the Fednav v. Chester opinion is also available here.) The Michigan law, which took effect in January 2007, requires ships to obtain a state permit and, if the ships... Read more →