b'NEWSWIRENEWSWIRE Federal Mask Requirement Tossed Out,Appeals Court has Case NowE ffectiveimmediately,andatleastforCDC had not conformed to the normal pro- (PVA) urges immediate action to do away with now, the federal mandate that personscess of public notice and comment. the Order with respect to passenger vessels.onpassengervesselsandothertrans-portation conveyances wear face coverings toWithindays,theAdministrationfiledanThe letter continues: The current CDC Or-combat the spread of coronavirus is no more.appeal.TheappealscourtinAtlantacouldder for conveyances allows persons on open-air PVA members no longer are under any federalsustain or overturn the lower court ruling. Itdecks of passenger vessels to go mask-free. Per-obligation to enforce the mask requirement oncould also choose to stay it (that is, tempo- sons actively engaged in eating or drinking in their vessels or in their terminals. rarily reinstate the mask mandate while theinterior spaces of passenger vessels can remove appeals judges ponder the merits of the case).their masks temporarily. Despite these excep-However,despitethedemiseofthefederalHow quickly the appeals court will act is un- tions, the remaining mask mandate for passen-rule, a state government or local jurisdictioncertain. The CDCs most recent extension ofgers is resented and resisted by most individu-may be within its rights to have its own maskthe mask mandate was to have lasted until Mayals who come on board PVA member vessels. requirement. Apparently, a continuing mask3. When crew members remind passengers of the mandate affects certain public transit systemsCDC mask requirement, they are met with re-in New York State and perhaps elsewhere. On March 21, 2022, PVA President Bob Bijurfusal, resistance, and, not infrequently, outright urged the CDC to immediately eliminate itshostility. Widespread non-compliance with the A federal district court judge in Florida invali- current Order for persons to wear masks whilerule is the norm, despite best efforts of vessel dated the federal mask rule on Monday, Aprilin interior spaces of U.S. passenger vessels. Heoperators. Members of the public dont under-18. Her order vacated the requirement nation- started, It is time right now for the Centersstand why they encounter a mask requirement wide. She ruled that the Centers for DiseaseforDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC)on passenger vessels when no such mandate ex-Control and Prevention (CDC) exceeded itsto remove completely its Order requiring theists in other aspects of their daily lives.statutory authority when it issued the mandatewearing of masks by person on U.S. passen-and also that the rule was flawed because theger vessels. The Passenger Vessel AssociationView the PVA presidents letter here.NEWSWIREVekich Sworn in asNew FMC CommissionerM r.MaxVekichofWashingtonStateleadership positions within the ILWU, serv-has been sworn in as a member of theing as president of ILWU Local 52 and on the five-personFederalMaritimeCommissionILWUInternationalExecutiveCommittee. for a term expiring June 30, 2026. He replacesHealsoservedfourtermsintheWashing-former Commissioner Michael Khouri. tonStateHouseofRepresentativesfrom 1983 to 1991.Nominated by President Joseph R. Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Commission- Amongitsregulatoryduties,theFederal er Vekich had a more than 40-year career asMaritimeCommissionoverseesrulesfor alongshoreman,joiningtheInternationalovernightcruiseoperatorstodemonstrate Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) infinancial responsibility to protect passengers 1979. Over the course of his career, he heldin the event of nonperformance of cruises.FOGHORN 44'