Locke

We must decide whether Washington’s Best Achievable Protection Regulations, which impose requirements on oil tankers to prevent oil spills, are preempted by comparable federal legislation under the Supremacy Clause or otherwise violate the United States Constitution.

I

In the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, the State of Washington enacted laws to protect its waters from pollution by oil tankers. See Wash. Rev.Code §§ 88.46.010, et seq.; Wash. Admin. Code §§ 317-21-010 , et seq. These provisions require that, in order to transport oil in state waters, tanker operators must: (1) file oil-spill prevention plans with the state, and (2) comply with the state’s Best Achievable Protection (“BAP”) Regulations, which are promulgated by the Washington Office of Marine Safety. See Wash. Rev.Code § 88.46.040. The International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (“Intertanko”) maintains that sixteen of these regulations are unconstitutional. The district court summarized the challenged regulations as follows:

International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) v. Lowry, 947 F.Supp. 1484, 1488-89 (W.D.Wa.1996) Failure to comply with the BAP Regulations…