Customs shifts oversight of Virginia ports, airports to Baltimore

Virginia additional cemented its picture as a mid-Atlantic state with the switch of its maritime ports and airports to the oversight of the U.S. Customs and Border Safety in Baltimore as an alternative of Atlanta.

The shift, made throughout a ceremony on Friday morning in Norfolk, represents the primary time within the homeland safety company’s practically 20-year historical past that it has transferred jurisdiction from one area workplace to a different.

The change impacts oversight of the Port of Virginia in Hampton Roads and the Port of Richmond on the James River in South Richmond, in addition to Richmond Worldwide Airport and different airports in Virginia and Charleston, West Virginia.

“Realistically, once you have a look at the space, Atlanta is a great distance away,” Customs spokesman Steve Sapp stated, noting that Norfolk is 566 miles from Atlanta however solely 233 miles from Baltimore. “For me, it is sensible. Hampton Roads is quite a bit nearer to Baltimore.”

Customs officers say the change is greater than symbolic as a result of it consolidates safety and enforcement operations for the Chesapeake Bay underneath one area workplace, which additionally will be capable to higher coordinate with the Federal Emergency Administration Company on catastrophe response.

“That is additionally excellent news for our commerce and journey business stakeholders as a result of a unified method to [Customs and Border Protection] inspections underneath one area workplace creates larger efficiencies in our communications,” stated Stephen Maloney, director of area operations on the company’s Baltimore area workplace.

“It is a nice time for worldwide commerce and journey progress within the mid-Atlantic area and I’m actually excited for the brilliant future that lays forward for us,” Maloney stated.

It’s not clear what it means for port operations in Hampton Roads and Richmond, or Virginia airports that beforehand had been underneath the jurisdiction of the Atlanta area workplace.

The ports will stay underneath the direct oversight of the federal company’s Space Port of Norfolk-Newport Information, which can report back to the Baltimore regional workplace as an alternative of Atlanta.

“As we transition, we can be steadfast in our efforts to maintain our communities protected and commerce shifting by the ports of the Space Port of Norfolk-Newport Information,” stated Mark Laria, director of the world port.

Port of Virginia spokesman Joe Harris stated he had not been knowledgeable of the switch earlier than it occurred. “The Port of Virginia and Customs have at all times labored effectively collectively,” Harris stated. “I don’t assume that will change, irrespective of the place the workplace is.”