Report of the Maritime Committee
Dennis Rochford, Chair
Susan Monteverde, AAPA
Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund
For many years, this fund has been managed in a
way that creates a surplus, the result of tax revenues exceeding
dredging expenditures. Maritime interests have lobbied for full
expenditure of the fund to meet the continuing needs for maintaining and
deepening commercial harbors. Revenues from the Harbor Maintenance Tax
are $1.4bb but expenditures are only $800mm and the fund has a paper
surplus of $4bb.
The Dredging contractors of America have formed
a coalition that will try to change the law so as to require that HMTF
monies be spent promptly and entirely, and is planning a three-year
campaign aimed at ending the “status quo.”
But if new legislation were to be offered,
outside interest groups would probably try to broaden the eligible uses
of the fund to include activities such as environmental and rail
projects, leaving the ports that need dredging with less money than they
now have. The American Association of Port Authorities recommends
persuading the Office of Management and Budget to increase expenditures
under the current program rather than run the risks of opening Pandora’s
box.
Army Corps Budget
Although the Army Corps will not get a
stand-alone budget appropriation this year, its funds will be provided
in an omnibus bill. The Appropriations committee will write specific
projects and specific levels of funding into the law, leaving the Corps
unable to transfer and divert funds from one project to another in these
instances. Critics continue to object to fund diversion by the Corps
and they further complain that projects don’t move fast enough.
Transportation Worker Identity Cards
All New England ports are required to have
their TWIC programs operational by October 14, 2008. Because it takes
60 to 90 days to issue a card, all of the drivers and visitors must have
their paperwork done by July. Those applying for the cards have
reported many problems. Anyone without a card must be escorted while on
terminal property. All foreign mariners will be escorted since they
will not be eligible to apply for the TWIC. US ports will not recognize
the Canadian worker ID credential. By April, 2009, the program will be
nation-wide, with all US ports required to use TWIC. Card readers are
being field-tested.
Security Grants
The appropriation for security grants will
probably be $400mm. Ports should now apply for grant funding for their
TWIC card readers.
Ballast Water Management
Maritime interests continue to hope that
Congress will to set national standards for ballast water management and
name the USCG as the enforcement agency. The US Coast Guard, which is
responsible for setting and enforcing standards regarding ballast water
discharge, has shown little interest in doing so. Meanwhile, some
states have stepped into this regulatory void with environmental
regulations of their own, thus creating the start of a patchwork of
rules, potentially inconsistent, from state to state.
Traffic Board Report
Sam Azzarello, Chair
Nick Walsh, Vice-chair
Hawaiian Cruise Rule
In November, 2007, Customs and Border Patrol
issued an interpretation of the Jones Act which greatly limited the
ability of foreign-flagged cruise ships to operate from US ports with
itineraries to Hawaii, Alaska, and New England/Canada. This was done to
protect a struggling cruise operation in the Hawaiian Islands that is
US-flagged, but it clearly has serious unintended consequences and has
sparked a storm of protest in New England, California and (ironically)
Hawaii itself. CBP is backpedaling but the prospect of new rules is
still in play and still worries the cruise ports.
FDA consolidation
Recently, the Food and Drug Administration
proposed lab closures and a reorganization of the import review
mechanism into a few large centers. If this were done, ports would lose
their local relationships with the FDA. Bottlenecks could result from
the loss of expertise if the local labs were closed as proposed.
Further, the FDA was considering a new user fee of $50 per line item.
The Port of Baltimore, NASPA and the AAPA
raised objections to this plan and it now appears that the FDA will not
press this idea, for which there qs little congressional support.
Faster Freight Cleaner Air
Alycia Gilde reported that the Faster Freight
Cleaner Air group will hold a conference in New York on July 8 and 9,
2008, sponsored by the EPA, NYCDOT and the Port Authority. The topic is
air emissions and port operations. NAPA is a non-financial sponsor of
the event.
Right whale regulations
Max Strahan, a well-known fisheries litigant,
has sued Massport over the right whale issue under the Endangered
Species Act, arguing, pro se, that the port should be closed
immediately. Massport has prevailed so far, but Mr. Strahan continues
to sue. Meanwhile, advances in audio technology may help ships avoid
the whales.
Long Beach Truckers
The Port of Long Beach, working under
California’s “Clean Trucks” program, has adopted a rule that all drivers
must be company employees -- not owner-operators -- if they are to
service the port.
This measure, arising
out of rules set by the California Air Quality Board, has been
controversial because it is linked to a web of related interests and
factors. The American Trucking Association has filed suit to overturn
the rule.
Short Sea Operations
Rick Armstrong, Chair
MARAD has become a very strong supporter of
“America’s Marine Highway,” as short sea operations are now called.
Several other organizations continue to be interested in this mode,
including: Scoop, the I-95 Coalition, the Journal of Commerce, and the
Coastal Coalition. There needs to be more focus on domestic boxes in
addition to the internationals. As yet, we have no broadly applicable
business plan that can support the use of short sea operations on a
widespread basis. But high fuel prices now make this mode much more
attractive. Concern over global warming and a driver shortage are also
positive factors.
The Bridgeport, CT, service is expected to start
soon. Two new services are in the planning stage in Virginia (James
River.) A Great Lakes Service and a Brownsville, TX, service are
planned. A New Orleans to Mexico route may be viable.
Currently, the abundance of direct liner
services undermines to some extent the prospects of short sea. Barge
services are not entirely reliable, because of weather and sea
conditions, but better vessel designs tailored to short sea operations
are under development.
The recently-passed Energy Independence Act
contains a short sea program and tries to co-ordinate various efforts
into a more focused, national program.
End of Proceedings
Portland, Maine
May, 2008
