Spending Bill Prioritizes Corps Water Infrastructure Projects
The fiscal 2017 Energy and Water spending bill reported out to the House floor on April 19 would add $391.3 million above President Barack Obama’s Army Corps of Engineers operations and maintenance funding request (here) for deep-draft harbor and channel navigation; donor and energy ports; inland waterways; navigation maintenance; and small, remote, and subsistence navigation, the bill’s report says (here). That money would help fund ongoing projects, and it appears that most of it would come from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) and the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, the report indicates. The House Appropriations Committee cleared the bill this week for an upcoming House floor vote. The Senate sent its version of fiscal 2017 energy and water spending legislation to the floor on April 14.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
“Investigations and construction of port projects, including the deepening of existing projects, are cost-shared between the federal government and non-federal sponsors, often local or regional port authorities,” the report says. “The operation and maintenance of these projects are federal responsibilities and are funded as reimbursements from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), which is supported by an ad valorem tax on the value of imported and domestic cargo.” Deeper port drafts are essential for the U.S. to remain competitive in international commerce, the report says.
In total, the bill would make available approximately $1.3 billion for HMTF-related construction, the same amount as enacted in fiscal 2016, but $312 million more than what the White House programmed for fiscal 2017. Construction would support the Corps in addressing a backlog of port dredging needs, the report says. The bill would also provide $9.5 million over the Obama administration’s request for dredging the Mississippi River and its tributaries. House appropriators received a March 15-dated letter from 122 of their chamber colleagues urging them to maintain the 2016 funding level of $1.3 billion in their fiscal 2017 spending bill (see 1603140030).
For harbor maintenance activity funding decisions, the legislation directs the Corps to consider the following factors:
- Tonnage handled;
- Total exports and imports;
- Dollar value of handled cargo
- Energy infrastructure and national security needs served;
- Designations as “strategic seaports”;
- Lack of alternative means of freight movement; and
- Savings over alternative methods of freight movement.
Furthermore, the bill instructs the Corps to transparently complete environmental reviews for export terminal projects “as expeditiously as possible,” and to consult with the Interior Secretary and all affected American Indian nations about treaty rights, as well as environmental and economic impacts of all tribes affected by export terminal projects undergoing review.
“This is a responsible bill that supports U.S. national security, safety, and economic competitiveness – balancing these critical priorities while maintaining tight budget caps,” House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said in a statement (here). “It…makes strategic investments in infrastructure projects and energy research that will help grow our economy.”