[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3722 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3722

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow for expenditures 
from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for certain harbor construction 
                  activities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2007

 Mr. English of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 
  Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow for expenditures 
from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for certain harbor construction 
                  activities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUTOMATIC EXPENDITURES FROM HARBOR MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND.

    (a) In General.--Section 9505 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Automatic Expenditures From Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.--
            ``(1) In general.--Amounts in the Harbor Maintenance Trust 
        Fund shall be available, without regard to appropriation Acts, 
        for making expenditures for the payment of 100 percent of the 
        Federal share of harbor construction activities by the 
        Secretary of the Army related to preserving geological 
        structures which create natural harbors.
            ``(2) Permitted expenditures.--Appropriate expenditures 
        permitted under paragraph (1) shall consist of--
                    ``(A) annual shoreline erosion control projects, 
                including breakwater construction and sand 
                replenishment, and
                    ``(B) an environmental mitigation or remediation 
                component.
            ``(3) Project prioritization.--In weighing whether a 
        project contains an environmental mitigation or remediation 
        component, the Secretary of the Army shall give priority to 
        those projects containing a critical habitat (as defined by the 
        Endangered Species Act of 1973).
            ``(4) Limitations.--
                    ``(A) Limitation based on annual project 
                limitation.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Amounts made available 
                        under paragraph (1) for any fiscal year for a 
                        project shall not exceed the annual project 
                        limitation.
                            ``(ii) Annual project limitation.--
                                    ``(I) Surplus year.--If the 
                                Secretary certifies that the Harbor 
                                Maintenance Trust Fund is projected to 
                                have a surplus for a fiscal year, the 
                                annual project limitation for that 
                                fiscal year is $2,000,000 per project.
                                    ``(II) Nonsurplus year.--If the 
                                Secretary certifies that the Harbor 
                                Maintenance Trust Fund is projected not 
                                to have a surplus for that fiscal year, 
                                the annual project limitation for that 
                                fiscal year is zero.
                            ``(iii) Annual certification.--The 
                        Secretary shall, prior to the start of any 
                        Federal fiscal year, certify to Congress 
                        whether the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is 
                        projected to have a surplus in excess of 
                        $2,000,000 for that fiscal year (determined 
                        without regard to this subsection).
                    ``(B) Limitation based on amounts in fund.--Amounts 
                may not be made available for a project under paragraph 
                (1) if doing so would result in a deficit in the Harbor 
                Maintenance Trust Fund.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for fiscal 
years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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