[Senate Hearing 111-1237]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 111-1237
WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2010: JOBS AND ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITIES
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MAY 6, 2010
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys
______
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Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
BARBARA BOXER, California, Chairman
MAX BAUCUS, Montana JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey DAVID VITTER, Louisiana
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee
TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York
ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania
Bettina Poirier, Staff Director
Ruth Van Mark, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
MAY 6, 2010
OPENING STATEMENTS
Boxer, Hon. Barbara, U.S. Senator from the State of California... 1
Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma,
prepared statement............................................. 73
Cardin, Hon. Benjamin L., U.S. Senator from the State of
Maryland, prepared statement................................... 77
WITNESSES
Kavinoky, Janet F., Director of Transportation Infrastructure,
Congressional and Public Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce;
Executive Director, Americans for Transportation Mobility
Coalition...................................................... 2
Prepared statement........................................... 5
Uno, Victor, President of the Board of Commissioners, Port of
Oakland, California............................................ 27
Prepared statement........................................... 29
Woodruff, Matt, Director, Government Affairs, Kirby Corporation.. 40
Prepared statement........................................... 42
Responses to additional questions from Senator Vitter........ 52
White, Mitch, General Counsel, Southern California Office, Manson
Construction Co.; immediate past Chair, Association of General
Contractors of America, Federal and Heavy Construction Division 60
Prepared statement........................................... 63
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Statement of the American Society of Civil Engineers............. 79
Testimony submitted by the National Association of Flood and
Stormwater Management Agencies................................. 8
WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT
OF 2010: JOBS AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES
----------
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Environment and Public Works,
Washington, DC.
The full Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:35 a.m. in
room 406, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Barbara Boxer
(Chairman of the full Committee) presiding.
Present: Senators Boxer, Inhofe, Klobuchar, Udall, and
Alexander.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BARBARA BOXER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Senator Boxer. The hearing will come to order.
Because we have a vote scheduled shortly, I wanted to get
through all of the panelists. So, I would ask unanimous consent
that my statement be placed in the record. And since there is
nobody here to object, my full statement will be placed in the
record.
Today's hearing will examine the ways investment in our
Nation's water resources infrastructure creates and saves jobs
and increases America's economic competitiveness. This is the
kick off hearing as we begin our efforts to develop a Water
Resources Development Act of 2010, known as WRDA, which will
authorize the projects and programs of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
As Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee, job creation is a top priority, and we will hear
from the witnesses today that water infrastructure investment
is a proven job creator. The U.S. Army Corps estimates that
every $1 billion in Federal investment in water resource
projects creates approximately 26,000 jobs.
Investments in our Nation's water resources not only create
and sustain jobs in the short term; they do help us with
economic recovery. They provide benefits to America's families
and businesses every day, including maintaining navigation
routes for commerce, reducing the risk of flooding, and
restoring our precious ecosystems.
I look forward to working with Senator Inhofe and all my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move forward with the
WRDA bill this year. I am hopeful we can repeat the success we
had in 2007 when we worked closely together to enact a WRDA
bill. With overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, we
even overcame a veto and overrode a veto on that bill.
From trade to transportation, disaster prevention to rural
recreation, WRDA and the projects, policies and programs that
it authorizes are essential components of creating jobs and
keeping our economy growing. In California, where we are facing
some of our Nation's most critical water resource needs, many
communities rely on projects and programs authorized by WRDA.
Today on our panel we have a very distinguished
representative, Mr. Victor Uno. He is representing the Port of
Oakland, which has benefited significantly from past WRDA bills
that authorized the Corps to deepen the Port's navigation
channel. You cannot have a port if the channel is not deep
enough. That is obvious. And so, the improvements that we made
were critical to bringing ships into the port and jobs
associated with one of the busiest ports in the world.
My State also faces significant flood risk as a number of
critical flood protection projects across the State that are
necessary to protect life and property and ensure that
California maintains its competitiveness. Water Resources
Development Act of 2007 made significant progress on flood
control projects in our capital of Sacramento and many other
cities across the State. It is important that we build on that
success.
I am grateful to colleagues on both sides of the aisle for
their interest in this issue. I look forward to moving forward
together on a Water Resources Development Act that ensures
progress on important projects and programs that create jobs,
support commerce and promote recovery and long-term prosperity.
So, with that, we are going to open it up. We have a very
distinguished panel. Janet Kavinoky is the Director of
Transportation Infrastructure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
We have worked with her in the past on many issues, and we are
very happy to have her here. She is also the Executive Director
of the Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition.
With that, Janet, please start.
[The prepared statement of Senator Boxer was not received
at time of print.]
STATEMENT OF JANET F. KAVINOKY, DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION
INFRASTRUCTURE, CONGRESSIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, U.S. CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE; EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICANS FOR TRANSPORTATION
MOBILITY COALITION
Ms. Kavinoky. Thank you, Chairman Boxer, for the
opportunity to testify today on reauthorization of the Water
Resources Development Act.
Today I will focus on the Army Corps of Engineers'
navigation mission. But I want to start by acknowledging the
Corps' other critical economic and environmental efforts,
including flood risk management. I know you are going to hear
more about these from my fellow panelists.
The Chamber is a champion of maintaining, modernizing and
expanding infrastructure in order to create and sustain jobs in
the near term and to support U.S. economic growth and
competitiveness in the long run. Movement of waterborne cargo
and related economic activities contribute more than $742
billion annually to the U.S. GDP, sustaining more than 13
million jobs. These jobs can be found at ports, on vessels, in
shipyards, in factories, fields and industrial facilities, and
throughout the services sector.
Both the Chamber and President Obama have called for
doubling U.S. exports within 5 years. One-third of all
waterborne commerce tonnage is for export and requires a
reliable and cost effective marine transportation system that
links coastal ports and waterways, the Great Lakes and the St.
Lawrence Seaway to keep U.S. goods competitive in the global
marketplace.
One in four manufacturing jobs depends on exports. Nucor,
the Nation's largest steel manufacturer and recycler, employs
21,000 people nationwide. Because water transportation
minimizes the cost of transporting raw materials, and 60
percent of its steel mills, including in Memphis, have access
to deep water, Nucor is well positioned to expand its exports
and its jobs.
One in three acres on American farms is planted for
consumers overseas. In any given year, 60 percent of all bulk
agricultural exports are moved via the Upper Mississippi and
Illinois Rivers, and over 85 percent of Oregon wheat is shipped
through the Nation's No. 1 wheat and barley export gateway, the
Columbia and Snake River system.
Let us focus for a moment on the transportation services
sector that moves goods, such as Blessey Marine Services,
headquartered in Harahan, Louisiana, with 500 vessel employees
on nearly 60 boats safely transporting liquid products up and
down the Mississippi. And Nashville-based Ingram Barge,
employing over 2,000 people who operate more than 130 towboats
and 4,000 barges. Even during the economic downturn, Ingram was
hiring employees and continuing to buy new barges. In fact, in
2008 U.S. shipbuilding constructed over 1,200 domestic vessels,
employing thousands of working in shipyards and related
industries.
And of course every ship needs a port. The Port of Long
Beach supports one out of every eight jobs in that city alone.
The Port of Baltimore generates more than 50,000 jobs. Over
160,000 people are employed thanks to the Port of New Orleans.
And of course ports are not just on the coasts. The Tulsa
Port of Catoosa is one of the largest and most inland river
ports in the United States, with 63 industrial facilities
employing 4,000 people in manufacturing, distribution and
processing of products ranging from agricultural commodities to
consumer goods.
There should be no question that a marine transportation
system that is prepared to meet future demand for safe,
reliable and efficient domestic and international freight
movement creates and sustains jobs, and it grows the economy.
But are we prepared? Locks, dams and levees are outdated,
overwhelmed, and in some cases literally falling apart. And
repair and replacement can take years, even decades. The cost
associated with failing infrastructure is significant. In 2003
an 8-week closure at the Greenup Locks and Dam Gate on the Ohio
River cost $13.2 million in transportation delays, and the
ripple effects totaled $30 million. Unfortunately, the same
assets failed recently, costing barge operators $2 million a
week in estimated losses.
This Committee has the opportunity through WRDA
reauthorization to address the lack of a coordinated Federal
investment and management strategy, to establish priorities for
addressing the backlog of leads, to increase and stabilize
investment levels, and to create the conditions for successful
project delivery.
Today, the Chamber respectfully submits to you its Marine
Transportation Policy Statement with recommendations in each of
these areas. We also endorse the Inland Marine Transportation
Systems Capital Projects Business Model, developed jointly by
the Inland Waterway User Board and the Army Corps of Engineers.
It contains practical, long-term solutions for addressing the
needs of the inland waterway system by prioritizing projects
and outlining a potential funding solution.
In closing, I hope you will consider the Chamber a resource
as you develop the WRDA bill. We will work with you to ensure
that it maximizes job creation and economic growth.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here today,
and I am happy to take any of your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Kavinoky follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Boxer. I want to thank you very much. It is good to
be on a team with the Chamber. We are not always, but we are on
this, and we are on the Highway bill, and I think that is
crucial.
We have been joined by Senator Udall. We are going to have
a vote early this morning, so what we are going to try to do is
get through and then have time for some questions.
So, our next panelist is near and dear to my heart. Victor
Uno is the President of the Board of Port Commissioners for the
Port of Oakland. And Mr. Uno is also the Business Manager for
the International Brotherhood Electrical Workers Local 595. He
began his career over 30 years ago working on the berths at the
Port of Oakland, so it must be quite a thrill for him now to
make policy on the Board.
Welcome.
STATEMENT OF VICTOR UNO, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS, PORT OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
Mr. Uno. Thank you and good morning, Chairman Boxer, and it
is a thrill to be here today. I thank you for holding these
hearings today on the critical need to pass the Water Resources
Development Act of 2010.
I am Victor Uno, President of the Board of Port
Commissioners at our Port of Oakland. Along with six fellow
Commissioners, our dedicated Port leadership and staff and our
work force, we have been working daily to protect thousands of
jobs directly connected to the seaport and airport and the tens
of thousands of jobs that depend on the Port's ability to
compete for international trade.
Our Port, like nearly every American trade gateway, is
facing unprecedented competition from our neighbors in Canada
and Mexico. We have all suffered sharp drops in shipping
volumes during the recession resulting in large revenue losses
industry-wide. We are now working cooperatively as never before
to bring back our freight business and secure the investments
in our infrastructure that we need to compete during the
ongoing economic recovery.
For America's ports to succeed, we need your help. We need
a WRDA bill this year to get our critical maritime and other
vital infrastructure projects moving.
Our Port of Oakland covers 18 miles of waterfront on the
eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay, with nearly 1,000 acres
devoted to maritime activities and another 2,600 acres devoted
to aviation. Our Port is the third busiest container port on
the West Coast and the fifth busiest in the Nation. It is also
one of the leading export gateways for American products,
especially for agriculture from throughout the Nation and
particularly California's Central Valley.
Our airport is the second largest airport in the Bay Area,
serving nearly 10 million passengers per year and also among
the top 20 air cargo airports in the United States.
Our maritime and aviation operations are both deeply
affected by WRDA. WRDA is critical to funding our large scale
modernization projects. In 2001, for example, using the
authority given by WRDA, construction began on the Port of
Oakland's $436 million, 50-foot depth harbor deepening project.
This project has now given us the ability to support the latest
generation of larger, more efficient container vessels.
The last environmental phase of the project is being
completed this year, and the total project is already providing
enormous benefits to the region. The dredging leveraged
landside Port investments such as marine terminal expansion and
the development of an intermodal rail yard. Over 8,800 jobs in
construction, engineering, maritime, trucking and shipping were
created. Annual business revenues for the region were increased
by $1.9 billion, and local tax revenues were increased by $62
million per year.
The dredged materials were reused to restore hundreds of
acres of wetlands along the northern reaches of the San
Francisco Bay, providing a huge environmental benefit to
California. The economic benefits gained from WRDA have given
the 50-foot project an extraordinary 11 to 1 benefit-to-cost
ratio.
In short, Senators, WRDA works. WRDA puts people to work.
We have Senator Boxer and this Committee to thank for the 50-
foot project and for each job that project created.
Now, during these challenging economic times, Oakland once
again needs help that only WRDA can provide. I need to comment
on a critical issue that desperately needs your support.
Our airport, Oakland International Airport, is located
along the waterfront of the San Francisco Bay. It was built on
landfill reclaimed from the Bay, and the runway is barely above
sea level, protected behind an aging levee constructed in
segments beginning in the 1950s.
Last year the Federal Emergency Management Agency concluded
that our airport's levee failed to meet the standards to
prevent severe seasonal flooding, over-topping during storms
and seismic events. If any of these events were to occur the
airport could suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in
property damage, in addition to stopping all of our air
operations, halting emergency response efforts and putting
lives at risk. This would be an unacceptable though avoidable
disaster.
The Port of Oakland is under Federal obligation to
reconstruct our airport levee which is estimated to cost over
$60 million. That is why we will be asking your support to help
rebuild our levee to modern standards, reduce its vulnerability
to seismic events and complete all of the environmental
wetlands mitigation required under State and Federal law.
We are already working in cooperation with the U.S. Army
Corps to expedite this levee work. If we can obtain WRDA
authority for the levee project, it will bring millions of
dollars for construction that will create hundreds of new jobs
in the Bay area. Most importantly, the work will preserve the
tens of thousands of jobs that rely on a vibrant and well
functioning airport every day.
On behalf of the Port of Oakland and my fellow
Commissioners, I ask you, the members of this Committee, to do
everything within your power to pass WRDA. Please give us the
resources we need to create jobs, modernize our infrastructure,
and promote economic growth in our region.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Uno follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Boxer. Thank you so very much.
For my colleagues who arrived, we are going to have a vote
early this morning. So, we are getting through the witnesses. I
will give up my question time to you. So, we will start off
with Senator Udall, then go to Alexander and Klobuchar.
So, let us continue. Matt Woodruff hails from Houston,
Texas. He is the Director of Government Affairs for the Kirby
Corporation, the Nation's largest operator of inland tank
barges.
Welcome, sir.
STATEMENT OF MATT WOODRUFF, DIRECTOR,
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, KIRBY CORPORATION
Mr. Woodruff. Thank you. Also, I am a member of the Inland
Waterways Users Board, which is the group established in WRDA
1986 to advise the Corps and Congress on matters related to
construction on our inland waterways.
Our inland waterways system is a national treasure. Low
cost waterway transportation helps our farmers and
manufacturers stay competitive in tough world markets. When you
talk about the future of the waterways, you are talking about
the future of a large segment of our economy.
Today, I want to tell you about a 20-year plan to keep our
waterways reliable and bring billions of dollars in benefits to
our economy, creating and maintaining a host of jobs along the
way. We need this Committee's help for this vision to become a
reality.
Barges are the most cost efficient way to move the bulk
commodities that are the building blocks of our Nation's
economy. Barges are the greenest, safest and most energy
efficient mode of surface transportation.
A truck can move a ton of cargo 155 miles on a gallon of
fuel. A train can move that cargo 413 miles. But a barge will
move it 576 miles on that same gallon of fuel. Moving cargo by
rail generates about 39 percent more CO2 than
barges. Moving that same cargo by truck generates 371 percent
more. A typical 15-barge river tow can take 1,050 truckloads of
cargo off the highways.
[Diagram shown.]
Mr. Woodruff. The diagram there gives you a little bit of
an indication on the right, trucks, railcars and barges. If the
cargo that is transported by barges today were instead
transported by trucks on our interstates, heavy truck traffic
would nearly double. If you put it all on trains, rail traffic
would increase by 25 percent. Attached to my written testimony
are some materials summarizing these and other facts related to
barge transportation.
Today, our inland waterways projects are under-funded, over
budget and years past their planned completion dates. We
spend--or we spent--the surplus in the Trust Fund and have far
too little to show for it. We place too much emphasis on
starting projects and not enough on finishing them. We need to
fix the system.
Several years ago, the senior leaders of our industry began
to meet with the leadership of the Corps and ultimately decided
to put a team together to find a comprehensive solution to our
problems. And the team, composed of experts within the Corps
and leaders from the inland waterway industry, spent nearly a
year and a half doing so.
I have here a copy of the team's final report which on
April 13th was unanimously adopted by the Inland Waterways
Users Board and transmitted to the Administration and to
Congress. It lays out a comprehensive solution to the
challenges faced by our inland waterway system.
We recommend a set of improvements to the project delivery
system, some of which are already being implemented by the
Corps, that will get our projects built on time and on budget.
We developed a realistic budget for new construction and major
rehabilitation. At $380 million a year, we think it is in line
with the funding levels of recent years.
We apply that budget to a dynamic 20-year construction plan
that objectively prioritizes the projects. We focus on
allocating money each year to only those projects that can be
efficiently funded with the funds that are available. And that
means that some vital projects may have to wait a few years to
get started, but importantly they will be finished earlier
under this plan than if we maintain the status quo.
And I think that is very critical. If the projects do not
get the money they need when they need it, then we cannot
accomplish all that we have to do. And that means that we are
going to have to find some mechanism to smooth out some of the
vagaries of the annual appropriations process.
This is going to require an increased level of investment,
and so we propose a 30 to 45 percent increase in the current
fuel tax that our industry pays. We also propose adjustment of
elements of the cost sharing formula to reflect the multiple
beneficiaries of the system, and to stop placing an undue share
of the burden of rebuilding it on just one group of users. We
are willing to accept this level of tax increase if it is part
of the comprehensive plan to ensure future reliability of the
system.
The benefits: We should finish 25 projects in the next 20
years as opposed to six if we maintain the status quo. We will
avoid between $350 million and almost $1.2 billion of project
cost growth, and we should recognize at least $2.8 billion in
benefits from these projects that would be foregone if their
completion dates were delayed.
Over 200 companies----
Senator Boxer. I am going to ask you to summarize because
you are out of time, and we are so under the clock here.
Mr. Woodruff. Absolutely. We hope the Committee will join
200 entities who have already approved this plan and approve
legislative language this year to make this a reality.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Woodruff follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Boxer. Well, that summed it up beautifully for me.
[Laugher.]
Senator Boxer. Our next witness is a source of pride and
joy for me as well. Mitch White is the General Counsel of the
Southern California Office of the Manson Construction Company
located in Long Beach, California. Today, he is representing
the Associated General Contractors of America, known as AGC.
And I want to thank them for all the help they gave us,
along with the Chamber and the unions and so many others, in
moving our Highway Bill and getting it extended to the end of
the year. I want to say thank you, again, for that.
So, you were the immediate Past Chair of AGC's Federal and
Heavy Construction Divisions, and we are looking forward to
your testimony.
STATEMENT OF MITCH WHITE, GENERAL COUNSEL, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
OFFICE, MANSON CONSTRUCTION CO.; IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR,
ASSOCIATION OF GENERAL CONTRACTORS OF AMERICA, FEDERAL AND
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION DIVISION
Mr. White. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member
Inhofe and distinguished members of this Committee, for
inviting me to participate in today's important hearing on how
passing a Water Resources Development Act in 2010 will provide
a path to job creation and lead our economy down to the road to
recovery.
On behalf of AGC, I urge this Committee to swiftly act on
passage of a new Water Resources Development Act as a means of
providing a legislative vehicle which, when coupled with
significant funding, will substantially boost construction jobs
and improve our diminished national infrastructure.
While the Nation suffers, continues to suffer, through a
recession, the construction industry is experiencing
depression-like conditions. Nationally, only 11 out of 337
metropolitan areas added construction jobs between March 2009
and 2010. Over that same period, 48 States and the District of
Columbia lost construction jobs.
The current unemployment rate in the construction trades is
25 percent. Infrastructure investment will dramatically improve
this unemployment rate. Stephen Fuller of George Mason
University estimates that for every $1 billion invested in
infrastructure projects you would create over 28,500 new direct
and indirect jobs. Each $1 billion invested would add about
$3.4 billion to the gross domestic product.
There is no question that numerous other benefits would be
provided by a WRDA. Previous investment in flood damage
reduction projects has prevented an estimated $706 billion in
flood damage, an 8 to 1 return on the Federal Government's
investment. Operations and maintenance work provides an average
return of $14.10 for every $1 invested. In the Mississippi
Valley and tributary system, more than $24 in damages is saved
for every $1 spent.
Water resources infrastructure is a key to recovery. Our
Nation's waterways infrastructure has construction, operations
and maintenance needs that a new WRDA would facilitate. In
addition to job creation, water resources projects, if
authorized and funded, would provide other benefits resulting
in substantially reducing the backlog of critical maintenance
and repairs at approximately 360 multiple purpose flood
control, hydropower, recreation, water supply and navigation
projects, the repair of several high risks dams, the upgrade of
hydropower plants to achieve an industry standard of 98 percent
availability, fully dredging to authorized depth the Nation's
296 highest use deep draft commercial ports, fully dredging our
inland waterways to authorized depth and width, and realization
of critical coastal population protection projects.
The Nation's marine transportation system contributes 30
percent to the gross domestic product. Failure to maintain
channels in waterways creates a drag on the economy and may
slow economic growth. Additional investment in our Nation's
waterways would be used to improve channel availability of our
coastal ports from 32 to 95 percent and would improve inland
waterway lock and channel reliability and availability by
reducing lock closures due to mechanical failures from 27,000
to 10,000 hours per year.
Finally, investment in this sector will greatly expedite
the construction of critical environmental projects and return
critical ecosystems to a more natural state.
Before concluding, I want to speak to the Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund and how using those funds for their
intended purpose will create additional jobs and economic
opportunities.
The current state of the Nation's harbors and navigation
channels, getting narrower and shallower each year, requires a
substantial increase in spending on harbor maintenance.
Accordingly, we remain concerned about the current balance in
the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. As of September 30, 2009,
the balance in the HMTF was $5.1 billion, an increase of $461
million, or 10 percent, over the fiscal year 2008 year-end
balance, even after all fund transfers to the Corps of
Engineers and other authorized users.
This balance has grown by $3.2 billion, or by 173 percent,
since the end of 2002. Revenues have substantially exceeded
appropriations for a number of years despite the demonstrated
need for harbor maintenance.
As Congress considers additional opportunities to invest in
water resources spending to stimulate the economy, the surplus
in the HMTF should not be overlooked as an immediate source of
revenue to fund these critical projects. Furthermore, as
Congress looks toward a long-term investment, AGC strongly
recommends enactment of legislation setting the appropriations
from the HMTF each year equal to projected revenues to be
collected in the HMTF for that year.
Madam Chairman, we at Manson Construction and members of
the AGC are ready to build these projects so we can create and
sustain jobs throughout the country. Construction has always
been an engine of economic stimulus and can play that role once
again.
Increases in infrastructure investment can be quickly put
to work and will have a direct, immediate and dramatic impact
on the economy. The long-term economic benefits of
infrastructure investment today should not be overlooked.
Through additional investment in infrastructure, our Nation
would be well positioned to emerge from the economic downturn,
rebuild a world class infrastructure system and ensure our
continued economic prosperity well into the future.
Thank you for this opportunity to comment. I look forward
to working with the Committee and would be happy to answer any
questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. White follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Boxer. Thank you so much. Thanks to the whole
panel.
So, I am going to give my question time over to Tom Udall,
and Senator, you can use it any way, for an opening statement
or questions. You have 5 minutes.
Senator Udall. OK. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Just by way of an opening, I think this panel has really
demonstrated dramatically how WRDA and other recovery projects
we put into place over the last year or so, they are very
successful at creating jobs. I think each of you has outlined
that, and I do not think there is any doubt about it.
One of the things I wanted to mention, by way, I guess, of
an opening, is that in New Mexico, many of our communities are
threatened by snow melt and major storms and arroyos. And so
what we have done, for example, in the city of Albuquerque, to
protect the city from flooding, is build a series and a system
of levees back in the 1940s and 1950s. And we are getting to
the point now where we need a reauthorization under WRDA to do
a major rehabilitation of those levees which, I think, once
again would drive home the point that there are jobs in this.
Mr. Woodruff, what I would like to ask you about, you know,
you really drove a point with regard to the energy efficiency,
and you talked about a gallon of fuel and how much further a
gallon of fuel could go from truck to rail to barge. Do you
have any suggestions? And to me that shows that we have very,
very good energy efficiencies that we could capitalize on if we
developed our policy that way.
And I am wondering, do you have any recommendations for
this Committee on how to encourage those efficiencies, where
they are possible, from a policy side or from a legislative
side? How we can make sure that when we do the transport,
whether it is people or goods, that we do it in the very, very
most efficient way?
Mr. Woodruff. Our belief is that the way that you promote
better modal efficiencies is through incentives to the
shippers, as opposed to incentives to the carriers. We believe
that our industry, the barge industry, the shipping industry,
we have the equipment and we will build the equipment needed to
move that cargo if the cargo comes to us for transport.
And I think there are a variety of things that can be done.
Certainly, barge transportation will never replace truck or
rail transportation. I like to tell people I have never seen a
barge dock behind a grocery store. There are those things for
which each mode is essential. But to the extent we can choose
the best mode for a particular cargo and ensure that we are
using the most efficient mode, then we should do so.
One thing that barges offer is a great deal of capacity.
Our inland waterways have vast untapped capacity, whereas our
other modes are very near their capacity. So that is another
incentive to bring cargo to the waterways from other modes that
may not be able to as efficiently handle them.
Senator Udall. So, how do we tap that vast, that capacity
that is out there that you are talking about? I mean, what are
your ideas for that?
Mr. Woodruff. Well, we have the equipment ready for the
cargo today. We can move intermodal cargos, shipping
containers, we can move bulk commodities. We have the ability
to do it. We are, many companies in the industry, prepared to
do it. I think it is finding a way to give the shippers the
economic advantage to realize the benefits that we have to
offer them.
Certainly, there are some connector issues. Every time you
move from one mode to the other, there are expenses that are
associated with that. It is just a matter of reallocating, I
guess, the economic incentives so that it makes it economically
advantageous to take the most efficient route.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much. And I am going to yield
back a little of the time so that everybody can get some
questioning in before the vote here. Thank you.
Senator Boxer. Thank you. The Ranking Member would like to
be recognized.
Senator Inhofe. Yes. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman.
First of all, well, let me just mention that this is really
kind of an Oklahoma hearing. I look out here, and I see Julie
Daniels, I have worked with her on projects up in Bartlesville,
Oklahoma, Matt Myers, Shane Frye, Wendy Taylor, Kirby Crowe,
Karen Keith. Karen Keith's a good liberal Democrat like you,
Madam Chairman, and I want you to know----
Senator Boxer. Good for you, Karen.
[Laugher.]
Senator Inhofe. You would be surprised how well we get
along. And I am pretty extreme on the right, and she is pretty
extreme on the left----
Senator Boxer. Speak for yourself. I am not extreme.
[Laughter.]
Senator Inhofe. But we all agree----
Senator Boxer. Just ask Bernie Sanders. He does not think I
am extreme at all.
[Laughter.]
Senator Inhofe. You are going to have to give me more time
if we are going to talk about Bernie.
Senator Boxer. You have an extra minute. Any time.
[Laughter.]
Senator Inhofe. OK. My point is this. We can all agree that
Government has functions to perform. And this WRDA bill, Water
Resources Development Act, as well as what we are trying
desperately to get, and I talked to this group yesterday about
reauthorization of the transportation, it is something we need
to be done.
These are authorization bills. And those people out there
that call them earmarks, I am the only one up here who can
really address this in a convincing way because the reason I am
late is because I had to go over there and get my award for
being Number One, the 100 percent, by the American Conservative
Union, right before I came here. Last month, the National
Journal had me ranked as the most conservative member of the
U.S. Senate.
Now, I say that because I am a very strong believer that
our system will work if people will get serious about it, and
we go through authorization. When we go through authorization,
we qualify these things. When we sat down and did the 2005
reauthorization bill for transportation, we had criteria.
Everything had to meet these criteria. Then we made allocations
out to States.
This is the way it is supposed to happen. And people who
talk about earmarks, it is the phoniest issue out there.
Because the very individuals who complain about earmarks are
the ones who vote for the very largest, multi-hundred billion
dollar bills, then they hold up this earmark thing to make
people think they are conservative.
Let me be specific. One of the votes that bothered me, I
hate to say this in front of my friends who voted for it, was
the $700 billion bailout. That was October 1, 2008. Then we had
the $300 billion bailout, we had the $50 billion, the PEPFAR
Bill, to increase the amount of money going to communicable
diseases in foreign countries. They vote for all of these
things, and then they turn around and complain about the things
that we are doing here today.
Now, the bottom line is this. We have needs that are out
there. We have, in my State of Oklahoma, things that need to be
done, things that are the legitimate function of Government to
do. This WRDA bill is to make sure that we do not put out
things that are not deserving of public funding and that they
go through the process. So, I had to say that because I know
that there are so many people who exploit this notion of
earmarks, and it is something that has got to be exposed sooner
than later. So, this is sooner.
Let me ask you, Mr. Woodruff, I had an opening statement
and I was going to talk about, a little bit about, what I just
now said but in a little nicer way. But that took too long.
Also, I was going to mention that not many people realize that
my State of Oklahoma is really a navigable State. We have a
waterway that comes all the way from--I am sure you are aware
of this, Senator Alexander--it comes all the way up the
Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, and we are moving goods in and
out, and it is a great thing.
I would like to ask Mr. Woodruff, you are familiar with
what we do. I would like to have you, kind of from your
perspective, describe how this great event, I am particularly
biased to this waterway because my father-in-law, many years
ago, along with McClellan and Kerr, had a lot to do with
building this thing. How has this contributed, and is still
contributing today, to the economy of Oklahoma and surrounding
States?
Mr. Woodruff. Well, in immeasurable ways. We talked about
agricultural exports, fertilizer coming in, agricultural
products going out. There are oil products, petroleum products
that come into the Port of Catoosa, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa,
that otherwise would be on trains or trucks, causing congestion
on our highways.
But in terms of jobs there, I am thinking of a facility
right there in Catoosa that builds huge heat exchangers that
are used throughout the world in industrial facilities. And if
it were not for the waterway there, I do not think those
products could ever leave their factory and go to those
markets.
So, for those cargos that are just too big to go by other
modes, that allows jobs to be created and maintained, good high
paying manufacturing jobs, right there in Catoosa, serving the
world.
Senator Inhofe. Well, you see, that is the point that I am
making. In the things that we do, and I would say some of the
same things about some of the EDA programs, but since our time
is short, I am sure the Chairman has told you that we have a
vote coming up----
Senator Boxer. It has already started.
Senator Inhofe. It has already started?
Senator Boxer. Yes.
Senator Inhofe. Anyway, let me just ask our friend from the
Chamber of Commerce, I made some pretty strong statements
concerning this fraud called earmarks. Do you have any thoughts
about this? Because generally the Chamber, these are
conservative people, free enterprising people, and how do you
see this in terms of the role of conservative government
serving America?
Ms. Kavinoky. Well, certainly when it comes to a WRDA bill,
and particularly this has always been a project-based bill, it
has been a way to designate things that are important to the
Nation and to the economy. I think we differentiate between
earmarks which are for the items that people say, ah, this
would a great idea to do, this is what I need in order to vote
for a bill, and things that really look at what is important to
the economic elements of the Nation. That is why in our work
that we are doing on SAFETEA-LU reauthorization and on this, we
are focused on how do you get the biggest bang for the buck out
of every project?
Senator Inhofe. Alright. Would you agree with this? If we,
if we would redefine earmark as an appropriation that has not
been authorized, I am with everybody on this, would you agree
with me?
Ms. Kavinoky. Absolutely.
Senator Inhofe. There is the solution to the problem, Madam
Chairman.
Senator Boxer. Well, I agree. Fully.
Senator Inhofe. Sure you do.
[The prepared statement of Senator Inhofe follows:]
Statement of Hon. James M. Inhofe,
U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma
Thank you, Madam Chairman, for holding this hearing, and
thank you to all the witnesses for joining us this morning.
Before I get into my statement, I just want to say that I
support the Chair's intent to move a Water Resources
Development Act, or WRDA, this year. Regularly enacted WRDA
bills provide the best opportunities to address our Nation's
water resources infrastructure needs.
The purpose of today's hearing is to discuss the job
creation and economic development benefits associated with the
kinds of water resources projects and policies typically
authorized in a WRDA and carried out by the Army Corps of
Engineers.
It took 7 years to enact the last WRDA (WRDA 2007), with
detractors making two main arguments. First, there were
complaints that Corps projects are a waste of taxpayer dollars.
I couldn't disagree more.
This year I again was ranked by National Journal as the
most conservative Senator, and I certainly take fiscal
responsibility seriously. I firmly believe, however, that the
two things the Federal Government should invest in are national
defense and public infrastructure. Investments in
infrastructure--including water resources infrastructure such
as navigation channels, ports, flood control and hurricane
protection measures--not only have short-term job creation
benefits, but more importantly they help bring about long-term
economic development opportunities. This dual benefit is one
reason I tried to get a greater percentage of the stimulus
dollars directed to infrastructure. Unfortunately, that didn't
happen.
Our witnesses today will discuss the economic contributions
these infrastructure projects make from the national
perspective, but I'd like to take a moment to talk about my
home State of Oklahoma. Many people think of Oklahoma as
completely landlocked, but we actually have a very successful
port in Tulsa called the Port of Catoosa. It is a combined
port, industrial park and multi-modal shipping complex,
currently with more than 60 companies employing nearly 3,000
employees.
The port lies at the head of navigation for the McClellan-
Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, which stretches 445
miles to the Mississippi River. More than 11.6 million tons
were shipped on the McClellan-Kerr in 2009, with about 18
percent of that total going through the Port of Catoosa. Prior
to the economic downturn, the system often carried closer to 13
million tons in an average year. This cargo typically consists
of sand and rock, fertilizer, wheat, raw steel, and refined
petroleum products.
The navigation system, as well as other Corps facilities
elsewhere in Oklahoma, also contributes economically by
providing flood protection, clean and affordable hydroelectric
power, and recreation opportunities for local communities. None
of this economic activity would have been realized if the
Federal Government, through the Corps of Engineers, hadn't
decided in 1946 to invest in this waterway.
The second main argument against WRDA 2007 was that it
contained earmarks and therefore was simply full of ``pork
projects.'' Again, I must disagree with the reasoning of some
of my colleagues.
Yes, WRDA includes authorizations and modifications of
specific projects. But these so-called ``earmarks'' are the
first step in the well established authorization and
appropriations process. One of the best checks on out-of-
control spending is limiting funding to only those projects and
programs that have been authorized properly. In fact, I have
objected many times to unauthorized items being funded in
appropriations bills as well as to authorization language being
included in appropriations bills.
The authorization process, and EPW as an authorizing
Committee, provides the first congressional review of projects
and programs to ensure that only legitimate needs that have a
Federal interest are eligible for funding consideration. One
question EPW has traditionally asked when considering WRDA
requests is, ``Does the project have a Chief's Report?'' The
Corps issues Chief's Reports for only those projects shown to
have national benefits in excess of project costs. Once
projects are authorized, it is then up to the appropriations
process to determine priorities for funding.
For these reasons and others, I am a strong supporter of
investment in infrastructure and of the importance of working
on a WRDA. I am pleased to have the Committee turn to this
bipartisan issue that can have significant economic benefits,
and I look forward to hearing the testimony from our witnesses.
Senator Boxer. Senator Alexander, I just want you to know
that I have been following the flooding in your State, and my
heart goes out to you. I know the suffering that is going on.
And this bill is directly related to these kinds of things. So,
we would like to close our hearing with you.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you
for your comments both here and yesterday when we talked about
it. And I am glad you and Senator Inhofe are here because I had
something I wanted to say about the Nashville flooding.
This is a thousand-year rain event. When they told me that
was NOAA's estimate I thought they were talking about Noah's
ark. But it had not rained like this in a thousand years. We
had 25 inches in 2 days, which is twice as much rain as many
western States get. And this is the time, the Mayor of
Nashville estimates that this is just one of 52 counties that
may be affected. He estimates that there may be $1 billion of
damage just in the Nashville area alone. So, this is a time for
cleaning up and helping people.
But it is also a time for asking the question, what could
we do better? And I wanted to just suggest to the Chair and to
the Ranking Member that one of the things that we might be able
to do better in the event of a disaster like this is to have
clear and correct and consistent information from the Corps of
Engineers about the release of water from the Old Hickory and
Percy Priest Dams in our case.
It is too early to say whether it was unclear or incorrect
or inconsistent, and this is not the time to be talking about
it. But as we work on this bill, or perhaps even in a hearing,
we could address the question of whether clear, consistent and
correct information from the Army Corps of Engineers to the
community might have saved millions of dollars in records, in
homes, and in lives even, because people had better information
about the rise of the flood waters on the Cumberland River.
So, this was a problem after Katrina. I know Senator
Landrieu talked about it. And in an orderly and appropriate
way, at the right time, I would like to address this question
of making sure that individuals and businesses have the
opportunity to get the clearest, most consistent, correct
information about rising water.
Senator Boxer. I think it is very important, and we will
talk to you about how we can best facilitate that.
Senator Alexander. I thank the Chair.
And then the other thing I wanted to say, I appreciate
Senator Inhofe's comments, too, on earmarks. I mean, people
come to see me about whether the dams in middle Tennessee are
safe or we need housing for the most deployed troops in America
at Fort Campbell. My job is not to give them President Obama's
telephone number. But that is another suggestion.
I wanted to say a word about Mr. Woodruff's recommendation,
the Chickamauga Lock, as an example. We have a lock in
Chattanooga called the Chickamauga Lock. It was built in 1940.
It will probably close in 2018 if it is not replaced. And work
has already begun, but it stopped because there is not enough
money. There is some Federal money appropriated but there is
not enough money from the Inland Waterway Trust Fund to finish
the lock.
If it were to close, that is 2.5 million tons of cargo. The
new lock will hold 6.7 million tons of cargo annually. It will
take 100,000 tractor trailers off the road. This is a lock that
is a major transportation artery for the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, for the Nuclear Weapons National Security Complex
at Oak Ridge, and for the Tennessee Valley Authority. So, this
is tremendously important to our region.
I want to ask you, Mr. Woodruff, in the remaining minute
and a half, if there is anything extra that you would like to
say about the recommendations of your report on changing the
business practices of the Corps of Engineers and what might
happen if your report were not implemented. I strongly support
your report, and I hope this Committee will adopt it.
Mr. Woodruff. Well, just to address the Chickamauga
concern, if we maintain the status quo I cannot tell you when
there would be money to finish the Chickamauga project. If this
plan is adopted, it could be finished by 2015. That is an
example of the dramatic types of improvement that we can obtain
by focusing on finishing projects, being more efficient in the
way that we build and construct projects.
Twenty-five projects finished instead of six. That is what
we are looking at over a 20-year period by some relatively
simple steps to get better estimates when we go into projects,
to have more efficient funding streams, to give the contractors
the money they need to do what they want to do, which is build
these projects efficiently so they can move on to the next one.
Those are the things that we can do to achieve the success that
we have to have.
Senator Alexander. Well, your recommendation has my full
support, of course, because it would help with the Chickamauga
Lock, which would be unimaginable that we would have to close
it, both because it would be a better use of taxpayers' dollars
generally and because it would help create jobs in our country.
I thank the Chair for the time.
Senator Boxer. I am going to turn this hearing over to
Senator Inhofe. He is so excited to have so many of his
constituents here.
Senator Inhofe. Well, let me just mention, before she goes
out the door, Karen, just come back here, I want you to just
meet Barbara before you leave.
[Laughter.]
Senator Boxer. Just come around that way. This way, and up
the steps and back there.
Senator Inhofe. Yes, yes.
[Laughter.]
Senator Boxer. But I made Senator Inhofe promise that he
would not characterize his view of my politics----
[Laughter.]
Senator Boxer. And he said he would not. You know, if it is
mainstream Democrat, that is what I am. But he said he will not
go there. He is just going to behave and do good----
Senator Inhofe. I will make this really brief, and in fact,
while you are still here, Madam Chairman. I only wanted to say,
and first of all, on these things, as I told all of you who are
here, they are here because this is the Chamber in Oklahoma and
I invited them to come by today, and they are very interested.
Each one who is here is interested in something that we are
doing with the WRDA bill potentially, for one, so that is why
we do get along.
The only last thing I wanted to say in terms of the earmark
argument is the importance of authorization. Authorize, then
appropriate. But if you appropriate without authorizing, that
is where you get in trouble. That is where thing that do not
deserve to get funded get funded. And people have got to learn
that.
The other example I was going to use is my other Committee,
which is the Senate Armed Services Committee. Just to give you
an example. We have experts that will evaluate our platforms,
our ability to defend America, such as National Missile Defense
Systems, how we want redundancy in all three, in the boost
phase, midcourse phase and terminal phase, and if you do not do
that, then you are going to depend on the President coming
through and saying, well, we are not going to have that, we do
not need a boost phase because we have got something, that is
the role that authorizers do. We have experts that make these
decisions.
Any of these earmarks that they talk about, if you kill an
earmark on the floor of the Senate, it does not save one cent.
That money goes right back to the Administration. And if you
think that, well, anyway, we do a good job. The authorization
process is a good process. That is what we are doing here
today, and I commend you on holding this hearing.
Senator Boxer. Well, Senator, I think it is so great that
we can work together on these infrastructure programs because
you and I just agree completely. And I just wanted to point
out, when we worked on the last WRDA, we had an uphill climb
because we had a presidential veto. And we teamed up. And I
checked with my staff and----
Senator Inhofe. A Republican veto, it was.
Senator Boxer. Yes, I know. But----
Senator Inhofe. Well, I am just making an observation here.
Senator Boxer. That is right, and it was harder for you,
really. And I was so grateful. But we did it. And I checked
back. In the history of the Nation, there have only been 110
successful veto overrides. That is it, from the beginning of
the country. And we were involved in that one.
And I just think it speaks to what we need to do, and
again, whether it is moving people, moving cargo, all the
things that you were all so eloquent about, whether we are the
Chamber of Commerce representing business, the labor unions
represented here in many ways by Victor, the general
contractors, a very large and successful company, this is a
place where we can cut through the partisanship, we can come
together, and Senator Inhofe and I are bound and determined to
get this done.
We thank you all. This has been a brief hearing, but you
said it right----
Senator Inhofe. Let me remind you also that there was a
veto threat on the Transportation Reauthorization Bill, and I
think the fact that I made it very clear that the Republicans,
that some of us were going to be fighting that just like we did
in WRDA, and I think that is probably the reason there was not
one.
Senator Boxer. That is probably true.
Thank you, we stand adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:15 a.m. the Committee was adjourned.]
[An additional statement submitted for the record follows:]
Statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin,
U.S. Senator from the State of Maryland
Madam Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing today on
another excellent jobs bill that our Committee will be taking
up in the near future.
I'm glad that we are focusing on the job creation and
economic opportunities Water Resources Development projects
create for the country. Just like improving our transportation
or telecommunications infrastructure,
keeping shipping channels open,
protecting and restoring coastal ecology, and
repairing dams
have considerable impacts on both local economies and the
national economy.
Examples of WRDA's economic impacts from both the local and
national scale are found across Maryland.
Maryland has a geography and topography which makes the
Chesapeake Bay particularly susceptible to the adverse effects
of erosion. This erosion contributes to
5 million cubic yards of sediment deposited annually into the
Bay, adversely affecting water quality, destroying valuable
wetlands and habitat, and clogging navigation channels.
Every year the Corps clears tons of eroded sediment from
the Federal navigation channels that lead into and out of the
Port of Baltimore. Keeping this port open and the channels
dredged is essential not just for Maryland, but for the Nation.
The Port of Baltimore is an enormous economic engine for
Maryland with national significance. There are 126 miles of
shipping channels leading to the Port of Baltimore. In 2008
approximately 47.5 million tons of cargo, including 33 million
tons of foreign cargo valued at $45.3 billion, and
approximately 14.5 million tons of domestic waterborne cargo
moved through the Port of Baltimore.
Among the 360 U.S. ports, Baltimore is ranked No. 1 for
handling:
trucks,
roll on/roll off cargo (i.e. automobiles, trucking
trailers, and freight cars) and is the country's second largest
automobile exporter,
imported forest products, and
gypsum, sugar and iron ore
and is nationally ranked 12th in total value of foreign cargo
handled.
The Maryland Port Administration estimates that the Port
generates 50,700 jobs in Maryland with $3.7 billion in wages
and salaries. Additionally, there are approximately 68,300
related and indirect jobs associated with Port activities.
At the local level, Maryland puts the Bay's dredge material
to good use on coastal habitat, beach and island restoration
projects.
Along our Atlantic coast, powerful winter storms and
tropical cyclones can cause considerable beach erosion--
threatening the economic vitality of our premier Atlantic coast
resort city, Ocean City. This past November and December, Ocean
City, Assateague National Seashore and other Mid-Atlantic
coastal communities were pummeled by Nor'easter Ida.
Since 1990 the Corps has supported an Atlantic coast
protection program that involves replenishing the natural
beaches that border Ocean City, Maryland. This coastal
protection program has worked exceptionally well.
The years of work on coastal wetland and beach restoration
projects are what saved many of the homes and businesses on the
lower shore. The Corps estimates that over $238 million in
damages were prevented due to periodic beach renourishment
projects. And those savings do not include the damages that
were avoided last winter--we are still awaiting those final
numbers.
The Chesapeake Bay is the Nation's largest estuary. The
Corps' oyster and habitat restoration, shoreline protection,
and sediment management programs are integral to Bay
restoration efforts.
Oysters represent more than just a source of income for
Maryland's watermen--they are natural biological filters,
continually cleaning up the Bay.
Last summer I was proud to join the Corps' top military
leader, Major General Robert L. Van Antwerp, as we viewed the
Poplar Island restoration project and the site of the proposed
Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration project.
Poplar Island has risen, phoenix-like, out of the
Chesapeake Bay. Formerly eroded into a few tiny fragments, the
Corps has used the dredge materials from the Baltimore
navigation channels to rebuild this extraordinary island
habitat.
The Mid-Bay restoration effort will serve as a successor to
Poplar Island. Mid-Bay will restore two major islands, James
and Barren Islands, in the Chesapeake Bay. It will result in
the restoration of more than 2,100 acres of coastal ecosystem
restoration.
The reconstruction of the islands in Dorchester County will
help provide much needed island habitat to support the local
ecosystems while also providing substantial relief from further
erosion on the mainland.
There are numerous other projects that I could cite. Each
in its own way helps create and sustain jobs. And when these
projects are done right, they support both domestic and
international commerce as well as our environmental needs.
I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses and
working with my colleagues on the latest reauthorization of
WRDA.
[Additional material submitted for the record follows:]
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