[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 32 (Wednesday, March 16, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2850-S2851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. 
        Cantwell, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Corzine, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. 
        Kennedy, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Snowe, and Mr. Stevens):
  S. 638. A bill to extend the authorization for the ferry boat 
discretionary program, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that will greatly enhance Federal participation in financing and 
improving our Nation's ferry transportation system.
  Today I again introduce the Ferry Transportation Enhancement Act, or 
Ferry-TEA. I am proud to have Senators Collins, Boxer, Cantwell, 
Clinton, Corzine, Feinstein, Kennedy, Schumer, Snowe, and Stevens as 
original cosponsors. This bill will provide significantly more 
resources to State governments, public ferry systems, and public 
entities responsible for developing facilities for ferries.
  Specifically, the bill would: provide $150 million a year for the 
Federal Highway Administration's Ferry Boat Discretionary Program. This 
is approximately four times the $38 million a year that is currently 
being provided under this program; add ``ferry maintenance facilities'' 
to the list of allowable use of funds under this program; add 
``ferries'' to the Clean Fuels Program; establish a Ferry Joint Program 
Office to coordinate federal programs affecting ferry boat and ferry 
facility construction, maintenance, and operations and to promote ferry 
service as a component of the nation's transportation system; establish 
an information database on ferry systems, routes, vessels, passengers 
and vehicles carried; and establish an institute for ferries to conduct 
R&D, conduct training programs, encourage collaborative efforts to 
promote ferry service, and preserve historical information. This will 
parallel institutes that now exist for highways, transit, and rail.
  Currently, the Federal investment in ferries is only one-tenth of one 
percent of the total Surface Transportation Program. There is virtually 
no coordination at the federal level to encourage and promote ferries 
as there are for other modes of transportation.
  We need better coordinated ferry services because it's the sole means 
of surface transportation in many areas of the country, including, 
Hawaii, Alaska and my home State of Washington.
  Ferries are also the preferred, and the only feasible, method of 
commuting from home to work in places like Washington State, New York/
New Jersey, North Carolina, Hawaii and Alaska.
  Finally, in many States like my home State of Washington they are an 
important part of the tourism industry and represent a part of our 
cultural identity.
  The symbol of ferries moving people and vehicles on the waterways of 
the Puget Sound is as much a part of our cultural identity as 
computers, coffee, commercial aircraft and the Washington Apple.
  Ferry use is growing.
  In Washington State our ferry system--the Nation's largest--
transports approximately 26 million passengers each year and carries 11 
million vehicles. This is more passengers in my one state than Amtrak 
transports on a yearly basis nationwide.
  Other systems that serve New York/New Jersey, North Carolina, San 
Francisco, and Alaska also have significant numbers of passengers using 
the ferries.
  The Nation's six largest ferry systems recently carried 73 million 
people and 13 million vehicles in just one year.

[[Page S2851]]

  The growth projection for ferry use is very high. For these larger 
systems, it is projected that by 2009 there will be a 14-percent 
increase in passengers and a 17-percent increase in vehicles being 
carried by ferries compared to 2002.
  In San Francisco, that projection is a 46-percent increase.
  It is clear that many people are using ferries and more will be using 
them in the future.
  This is all with very little help from the Federal Government.
  Our investment in ferries pails in comparison to the federal 
investments in highways and other forms of mass transit.
  Our bill would provide the needed funding for these growing systems 
for new ferry boat construction, for ferry facilities and terminals, 
and for maintenance facilities.
  The bill also would make ferries eligible under the Clean Fuels 
Program.
  Like busses, ferries are a form of mass transit that is 
environmentally cleaner than mass use of cars and trucks. Making them 
eligible for the Clean Fuels Program will encourage boat makers to 
design cleaner and more efficient vessels in the future. This will make 
ferry travel an even more environmentally friendly means of 
transportation than it already is today.
  During the 108th Congress, I, with the help of several of my 
colleagues, was able to attach an amendment to the surface 
transportation reauthorization bill--SAFETEA. That amendment would have 
increased the funding for the Ferry Boat Discretionary Program from $38 
million per year to $120 million per year and make other changes.
  I thank Chairman Inhofe, Chairman Bond, and Senators Jeffords and 
Reid for working with us to include that important amendment.
  As we again move to the Senate consideration of the reauthorization 
bill in the near future, I look forward to working with my cosponsors 
and the leaders of the Committee, which now includes Senator Baucus, to 
see all the elements of Ferry-TEA is included in the bill.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 638

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Ferry Transportation 
     Enhancement Act''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING FOR CONSTRUCTION OF FERRY 
                   BOATS AND FERRY TERMINAL FACILITIES.

       (a) Funding.--Section 1064(c) of the Intermodal Surface 
     Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 129 note) is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``(c) Funding.--
       ``(1) In general.--There shall be available, out of the 
     Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account), to 
     the Secretary for obligation at the discretion of the 
     Secretary $150,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 
     through 2009. Sums made available to carry out this section 
     shall remain available until expended.
       ``(2) Allocation of funds.--The Secretary shall give 
     priority in the allocation of funds under this section to 
     those ferry systems, and public entities responsible for 
     developing facilities for ferries, that carry the greatest 
     number of passengers and vehicles, carry the greatest number 
     of passengers in passenger-only service, or provide critical 
     access to areas that are not well-served by other modes of 
     surface transportation.''.

     SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF FERRY MAINTENANCE FACILITIES FOR 
                   FEDERAL FUNDING.

       (a) Maintenance Facilities.--Section 129(c) of title 23, 
     United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting 
     ``and maintenance'' after ``terminal''; and
       (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``or maintenance'' after 
     ``terminal'' each place it appears.
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 1064 of the Intermodal 
     Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 129 
     note) is amended by inserting ``and maintenance'' after 
     ``terminal'' each place it appears.

     SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY OF FERRIES FOR CLEAN FUELS PROGRAM.

       Section 5308 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in clauses (i) and (iii) of subsection (a)(3)(A) and in 
     subsection (e), by inserting ``or ferries'' after ``buses'' 
     each place it appears;
       (2) in subsection (e), by inserting ``or ferry'' after 
     ``bus'' each place it appears;
       (3) in the heading for subsection (e)(2), by inserting ``or 
     Ferries'' after ``Buses''; and
       (4) in the heading for subsection (e)(3), by inserting ``or 
     Ferry'' after ``Bus''.

     SEC. 5. FERRY JOINT PROGRAM OFFICE.

       (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Transportation shall 
     establish a Ferry Joint Program Office (in this section, 
     referred to as the ``Office'') to coordinate Federal programs 
     affecting ferry boat and ferry facility construction, 
     maintenance, and operations and to promote ferry service as a 
     component of the Nation's transportation system. The Ferry 
     Joint Program Office shall coordinate ferry and ferry-related 
     programs within the Department of Transportation (including 
     the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit 
     Administration, the Maritime Administration, and the Bureau 
     of Transportation Statistics) and with the Department of 
     Homeland Security and other Federal and State agencies, as 
     appropriate.
       (b) Functions.--The functions of the Office shall include--
       (1) ensuring resource accountability;
       (2) coordinating policy relating to ferry transportation 
     among the various agencies of the Department of 
     Transportation and other departments of the United States 
     Government;
       (3) providing strategic leadership for ferry research, 
     development, testing, and deployment; and
       (4) promoting ferry transportation as a means to reduce 
     social, economic, and environmental costs associated with 
     traffic congestion.

     SEC. 6. NATIONAL FERRY DATA BASE.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Transportation shall 
     maintain a national ferry database, which shall contain 
     current information regarding ferry systems, routes, vessels, 
     passengers and vehicles carried, funding sources, and any 
     other information that the Secretary determines to be useful. 
     The Secretary shall utilize data from the study conducted 
     under section 1207(c) of the Transportation Equity Act for 
     the 21st Century (23 U.S.C. 129 note), and make modifications 
     to that data, as appropriate.
       (b) Updated Database.--The Secretary shall produce the 
     first updated version of the national ferry database not 
     later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act and 
     shall update such database every 2 years after such date.
       (c) Public Accessibility.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
     the national ferry database is easily accessible to the 
     public.

     SEC. 7. NATIONAL FERRY TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE.

       (a) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
     award grants to an institution of higher education to 
     establish a National Ferry Transportation Institute (referred 
     to in this section as the ``Institute'').
       (b) Administration.--The Secretary shall develop and 
     administer the Institute in cooperation with the Department 
     of Transportation, State transportation departments, public 
     ferry transportation authorities, private ferry operators, 
     ferry boat builders, ferry employees, and other institutions 
     of higher education and research institutes.
       (c) Functions.--The Institute shall--
       (1) conduct research and recommend development activities 
     on methods of improving ferry transportation programs in the 
     United States, including methods of reducing wake and 
     providing alternative propulsion;
       (2) develop and conduct training programs for ferry system 
     employees, Federal Government employees, and other 
     individuals, as appropriate, on recent developments, 
     techniques, and procedures pertaining to the construction and 
     operation of ferries;
       (3) encourage and assist collaborative efforts by public 
     and private entities to preserve, improve, and expand the use 
     of ferries as a mode of transportation; and
       (4) preserve, utilize, and display historical information 
     about the use of ferries in the United States and in foreign 
     countries.
       (d) Location.--In selecting the location for the Institute, 
     the Secretary shall consider--
       (1) the importance of public and private ferries to the 
     region's transportation system, including both regional 
     travel and long-range travel and service to isolated 
     communities;
       (2) the historical importance of ferry transportation to 
     the region;
       (3) the history and diversity of the region's maritime 
     community, including ferry construction and repair and other 
     shipbuilding activities;
       (4) the anticipated growth of ferry service and ferry boat 
     building in the region;
       (5) the availability of public-private collaboration in the 
     region; and
       (6) the presence of nationally recognized research 
     universities in the region.
       (e) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     the Secretary of Transportation $2,000,000 for each of the 
     fiscal years 2004 through 2009, to carry out the provisions 
     of this section. The Secretary may authorize the acceptance 
     and expenditure of funding provided to the Institute by 
     public and private entities.
       (f) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
     shall submit a report to Congress describing the activities 
     of the Institute and the progress in carrying out this 
     section.

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