[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 105 (Tuesday, July 14, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1748-E1750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. C. W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 14, 2009

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican 
Standards on Congressional appropriations initiatives, I am submitting 
the following information regarding projects that were included at my 
request in H.R. 3183, the Fiscal Year 2010 Energy and Water Development 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill:
  Pinellas County Beach Erosion Control
  Account: Army Corps of Engineers, Construction
  Legal name and address of requesting entity: Pinellas County Board of 
County Commissioners, 315 Court Street, Clearwater, FL 33756
  Description of requests: $14,000,000 is included in the bill for the 
Army Corps of Engineers and the Pinellas County Board of County 
Commissioners to continue construction of

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the Pinellas County beach erosion control program. The Pinellas County 
program was first authorized by Congress in 1966 and reauthorized in 
1976 and has provided immeasurable storm protection and recreation 
benefits to Pinellas County residents and visitors. These funds will be 
used to support renourishment and restoration of nine miles of 
critically eroded Sand Key Beach from Clearwater to North Redington 
Beach in west-central Pinellas County. Erosion since the last 
nourishment in 2006 now requires the periodic renourishment to maintain 
the current quality of the beach system, enlarging the beach and dunes. 
Prior federal funds were utilized for borrow area studies and physical 
monitoring of Sand Key beaches, as required by the Florida Department 
of Environmental Protection permit for beach nourishment. This request 
is submitted in support of the State of Florida's Federal 
Appropriations Request for Beach Nourishment. The federal and state/
local cost sharing averages 60/40 under the current authorization. The 
combined state and local share of this project will be an estimated 
$4,700,000. With these funds, a total of $104,815,404 will have been 
appropriated for the Pinellas County Beach Erosion Control Project 
since Fiscal Year 1986.
  St. Petersburg Sustainable Biosolids Management: Wastewater Sludge 
and Yard Waste to Renewable Energy
  Account: Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 
Projects
  Legal name and address of requesting entity: City of St. Petersburg, 
175 Fifth Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
  Description of request: $2,500,000 is included in the bill for the 
City of St. Petersburg for a sustainable biosolids management project 
to convert wastewater sludge and yard waste to renewable energy. 
Through a public-private partnership, St. Petersburg proposes to 
contract with a waste-to-renewable energy company that will build, own 
and operate a facility that will use City generated biostocks such as 
biosolids, yard and wood waste, grit and screenings to fuel a biomass 
gasification and energy facility located at the City's Southwest Waster 
Reclamation Facility. This proposal seeks to offset a portion of the 
capital cost to the City. It is expected that the gasification will 
convert a noxious waste to renewable energy, reduce city cost and 
pollution of waste disposal, treatment and transportation, generate 
renewable energy utilized by the city and potentially Eckerd College or 
other private customers, eliminate the release of methane gas and the 
potential of ground water pollution from landfills or land spreading. 
The city will provide a match of $1,309,650.
  St. Petersburg Solar Pilot Project
  Account: Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 
Projects
  Legal name and address of requesting entity: City of St. Petersburg, 
175 Fifth Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
  Description of request: $1,000,000 is included in the bill for the 
City of St. Petersburg to develop and implement a renewable and 
sustainable solar energy network to provide the electricity required to 
power 40 city parks. Through a collaboration with Progress Energy 
Florida and the University of South Florida Center for Utility 
Exploration, the city will be able to remove all of these parks from 
the city's power grid. Regional residents, visitors, commercial 
organizations and governmental agencies will benefit from the 
demonstration of a wide scale alternative energy technology that will 
reduce peak demand at power generation facilities, reduce greenhouse 
gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil. The City of St. Petersburg 
is uniquely situated to exploit cheap, clean renewable solar power and 
is committed to utilize the limitless resource to go solar at all of 
its City parks and eventually all operating facilities. The City of St. 
Petersburg has 137 parks occupying in excess of 2300 acres of public 
lands. All parks are served with a varying degree of overhead lighting 
for basic usage and security purposes. Forty of the parks have 
buildings that can accommodate the renewable energy system in terms of 
structural and orientation to the sun. Renewable energy technologies 
are seen as the only sustainable energy source for the future. However, 
solar energy can be intermittent in nature necessitating an energy 
storage medium or energy carrier to effectively use this energy. 
Through collaboration with Progress Energy Florida, Inc., and the USF 
Center for Utility Exploration, this project will consist of a 
photovoltaic energy system, an advanced energy storage battery system 
and appropriate control systems to make an integrated energy system 
that will supply a clean renewable energy when it is needed. The system 
will be interconnected with the power system of the host building. The 
system will store the solar energy in an advanced battery. The energy 
will then be used on-peak to reduce the maximum demand of the building. 
If the battery is not fully charged by the solar panels, off-peak 
energy from the grid can also be used to charge the battery for peak 
operation. This project will employ demand side management using both 
renewable energy and off-peak grid energy. The energy storage system 
will convert chemical energy into electrical energy. The chemical 
reaction within the storage system is reversible, thereby allowing the 
battery to be charged, discharged and recharged. The project will be 
used to pass on information and benefits about renewable energy. 
Students and the public will be engaged to learn from and understand 
the system functions and renewable energy benefits. The solar energy 
systems are proposed to generate sufficient energy to power the park 
lighting systems with any excess energy returned to the grid for 
offsets to city electrical expenses. Previous federal funding was 
provided for this project in Fiscal Year 2009 in the amount of 
$1,427,250. The City of St. Petersburg will provide a $500,000 match.
  Tampa Port Planning, Engineering and Design for future requirements
  Account: Army Corps of Engineers, Construction
  Legal name and address of requesting entity: Tampa Port Authority, 
1101 Channelside Drive, Tampa, FL 33602
  Description of request: $500,000 is included in the bill for the 
Tampa Port Authority for the continued planning, engineering, and 
design for a project to widen and deepen the Tampa shipping channel to 
allow for the safer passage of shipping traffic and to accommodate 
larger ships requiring a deeper draft. The Army Corps of Engineers 
completed a draft General Reevaluation Report (GRR) in 2008 which 
focuses on traffic congestion in the main Tampa Harbor channel where 
extensive delays occur due to lack of adequate channel width. The 40 
mile main federal channel handles traffic in and out of the entire 
Tampa Bay federal port system for the Ports of Tampa, Manatee and St. 
Petersburg. The ship channel is too narrow to allow for safe two-way 
vessel traffic due to the introduction of new longer and broader cruise 
ships. The impacts associated with having a restriction of this nature 
include vessels waiting at berth or at the sea buoy while large cruise 
ships transit the channel. The GRR concurs with the Tampa Port 
Authority and the port community that the resulting congestion causes 
safety hazards and economic inefficiencies and recommends widening 
select portions of the main channel. The GRR finds that vessel 
operation costs would be reduced, resulting in transportation cost 
savings, increased harbor safety and reduced cargo delivery delays. In 
addition, the continued reevaluation of the needs in the Tampa Harbor 
is necessary, to include deepening, in order to facilitate anticipated 
growth in trade as the Port of Tampa continues its steady growth and 
diversification. As Florida's largest cargo port, the Port of Tampa 
handles approximately 50 million tons of cargo per year. The Port of 
Tampa is also the largest economic engine in West Central Florida and 
the nation's 14th largest port in terms of short tons. The Port of 
Tampa generates an annual economic impact of almost $8 billion on the 
region which includes the contribution of over $570 million annually in 
state and local taxes. This project is authorized by three separate 
federal statutes: The Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 
2004 (P.L. 108-137); The Energy and Water Development Appropriations 
Act, 2005 (P.L. 108-447); and the Water Resources Development Act of 
2007 (P.L. 110-114). Previous funding for this project has been 
provided as follows: FY 2009--$478,000, FY 2008--$133,000, FY 2004--
$2,500,000, FY 2003--$200,000, FY 2002--$500,000, FY 2001--$300,000.
  Intracoastal Waterway Operation and Maintenance from Caloosahatchee 
River to Anclote River
  Account: Army Corps of Engineers, Operations and Maintenance
  Legal name and address of requesting entity: West Coast Inland 
Navigation District, P.O. Box 1845, Venice, FL 34284
  Description of request: $4,500,000 is included in the bill for the 
West Coast Inland Navigation District for the maintenance dredging of 
sections of the Intracoastal Waterway through six Florida counties, 
including Pinellas County. The 1945 Rivers and Harbors Act authorized 
the Intracoastal Waterway to be maintained at a width of 100-feet, and 
a depth of nine-feet between the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, 
near Ft. Myers, and the Anclote River, north of Tampa. The channel runs 
through six counties (Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, 
Charlotte, and Lee) and links natural deep-water sections of bays 
through a series of man-made channels, thereby providing for the safe 
passage of commercial goods and access to commercial fishing grounds. 
Dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway commenced in 1960 and was 
completed in 1967, at which time the West Coast Inland Navigation 
District began maintenance activities. This funding will support 
maintenance dredging for Longboat Pass (Manatee County), Venice Inlet 
(Sarasota County), mouth of Caloosahatchee River (Miserable Mile in Lee 
County), the Boca Grande Bayou area (Miller's Marina in Lee County),

[[Page E1750]]

and a section of the Intracoastal Waterway in Pinellas County just 
north of the Tampa Bay port shipping channel. Previous funding totaling 
$1,400,000 was included in FY 2004 and FY 2005 for the design, 
engineering, and permitting for this project and $1,215,000 was 
included in FY 2008 and $2,076,000 in FY 2009 for the initial dredging 
of this waterway.

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