[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2243-E2244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 3648, THE HARBOR FAIRNESS ACT OF 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. TIMOTHY H. BISHOP

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2011

  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing 
legislation to ensure that future expenditures for the maintenance of 
commercial harbors are equitably distributed, so that all communities--
large and small--may optimize the economic benefits of their inland and 
coastal ports.
  Over the past few administrations, far more funds have been collected 
by the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund than have been expended on an 
annual basis--and unfortunately, the adverse signs of underfunding are 
becoming apparent. Year after year of insufficient maintenance dredging 
resources for coastal and inland ports has resulted in reduced depths 
at countless port facilities, and has all but passed over the dredging 
needs of moderately sized or smaller ports, such as Lake Montauk, in 
the New York's First Congressional District.
  In recent years, there has been a concerted effort in Congress to 
fully utilize harbor maintenance funds in the Harbor Maintenance Trust 
Fund for the purpose they were collected. I am a strong supporter of 
these efforts because I have seen, firsthand, the adverse impacts of 
shoaled harbors on local and regional economies. When local harbors 
become filled with sediment, the corresponding reduction of commercial 
shipping can have a significant adverse impact on the national, 
regional, and local economies, as well as on the jobs that are directly 
and indirectly related to ports and shipping.
  It is essential that Congress find a way to ensure that funds 
collected in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund be fully allocated--not 
only to ensure the viability of commercial shipping, but also to 
realize the jobs that can be created for port workers and dredgers, as 
well as through businesses that rely on local harbors for their 
livelihoods.
  However, even if annual collections to the Harbor Maintenance Trust 
Fund were fully utilized, there is reason to believe that, under the 
status quo decision process for where funds are expended, the needs of 
many of the moderate-to-small harbors would remain unmet.
  According to information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
(Corps), there is a significant backlog of maintenance dredging 
activities necessary to restore fully authorized project dimensions of 
existing commercial navigation projects. According to the Corps, the 
estimated annual maintenance cost to restore authorized projects to 
their full widths and depths is $2.3 billion during the first five 
years. Once this backlog is addressed, the Corps estimates that annual 
maintenance costs (for year 6 and beyond) would average around $1.8 
billion per year.
  Based on the Corps' projection on maintenance dredging needs, it 
appears that the annual operation and maintenance needs identified by 
the Corps exceed the amounts that have been collected, annually, by the 
Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. This means that, even if annual 
collections to the Trust Fund are fully allocated, there will be an 
unmet annual maintenance dredging need far into the future. It is that 
unmet annual maintenance dredging need that makes the Harbor Fairness 
Act of 2011 critical to mid-size and small commercial harbors, so that 
these harbors are not continually left behind.
  Over the past few years, I have heard numerous examples of commercial 
harbors that were passed over for critical maintenance dredging funds 
from the Corps, in essence, because insufficient funds were made 
available for maintenance dredging needs. However, in my view, it has 
been the mid-size and small commercial harbors that have been 
disproportionally impacted by the lack of annual maintenance dredging 
funds.
  For example, according to the Corps, the agency is currently 
responsible for maintenance dredging at 1,067 harbors, nationwide. Of 
this number, only 59 harbors (or 5 percent) are characterized as 
``high-use'' harbors--on those that use at least 10 million tons of 
commerce annually. The remaining 1,008 harbors that fall under the 
Corps' maintenance dredging responsibility are characterized as 
``moderate'' or ``low-use'' harbors.
  However, when you look at the President's budget request for the past 
two fiscal years, it is easy to see the disparity in funding 
allocations among these categories of harbors.
  For example, in the fiscal year 2012 budget request, ``high-use'' 
harbors received 66 percent of available funds, while ``low-use'' 
harbors received only 6 percent of the funds. This would mean that, 
under the status quo process for allocating maintenance dredging 
funding--which has been followed by both Democratic and Republican 
Presidential administrations--approximately 5 percent of eligible 
harbors received over 66 percent of the funds made available from the 
Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.
  Mr. Speaker, as the Representative of a Congressional district with 
small commercial harbors, the status quo must change.
  To my community, the benefit of small and mid-size commercial harbors 
to the local economy is not proportional to their size. As a witness 
from New York's First Congressional District, Ms. Bonnie Brady, 
testified before the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, 
the small commercial fishing ports on Long Island are responsible for 
99 percent of New York's landed seafood catch--worth over $49 million 
dollars at the dock.
  That is why I am introducing the Harbor Fairness Act of 2011. This 
legislation attempts to balance the operation and maintenance needs of 
all commercial harbors, regardless of size, and to ensure that funding 
is equitably distributed between high-, moderate-, and low-use 
facilities.
  First, the Harbor Fairness Act of 2011 would require the Corps to 
assess, on a biennial basis, the overall dredging needs of those 
commercial harbors that it is responsible for, including harbors used 
for commercial navigation, fishing, subsistence, domestic energy 
production, recreation, the transport of persons, and navigation 
safety.
  This legislation would require the Corps to report its findings on 
operation and maintenance needs to the authorizing Committees of the 
House of Representatives and the Senate, as part of the President's 
budget submission to Congress. This information would be critical for 
Congress to comprehensively understand the overall operation and 
maintenance needs of all commercial harbors, as well as that portion of 
the national dredging need that would

[[Page E2244]]

be deferred to future years due to lack of available funding.
  In addition, the Harbor Fairness Act of 2011 would require the 
Administration to identify future allocations of operation and 
maintenance funds, on a harbor-by-harbor basis. This information will 
allow commercial harbors to more accurately plan future operation and 
maintenance expenditures, both short-term and long-term, and more 
efficiently make critical decisions on the most efficient way to 
maintain safe commercial shipping at local harbors.
  The central focus of the Harbor Fairness Act of 2011 is the 
requirement that expenditures for maintenance dredging is equitably 
allocated among all eligible commercial harbors. To accomplish this, 
the legislation requires the Secretary of the Army: (1) to utilize the 
information obtained from the assessment of dredging needs; (2) to 
consider the national and regional significance of harbor operation and 
maintenance; and (3) to make allocation decisions on factors beyond 
simply the amount of cargo tonnage transiting through a commercial 
harbor.
  While the Corps is completing its assessment of national maintenance 
dredging needs, this legislation establishes a short-term, minimum 
allocation for maintenance dredging at midsize and small commercial 
harbors. The 40 percent guaranteed allocation for mid-size and small 
commercial harbors for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 represents only a 
modest increase in the allocation for these harbors over the previous 
two fiscal years (33.7 percent in fiscal year 2012 and 33.4 percent for 
fiscal year 2011), in part to address the disproportionate backlog 
faced by mid-size and small commercial harbors.
  In addition, this mandatory allocation of 40 percent is temporary, 
and will be replaced in fiscal year 2014 by an allocation based on the 
actual maintenance dredging needs of all harbors, as identified by the 
Corps.
  Mr. Speaker, the Harbor Fairness Act of 2011 recognizes the 
fundamental importance of all commercial harbors to the national, 
regional, and local economies. It calls for fairness in the allocation 
of critical maintenance dredging funds among large-, moderate-, and 
small-commercial harbors. But, most of all, it recognizes the 
importance of the nation's ports to America and to American workers. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this very important 
legislation.

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