By Mark Edward Nero
The US Senate on May 22 voted 91-7 to approve $12.3 billion
legislation that authorizes spending on infrastructure projects to boost US
ports and waterways. The House of Representatives approved the same bill on a
412-4 vote earlier in the week.
The approval by both chambers of Congress now means that the
bill, HR 3080, commonly known as the Water Resources Reform &
Development Act of 2014, now goes before President Obama, who is expected to sign
the bill into law.
The bill, which is the first major US waterways legislation
in seven years, authorizes 34 projects across the country, including dredging
at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
The measure identifies more than $12 billion worth of new
water infrastructure projects, particularly on the East Coast and in the South,
and authorizes funding for them, including flood protection, ecosystem
restoration and maintenance of ports and navigation routes for commerce and the
movement of goods.
“The Water Resources Reform Development Act makes an
important advancement toward a more equitable allocation of harbor maintenance
dollars,” Port of LA Interim Executive Director Gary Lee Moore said in a
prepared statement provided by the port. “The customers of the Port of Los
Angeles are the single largest contributor to the Harbor Maintenance Trust
Fund, so we’re pleased to see the bill expand uses to fund port maintenance
projects.”
In addition to authorizing crucial port projects, the bill
reforms the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to increase port investment. Despite
significant maintenance needs at some US ports, only roughly half of the taxes
collected in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund each year are actually used for
port maintenance activities.
The legislation calls for full expenditure of all revenues
collected in the Trust Fund by 2025.