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TRANSPORTATION |
ASA PositionWaterways The Capital Development Plan is supported by 150 industry stakeholders as a way to fund the navigation system. The proposed recommendations and report prioritize navigation projects across the entire system, improve the Corps of Engineers’ project management and processes to deliver projects on time and on budget, and recommends an increase in the 20-cents-per-gallon fuel tax currently paid by the barge and towing industry to fund the projects. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) authorization enacted in 2007 included authorization for the upgrade and construction of locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. However, the sufficient funding for the projects has not been available through the annual federal appropriations process or the existing Inland Waterways Trust Fund. Rail Highway ASA supports maintaining the hours of service exemption that currently exists for agricultural producers. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has called for repeal of the hours of service exemption. ASA is also monitoring the truck weight limit issues to ensure that the federal weight limit laws are set appropriately. |
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Background Waterways – The last Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) reauthorization was enacted in 2007. The legislation authorized $2.2 billion in funding for construction of new 1,200-foot locks at Locks 20, 21, 22, 24 and 25 on the Upper Mississippi and at LaGrange and Peoria Locks on the Illinois. An additional $1.7 billion was authorized for ecosystem restoration. Our lock and dam system was constructed as New Deal projects to handle 600 feet long barges. Nearly 60 years later today’s barge tows are double the size at 1200 feet, requiring the tow to be split and sent through one section at a time. Making the necessary upgrades to improve the Mississippi and Illinois waterways would also create and protect jobs. The projects are typically funded through the annual federal appropriations and the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. However, little has been appropriated by Congress and the trust fund has a backlog that would significantly postpone improvements to the locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River System. To address this issue, ASA has endorsed a comprehensive Capital Development Plan formulated by the waterways industry and Corps of Engineers to improve the U.S. inland navigation system over the next 20 years. This Capital Development Plan, if enacted, will better address the needs of the entire inland waterways navigation system and provide more dollars for greatly needed infrastructure improvements. The Capital Development Plan is supported by 150 industry stakeholders as a way to fund the navigation system. The proposed recommendations and report prioritize navigation projects across the entire system, improve the Corps of Engineers’ project management and processes to deliver projects on time and on budget, and recommend a funding mechanism that is affordable and meets the system’s needs.
The recommendations add a cost-share cap on all new lock construction projects that would preserve the Inland Waterways Trust Fund by preventing the industry from having to fund significant cost overruns. The plan also calls for an increase in the 20-cents-per-gallon fuel tax currently paid by the barge and towing industry to improve the future viability and efficiency of the inland waterways system. Railroads – Since the Staggers Rail Act deregulated the rail industry in 1980, Class I railroads have reduced 50% of their track – from 200,000 miles to 100,000 miles. Due to railroad mergers, the number of Class I railroads have plunged from 42 in 1980 to six today – with four majors - Union Pacific/Southern Pacific and the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe in the West; CSX/Conrail and Norfolk Southern/Conrail in the East. These four Class I railroads own 90 percent of the track and control over 94 percent of rail revenue. With this concentration of railroad marketing power, the agricultural producers find themselves increasingly captive to the railroads. As the captivity levels have increased, the quality of rail service to agriculture has declined, while the cost of that service has increased significantly. Soybean producers and virtually all agricultural production are impacted by the lack of rail competition. To bring about relief for rail shippers, ASA supports reforms with a particular emphasis on reform of the Surface Transportation Board (STB). The STB regularly emphasizes railroad revenue needs and protections over the interests of shippers and the need for competition in the marketplace. As a result of minimal effective oversight by the STB, railroad behavior in the marketplace and business relations between railroads and their customers have been adversely affected. These inadequacies extend to the producer of the agricultural goods as well in the form of lower prices due to higher freight rates or lack of available space to transport their product. ASA is also participating in the Soy Transportation Coalition and monitoring rail competition legislation introduced in Congress. Highway |