|
TRANSPORTATION |
ASA PositionWaterways
Highway
|
|
Background Waterways Dredging - First and foremost, funding must be provided to allow the Lower Mississippi River to remain fully open for commerce. The inland waterways navigation system, especially the Mississippi River, is a vital asset in the movement of important commodities such as grain, coal, steel, petroleum and aggregate materials. In 2010, approximately 850 million bushels of soybeans were exported from the Mississippi Gulf region. This year, we have seen unprecedented levels of high water on the Mississippi River carrying millions of tons of silt and debris to the mouth of the River. As water levels begin to recede, an emergency situation has developed with significant silting and shoaling at the River’s mouth that imminently threatens the ability of vessels to enter and exit the river. Dredging of this critical artery must happen immediately, but there is a shortfall of funds. ASA also supports the Realize America’s Maritime Promise (RAMP) Act (H.R. 104) and the Harbor Maintenance Act of 2011 (S. 412). The goal of these bills is to establish a firewall around the monies collected via the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF). The HMT is collected as an ad valorem tax of .125% on imported cargo arriving into the United States. Over the last decade or so only about half the funds collected have actually been appropriated for their intended purposes, including maintenance dredging of deep waterways. The HMT generates about $1.5 billion annually while Congress has appropriated an average of about $735 million, with the unused funds added to the general treasury and used for other non-maritime projects. If the HMTF was fully applied to the approved projects, as originally intended, there would not be an annual shortfall of funding to dredge our nation’s waterways. Locks & Dams - A long-term plan, such as the Capital Development Plan, which was formulated by the waterways industry and Corps of Engineers, is needed to improve the program management and provide a sufficient and reliable funding mechanism. ASA urges that the Capital Development Plan be included in a Water Title of the Surface Transportation bill or in a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that is enacted this year. The lock and dam infrastructure on the Mississippi River system has exceeded its intended lifespan, is deteriorating and in danger of experiencing a catastrophic failure. The WRDA of 2007 authorized $2.2 billion 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 River. The authorized projects are supposed to be funded through annual appropriations and the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. However, little has been appropriated by Congress, the trust fund has a significant backlog, and a cumbersome and inefficient administrative process at the U.S. Army Corps has resulted in no progress on the modernization of the locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River System. To address this issue, ASA has endorsed a comprehensive Capital Development Plan originally 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 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. Highway The federal surface transportation law establishes the policy and funding for highway and transit programs. The bill is subject to reauthorization every 6 years and is overdue. Hours of Service Agricultural Exemption - The law currently exempts agricultural carriers from the hours-of-service regulations if they operated only within a 100-mile radius from their central base of operation. The flexibility provided by this exemption is needed in the agricultural industry during busy planting and harvest season, when seasons and weather patterns do not comply with normal work schedules. Planting and harvesting without this exemption would require a substantially larger fleet of trucks and drivers and result in higher costs to farmers and/or missed production opportunities. The hours of service exemption should be maintained for agriculture in the next Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill. Truck Weight Limits - ASA supports the provision to allow an increase in truck weight limits as proposed in H.R. 763, the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (SETA). The SETA provisions are carefully targeted to give states the option to selectively raise interstate weight limits for trucks equipped with six axles, instead of the typical five. The goal of SETA is to make U.S. truck transportation safer and more efficient. The U.S. federal weight limit has been set at 80,000 pounds since 1982. Many truck shipments meet this limit with significant space left in the trailer – forcing shippers to use more trucks and fuel than necessary. Studies by the U.S. DOT and Transportation Research Board have both determined that six-axle trucks traveling at 97,000 pounds do not lose stopping or handling capability, nor do they adversely affect our nation’s roads. In fact, the higher weight limit would cut the number of trucks needed for shipments—saving $2.4 billion in pavement restoration costs over 20 years, according to a U.S. DOT study. According to a soybean farmer funded study on truck weight limits, a 97,000 lb semi would accommodate 183 additional bushels of soybeans per load. In addition, a 97,000 lb semi would provide soybean farmers $1.2 million in fuel savings when diesel prices are $2 per gallon and $2.5 million in savings when diesel is $4 per gallon. By safely increasing the amount of freight each vehicle may carry, shippers can dramatically reduce the truckloads, vehicle miles and fuel they need to ship each ton of freight. SETA would also have a direct impact on highway safety. The biggest single factor in the number of truck accidents is vehicle miles traveled. By minimizing the vehicle miles any one company must travel, the legislation would make highways safer. In fact, since the United Kingdom raised its gross vehicle weight limit to 97,000 pounds for six-axle vehicles in 2001, fatal truck-related accident rates have declined by 35 percent. More freight has been shipped, while the vehicle miles traveled to deliver a ton of freight has declined. |