Bipartisan bill calls for full use of Harbor Maintenance Trust Funds

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives calling for full use of import shipping assessment funds collected for their targeted purpose – maintaining U.S. harbors and waterways.

H.R. 2396, the Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act, was introduced last week by five leading committee representatives, including House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chair Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Ranking Subcommittee Member Bruce Westermann (R-Ark) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Penn.).

The bill would make it easier for Congress to appropriate funds collected in the Trust Fund for authorized harbor maintenance. That would include access to an existing balance of $9.3 billion in funds not being used, and would enable $34 billion more in expenditures over the coming decade. It reportedly would enable the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge all federal harbors to their constructed widths and depths.

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