House OKs Bill Authorizing Improvements at Ports Ahead of Panama Canal Expansion

This story appears in the Oct. 28 print edition of Transport Topics.

The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed legislation authorizing dredging and other improvements at ports to accommodate massive cargo ships that are expected to come through a widened Panama Canal.

The measure — the Water Resources Reform Development Act — was approved on a 417-3 vote Oct. 23 and authorizes the work to be done by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The bill now goes to a House-Senate conference committee to work through differences with the Senate’s water reauthorization bill that passed in May.

Those involved with ports and international trade hailed the vote as a welcome milestone.

Kurt Nagle, president of the American Association of Port Authorities, was among those pointing out that Congress has not passed a water transportation reauthorization bill since 2007.

“More than a quarter of America’s annual GDP is based on the value of goods that transit in and out of our ports,” Nagle said in a statement.

“In order to keep our economic recovery progressing, we must ensure these goods can move efficiently, without avoidable and costly delays caused by inadequate or poorly maintained infrastructure,” he said.

Among the ports the Army Corps of Engineers could work on dredging are Savannah, Ga., Jacksonville, Fla., and Freeport, Texas.

Once the widened Panama Canal is opened in 2015, larger cargo ships will be able to navigate the waterway. The ships, however, will require deeper harbors in which to dock.

Although the legislation would give the Corps of Engineers the green light to authorize $8.2 billion worth of new projects, it contains no funding for them or for many of the projects approved years ago.

Unlike highway reauthorization bills, water bills are not supported by a dedicated trust fund. To fund these projects, Congress must pass separate legislation.

The bill, which also authorizes flood control and other river infrastructure, does allow for public-private partnerships to pay for projects and (over the objections of most Democrats) streamlines environmental review processes.

Republicans in the House argued that environmental reviews slow down projects and explain why the Corps of Engineers is backlogged with authorized but uncompleted projects.

“Lack of funding is the reason for the backlog, not the lack of streamlining,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said in response to the Republicans.

DeFazio was among the Democrats who tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to restore some of the environmental review steps the measure eliminates.

Democrats and Republicans noted the bipartisan cooperation that produced the bill, which they said would boost America’s economic competitiveness.