House T&I Committee and AAPA praise passing of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020

Leadership for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) praised the passing of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020 by the House of Representatives this week.

The bipartisan WRDA’s origins go back to 2014, and it has been passed on a biennial basis since then. Key components of the legislation include: provisions to invest in United States ports, harbors, and inland waterways; building more resilient communities; addressing affordability concerns for communities; unlocking the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF); and ensuring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers carries out projects in an economically and environmentally responsible manner, with equity in mind, according to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR).

A major component of this legislation for supply chain stakeholders is the language related to the HMTF, which is comprised of revenues collected annually from importers and domestic shippers for deep-draft navigation maintenance dredging and the operation and maintenance of large and small ports. The AAPA has long maintained that

The HMTF has long been a source of contention for port authorities, because it has historically taken in more revenue from shippers than Congress has appropriated to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain U.S. harbors. And in October 2019, DeFazio explained that $9.3 billion in already collected revenue was idle in the U.S. Treasury and not being used for its intended purchase of investing in the nation’s ports and harbors.

“At the same time, some ports and harbors of all sizes struggle to remain competitive in the global shipment of goods and services or remain open to meet the needs of the communities that depend on a vibrant maritime and commercial fishing industry,” he said at the time. “While shippers continue to pay into the Trust Fund for congressionally-approved maintenance activities, the federal government has not carried out many of them.”

The recently-approved House version of WRDA unlocks the HMTF by providing the authority to appropriate $2 billion in additional funds annually for harbor maintenance needs from the existing balance in the Trust Fund, according to a summary by the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. And it added that when combined with previously enacted provision from the CARES Act, WRDA 2020 also will provide expenditures of approximately $3.5 billion to $4.0 billion in annual port maintenance expenditures.

AAPA President and CEO Chris Connor said in a statement that the organization was very pleased to see the 2020 WRDA get finalized, specifically the HMTF provision, which he said represents the culmination of years of effort by the AAPA and its members, as well as its stakeholders and partners.

AAPA officials also lauded three of the four HMTF elements included in the WRDA 2020 legislation, which it referred to as “pillars,” including: increased funding and expanded uses for HMT “donor” ports (ones with naturally deep channels that require little to no traditional maintenance); funding assurances for Great Lakes port and harbor projects; and funding assurances for projects in “emerging harbors” (those handling fewer than 1 million tons of cargo per year). 

And it also noted that its AAPA’s remaining HMT pillar—full spending of the prior year’s HMT annual revenues—was addressed earlier this year in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which passed on March 27, with the HMT provision taking effect on Jan. 1, 2021. It explained that the 2020 WRDA expands this to include the roughly $9.3 billion of unspent tax collections in the HMTF, which it said is a major expansion to address the significant backlog of navigation maintenance needed in harbors throughout the country.

“Making all designated revenue available from the HMTF is a giant plus to provide for proper navigation maintenance nationwide,” said Connor. “It’ll also ensure safe and efficient freight movement to continue America’s leadership position in global trade, grow our economy and increase jobs that pay family-supporting wages.”