AIIS: US Port System Needs Dredging

In welcoming Congress back from its Easter Recess, AIIS (American Institute for International Steel) urges Congress to action on a pressing need to pass the Water Resources Development Act, with a particular focus on the provision that would require the full expenditure of funds collected under the Harbor Maintenance Fee for the purpose for which it has always been intended – dredging and maintenance of our blue and brown water ports.

“AIIS is encouraged by the supportive, bi-partisan tone at Senator Boxer’s committee hearing about the full expenditure of HMF collections for dredging and the growing support in both the House and the Senate. We believe it is now time for Congress to act, as dredging had been underfunded for so long that over $7 billion have built up in the HMF Trust Fund. The year-after-year underfunding of this critical task of the federal government has significant costs for our economy and it is time for the government to spend the money for the purpose for which it is collected,” said John Foster, Chairman, AIIS.

Chairman of AIIS’s Ports Committee and CEO of South Jersey Port, Kevin Castagnola, continued, “Every time a vessel’s draft is decreased by one foot due to inadequate dredging, shippers have to bear an additional $1 million in additional shipping costs. In a recovering economy such as ours, this type of unnecessary cost burden will negatively affect job creation and manufacturing productivity. This is a serious problem as described in an analysis by the Corps of Engineers. The Corps of Engineers stated that fully authorized channel dimensions are only available less than 35 percent of the time at 59 of the highest-use harbors in the US. These costs are real and a serious competitive problem — directly the result not allocating the HMF solely to dredging as the law states.”

“As President of Kurt Orban Partners, a steel trading company involved in the import and export of steel products, I, and other AIIS members live in a highly competitive world and our competitiveness is seriously negatively affected by the lack of proper port channels. Reaching President Obama’s goal of doubling exports, for example, is made more difficult with a less competitive port system. Shippers pay this fee for dredging and maintenance and we should expect to have it spent properly. We encourage Congress to pass the WRDA with a mandate or otherwise, H.R. 335,” concluded Mr. Foster.

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Press Release, April 9, 2013