Budget Proposal

USACE Programs Come Under Bush Gaze

The Bush administration may require independent reviews of Army Corps of Engineers' plans for projects that are expensive or controversial to avoid a repeat of the Mississippi River dams study that was found rigged in favor of the project. "The administration is evaluating additional steps, including the need for independent review of Corps planning reports involving controversial or costly projects," the White House said in its fiscal 2002 budget proposal. The Corps is responsible for building dams, flood plains and other public works projects. The president's proposed budget for the federal government included $3.9 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers, a 14 percent cut from last year. The National Academy of Sciences was to issue a study later on Wednesday analyzing the Corps' handling of a billion-dollar project to upgrade aging locks and dams on the Mississippi River. A U.S. special counsel recently accused top Corps officials of manipulating data in a pre-construction study to justify the huge public works project that would create jobs for the agency and please farm and shipping groups. Environmentalist groups contend the Corps' study was based on inflated estimates of future barge traffic on the Mississippi River, and that the construction project would threaten wildlife. On Tuesday, Corps chief Major Gen. Robert Flowers told a Senate subcommittee the agency would delay releasing a draft study on the Mississippi River project until September. Republican Sen

Organizations Shoot Down Budget with HSF

The Administration's FY 01 budget request for the USACE' Civil Works program calls for nearly $1 billion in new taxes on the maritime industry to fund a Harbor Services Fund (HSF). The Administration has proposed a replacement for the Harbor Maintenance Tax, which the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in March 1998, with a new tax on commercial vessels that use federal navigation channels in U.S. harbors. A variety of maritime organizations reacted strongly to inclusion of the HSF

Navy Budgets for Future Force

President Bush submitted his 2007 fiscal year (FY) budget request to Congress recently, which included the Navy's $127 billion budget proposal. The president's budget request was also accompanied by the recently released Department of Defense's Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The Navy's proposed budget boasts a $4.4 billion increase from last year's baseline appropriations. If approved, the FY07 - FY11 budget provides the necessary funding levels to sustain current readiness

Port Industry Urges Congress To Fund Investments

During testimony today before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, port director Erik Stromberg urged Congress to provide adequate funding for deep draft navigation projects. Stromberg is executive director of the North Carolina State Ports Authority in Wilmington, N.C. He testified on behalf of the American Association of Port Authorities, a trade association representing ports in the Western Hemisphere.

Navy Budget Proposal Causes Commotion on Capitol Hill

Just when it seemed as though the U.S. Navy, which has served more than any other military sector as the budget whipping post in the post Cold War era, was positioned to attract long overdue funds, the budget rug was once again pulled. In proposing a Pentagon budget of $379 billion … a $48 billion increase … the Bush administration has again shorted the U.S. Navy. Reaction from Capitol Hill was swift and without censor, as lawmakers and lobbying groups weighed in with equal fury

Senator Nelson Calls for More Security Money

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson called on Congress and the administration to do more to sufficiently fund port security or risk a potentially devastating attack at one of the nation's coastal sites believed to be highly vulnerable to terrorists. Without more funds for seaport security, Nelson told port officials in Tampa today, the United States won't be able to significantly increase the inspection rate of arriving shipping containers, which is now at just 3 percent.

Proposal to Increase U.S. vessel Tonnage Duties

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure issued a Press Release stating that, as part of the budget reconciliation process, it will propose that vessel tonnage duties be increased. Under the proposal, the duty on a vessel arriving from a foreign port in North America, Central America, the West Indian Islands, and the Bahamas Islands would be increased from 2 cents per ton to 4.5 cents per ton, not to exceed 22.5 cents per ton in a single year

Civil Works Budget Proposes $4.06 Billion Program

President Clinton's budget transmitted to Congress includes $4.06 billion for the USACE Civil Works program. In addition the program will include $322 million in non-federal contributions and trust fund receipts. Funding in this request will be used to continue the development of the nation's water resources, the efficient operations, maintenance and management of the nation's navigation, flood damage reduction, and multiple-purpose projects, the equitable regulation of wetlands

No Leg Left to Stand On -- An Obituary for MarAd?

Unless things change dramatically, I am writing as the last Deputy Administrator of the Maritime Administration (MarAd). At least the MarAd we have known, sometimes loved, but always needed for the last 50 years. As I look at the Administration's budget proposals to transfer management of the Maritime Security Program (MSP) to the Department of Defense (DOD) and eliminate funding for the Title XI shipbuilding loan guarantee program

US Rep. Expects Congress to Add Ships to Defense Budget

U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., said that lawmakers will try to add extra ships to the Navy budget, in addition to whatever the Pentagon requests, The Marketplace reported. Taylor said that President George W. Bush isn't fully focused on military needs as the White House prepares its 2008 budget proposal. As a result, Congress ought to use earmarks or other tools to step in, he said. Taylor is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and leads its subcomittee in charge of