Transportation Legislation News

An Inland River Transportation Caucus could help inland river transportation interests that are often misunderstood and greatly undervalued.For anyone doing business on the inland river transportation system, the goal is to keep the rivers open for business, the barges moving and the landside facilities efficient in order to keep America’s supply chain strong.To accomplish this, it takes the federal agencies that are charged with operating and maintaining inland rivers to have the support of congress, the funding congress allocates and legislation passed by congress.

Representative Daniel Webster (Fla.-10) issued the following statement after introducing new transportation legislation, H.R. “America’s transportation and infrastructure system is the backbone of our economy and is a critical element for growth and job creation. By prioritizing investable infrastructure, TIFIA 2.0 will improve access to affordable infrastructure financing for states and local governments, promote innovative public-private partnerships and accelerate delivery of large-scale public transportation projects and the jobs that support them.

Following the recent passing of former Cong. James Oberstar, American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) President and CEO Kurt Nagle described the past chair of the U.S. “In 2003, AAPA honored Cong. Oberstar with its prestigious ‘Port Person of the Year’ award for his many contributions to advancing America’s freight transportation system, including authoring or co-authoring six Water Resources Development Acts from 1986 to 2000, and various Coast Guard and Coastal Zone Management reauthorizations and amendments,” said Mr. Nagle. In March 2010, Cong. Oberstar returned to the AAPA stage as a keynote speaker to share his views about the importance of authorizing new surface transportation legislation.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), on behalf of its United States member seaports, expresses both encouragement and disappointment over the funding levels and programmatic changes in federal port-related programs proposed in the President’s FY 2015 budget. While the President’s budget proposal included funding for a new National Infrastructure Investment program, it also decreases funding for the Corps of Engineers’ modernization and maintenance programs for seaports and eliminates the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grant program.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) consider the FY 2014 Administration Budget contains mixed blessings for the industry. With the release today of President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)—representing seaports in the United States and throughout the Americas—stated there are both positive and concerning aspects of the budget pertaining to ports and the efficient and secure movement of freight. In regard to modernizing and maintaining America’s port navigation infrastructure, AAPA commends the Administration’s budget request for being $42 million higher than last year’s $848 million request for the coastal navigation portion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works Program.

Chairman Mica's vision for reauthorizing the nation's surface transportation legislation goes beyond the traditional "highway bill" approach and is expected to address road, rail, transit and maritime for a comprehensive solution to many of the transportation problems the nation faces. The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has urged the committee to include a maritime title in the transportation bill to address the harbor maintenance tax problem and navigation project development inefficiencies.

President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate David T. Matsuda, Administrator, Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation. David T. Matsuda has been serving as Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator of the United States Maritime Administration since July 2009. He is a transportation professional with more than a decade of experience in federal transportation policy, programs and oversight. Prior to his current position, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), where he served as a chief policy advisor and focused on issues including surface transportation reauthorization…