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Center For Ports And Waterways News

18 Feb 2015

The Quest to Fund Inland Waterways

Infrastructure Projects: Perhaps Not So Quixotic After All? Over the course of 2014, significant steps forward were taken in the quest to find additional sources of funding for inland waterways infrastructure projects. First came the long awaited and much-celebrated Water Resources, Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA) in June, which included several provisions to address the funding needs of the ever-worsening condition of the inland waterways infrastructure. WRRDA eased…

26 Nov 2014

WRRDA: Clearing the Channel for P3 Projects

Earlier this year, the U.S. maritime industry in general, and the inland waterways industry in particular, celebrated the long-awaited passage of the Water Resources, Reform and Development Act of 2014. Among the accomplishments of this legislation were provisions to address the funding needs of the ever-worsening condition of the inland waterways infrastructure. Among these provisions are Sections 2004 and 5014 of WRRDA. Of the two provisions, the public-private partnership (P3) pilot program under Section 5014 has received substantially more attention in the maritime press and at industry conferences than have the studies of federally tax-exempt bonds and potential sources of additional revenue for the IWTF under Section 2004.

03 Jul 2014

WRRDA: Charting a New Course

Out of a Congress long on budgetary constraints and short on bipartisanship has come the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA)—and by wide margins, no less. In my more cynical moments, I am tempted to think that this is because the marine transportation industry is so invisible to most members of Congress that they do not consider it to be worth fighting over. My better self knows that WRRDA is here because our cause is just and our arguments compelling. (Chairman Shuster should receive a MacArthur Fellowship just for the drawing graphic, which is now everywhere. In case you missed it, check it out at http://transportation.house.gov/wrrda).

16 Jun 2009

U.S. Waterways: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Study

Acting for the National Waterways Foundation (NWF), the Center for Ports and Waterways at the Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, has amended their 2007 study, “A Modal Comparison of Freight Transportation Effects on the General Public” to include a comparison of  Green House Gas (GHG) emissions between inland river barge transportation, highway and rail transportation. The research team focused on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are currently the focus of the public policy debate on Green House Gasses. Using EPA parameters, the team calculated how much CO2 is emitted per ton mile for each mode. Emissions per ton mile are those emissions experienced in moving one ton of cargo one mile.

10 Jan 2005

DHS Names Maritime Security Advisory Committee Members

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today announced the appointment of the following individuals to serve on the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee. "On behalf of Secretary Ridge, I am delighted to welcome these advisors to our team," said Admiral Thomas H. Collins, commandant of the Coast Guard. The advisory committee has been established to provide advice to the Department of Homeland Security via the U.S. Coast Guard on matters such as national maritime security strategy and policy, actions required to meet current and future security threats, international cooperation on security issues, and security concerns of the maritime transportation industry as mandated by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. Joseph H. Thomas E. John C.