U.S Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Sam Graves (R-MO), the chair and ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, urged President Joe Biden to fully use the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund in his upcoming budget request.
Using the fund would allocate billions of dollars that has already been collected to the U.S. Corps of Engineers to use for maintenance of the country’s ports and harbors. Doing so would ensure the maritime transportation industry would remain open, creating jobs and helping to drive the economy. The industry supports more than $4 trillion in commerce and employs more than 23 million people, the Congressmen said.
In a letter to the President, the Congressmen said that the HMTF has an estimated $10 billion in unused funds and adds an additional $1.6 billion each year in collections. Additionally, the legislators said, the Water Resources Development Act passed in 2020 gives the President new tools to make the funds available to communities across the country.
“By taking advantage of these increased spending limits in your FY 2022 Budget Request and releasing these funds, you can maximize the capability of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to meet existing Federal harbor maintenance obligations and have an immediate positive benefit on our Nation’s economy and critical infrastructure,” DeFazio and Graves wrote. “Without raising any taxes, the Corps could spend significantly more funds to meet the growing maintenance dredging needs and ensure the continued competitiveness of our ports if we unlock the idle funds and begin the path towards full utilization of the HMTF, as provided for in WRDA 2020.”
Harbor Maintenance taxes are levied on maritime shippers using coastal and inland ports to maintain those ports and harbors. Using the HMTF would allow the Corps to meet the backlog of critical maintenance dredging in all U.S. ports and harbors, DeFazio and Graves wrote.
“Making these funds immediately available is an easy step to make commodities and goods produced in the U.S. more competitive in world markets, maintain the safety and reliability of our ports, and will restore the faith of those who pay into the HMTF,” the men said in their letter.