WASHINGTON: On May 25, ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), applauded the committee’s passage of critical legislation that will strengthen coastal communities, and create and sustain needed jobs. This legislation, the Water Resources Development Act of 2016, authorizes funding for Army Corps of Engineers navigation, flood control and environmental restoration projects, directly benefiting Oregon’s small ports.
“This bill is a huge victory for Oregon’s coastal communities,” DeFazio said. “This legislation will create and sustain jobs on the coast, make conditions safer for Oregon’s fishing and recreation industries, and boost our state and nation’s economic competitiveness. I am happy that the legislation includes my provision to guarantee that small ports will receive a minimum of $90 million annually and no less than 10 percent of the Corps’ overall Operations and Maintenance funding each year for critical infrastructure needs.
“Also, for the first time, it guarantees that funds collected in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund will not be diverted and will only be used for their intended purpose—harbor maintenance. I commend my colleagues for their bipartisan work and I look forward to moving this legislation through the House,” he said.
As a key negotiator on the bipartisan legislation, DeFazio successfully secured a provision that guarantees the nation’s small ports will permanently receive at least 10 percent of annual funding provided for dredging across the country. This set-aside will help to address the critical needs of small ports in Southwest Oregon, including those ports that are members of the South Coast Ports Coalition, and will generate additional revenue over time as Congress provides more funding to the Corps.
For years, the federal government has neglected to invest in our nation’s small ports and harbors, DeFazio said. He has fought repeatedly during his time in Congress to secure federal funds to dredge small ports along Oregon’s South Coast. In 2014, he secured a provision that temporarily boosted funding for small, emerging ports. The legislation passed on May 25 makes that provision permanent.
DeFazio also secured a provision that ensures 100 percent utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for harbor maintenance and dredging by 2027. When Congress created the HMTF, it was understood that that the fees and taxes collected from industry and deposited into the trust fund would be used to support the nation’s network of ports. Currently only about half of the funds collected through the HMTF are used for harbor maintenance. This legislation ensures that money intended to dredge the nation’s coastal and inland commercial ports actually goes towards the Corps’ backlog of projects, rather than being used as an offset for general government spending.
