|
In this
issue: WRDA conference concludes with good news
for dredge fleet, Section 214 PNWA has
received information from multiple reliable sources that WRDA conferees have
agreed on the final version of WRDA 2007. The conference committee report is
expected to be signed on Monday. The bill will then need to be voted on by
both the House and Senate, which may occur as early as next week, or after
Congress returns from August recess. Once the full House and Senate approve
the measure, it will head to the President�s desk for his signature. � Restrictions
lifted on dredges Essayons
and Yaquina � After
literally decades of work by PNWA, our members and the Northwest
Congressional delegation, we are pleased to report that the conference
committee agreed to lift operating restrictions on the West Coast dredges Essayons and Yaquina. This
will allow the Corps of Engineers to operate the two dredges to maximize
their efficiency, and will help address dredging costs, response to emergencies
and the reliability of navigation channels up and down the West Coast. � PNWA
began working this issue in the 1980s. Congress reduced the Corps hopper
fleet to four dredges in 1978. In subsequent years, they put restrictions on
their use, ultimately reducing work days for the Yaquina to 178 days per year
and to 180 for the Essayons.
After PNWA completed its dredge fleet study, which was confirmed by the GAO,
the Corps added 12 work days to the Essayons'
schedule a few years ago. Since then, we have been working to accomplish the
goal of completely eliminating artificial restrictions on the use of these
two dredges. � Over the
years, PNWA staff past and present played the lead role in keeping the
federal fleet alive. In the early 1990s, Dan James led a national dredge
fleet coalition that resisted efforts to further decrease or eliminate work
for the federal fleet. Louise Bray led the effort to secure funding from the
Oregon Economic and Community Development Department and several PNWA members
to complete PNWA's dredge fleet study, which
demonstrated the economic benefits of removing the operating restrictions.
The PNWA study then informed the GAO study, which confirmed our conclusions
and played a major role in Congressional deliberations. Since then, Kristin
Meira, PNWA's Government Relations Director, led
the west coast dredge fleet coalition in working with Congress to accomplish
this long-term and hard-fought goal, securing matching House and Senate WRDA
bill language earlier this year. � All
Northwest Congressional delegation members, plus Senators Boxer and Feinstein
of California have been supportive over the years. We are especially
appreciative of the leadership demonstrated by Sens.
Wyden, Murray, Crapo and Boxer and from Reps. DeFazio, Hooley, Baird and
Dicks. Thank you, one and all for contributing to this success. � Section
214 permit funding authority extended to 2009 � We have
learned that the conferenced WRDA bill contains an
extension to 2009 for Section 214, the authority for ports, cities and other
nonfederal government agencies to contribute funds to the Corps to expedite
permitting. While this extension is a positive move forward, it is not the
outcome that was supported by many PNWA members, as well as nearly the entire
Northwest Congressional delegation. The House version of WRDA would have
extended Section 214 authority through 2010, and the Senate bill would have
made the authority permanent. It is very unusual for the conferees to agree
on a �compromise� position outside the range of the two bills, and in fact
represents less than what was in the two bills. However, we understand that
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L.
Oberstar (D, MN-8) has long taken issue with the program, and in fact was
initially inclined to eliminate the program altogether.� As a result of the work of PNWA and our
members, combined with strong support from the Northwest Congressional
delegation, Section 214 avoided termination several times in the past, and
again in this bill.� PNWA would like to
thank Rep. Baird and Sen. Murray for their leadership on this issue, and the
entire Northwest delegation for their ongoing support for this important
program. � Our
success with the dredge fleet demonstrates that PNWA can win prolonged battles.
Preserving the Section 214 program in the face of powerful opposition is a
victory, and we intend to demonstrate the value of this authority if hearings
are held on the matter. We urge our members and the Members of Congress who
have worked so hard on this issue to maintain your commitment. Section 214 is
a clear success story in the Northwest, providing valuable support to underfunded Corps regulatory branches which are
overloaded with permit applications. And, as the GAO study showed, it is
helping advance environmental restoration projects as much it advances
economic development projects. � Making
Section 214 authority permanent will continue to be a top priority for PNWA.
We look forward to working with Chairman Oberstar and others who would like
to hear more about the program. We also look forward to understanding exactly
what objections exist with regard to the authority, and working together in a
collaborative manner to address these issues such that the Corps and
stakeholders can finally enjoy the predictability that would come from having
this authority made permanent. Other
PNWA priority policy provisions � PNWA
supported eight other policy issues in WRDA. We have initial reports of
success on several of these provisions, and will report on them when the
committee report is released.� For more
information about WRDA, please visit www.pnwa.net
and click on �Water Resources Development Act�. PNWA
Staff Contact: Kristin
Meira Pacific Northwest Waterways Association www.pnwa.net |
|
|
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������