The Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) Act, H.R. 2440, advanced in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 28.
The legislation would enable Congress to appropriate $34 billion over the next decade to restore America’s federal navigation channels to their originally-constructed widths and depths.
The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) this week commended House lawmakers for passing a bill that would allow for full utilization of fees collected HMTF for maintaining U.S. harbors and ports at their authorized depths.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, over the next decade, the act would enable $34 billion deposited into the HMTF to be accessed and spent for its collected and intended purpose --namely, dredging U.S. harbors to their constructed specifications.
“The fact that more than $9 billion has been collected and deposited in the HMTF, but gone unspent for its intended purpose, is a fiscal disservice to those that pay the 0.125% ad valorem tax on the value of cargo imports,” says NGFA after the House vote. “H.R. 4220 will allow those dollars to be spent on much-needed dredging at the nation’s ports to help partially restore some of the United States’ comparative transportation advantage, which is essential to capturing export market opportunities that contribute to U.S. economic growth.”
NGFA outlined its support of H.R. 2440, sponsored by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., in an Oct. 25 letter to the committee’s leadership.
NGFA also encouraged its members to send letters to their members of Congress in support of the legislation. Chairman DeFazio referenced NGFA’s support for this legislation as it was debated on the House floor.
