The Marine Transportation System and the Federal Role Measuring Performance, Targeting Improvement -- Special Report 279 (2004) / Chapter Skim
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3 Federal Roles in Marine Transportation
3 Federal Roles in Marine Transportation
Pages 64-91
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From page 64... ...
The federal government's influence on the MTS is multifaceted and far-reaching. Federal policies and programs concerning international trade, agricultural production, and many other areas affect the demand for and supply of marine transportation services, the structure of the maritime industry, and the efficiency with which it operates.
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From page 65... ...
ENSURING MARINE SAFETY The U.S. Coast Guard is the principal federal agency responsible for the safety of marine operations.
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From page 66... ...
More than 12,000 ships from over 140 nations, representing about 40 percent of the world's merchant fleet, participate in AMVER.1 Many of the Coast Guard's provisions and procedures for search and res cue conform with long-standing international agreements, such as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea and the International Convention on Search and Rescue. These conventions were developed with Coast Guard participation through the International Maritime Organiza tion (IMO)
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From page 67... ...
contributes to the train ing of qualified mariners through its support of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and by administering federal aid to six state maritime acade mies.
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From page 68... ...
On inland waterways, NWS tracks river levels and icing conditions. It operates river forecast centers, which provide flood warnings for hundreds of river locations.
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From page 69... ...
For instance, well-designed tankers that oper ate safely are less likely to have accidents that harm crew or to become involved in oil and chemical spills that damage the environment. In this regard, the Coast Guard's extensive regulatory, programmatic, and oper ating responsibilities to provide for safe marine transportation also have environmental benefits.
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From page 70... ...
Marine Pollution Prevention and Response Oil and chemical spills into inland and coastal waters and at sea are major environmental threats associated with marine transportation. Ever since the Oil Pollution Act of 1924, the Coast Guard has had a prominent role in regulating and responding to the release of oil in U.S.
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From page 71... ...
Through this program, NOAA provides states, local govern ments, and port authorities with technical guidance and information on coastal management. Finally, NOAA is responsible for protecting marine fisheries, habitats, and endangered species through a number of programs and services, including the National Marine Fisheries Service.
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From page 72... ...
EPA shares or has sole implementing authority for many other acts that affect marine transporta tion, such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. Even its implementation of the Clean Air Act can have important implications for marine transportation, because the operation of vessels and motor vehicles in urban port complexes is subject to EPA pollution monitoring and air quality attainment standards.
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From page 73... ...
Navigable Channels The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the chief federal agency responsible for ensuring that inland, coastal, and harbor channels support the nation's navigation needs.
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From page 74... ...
The corps is responsible for keeping the inland waterways free of hazards and pollution, mapping the waterways, and supplying and maintaining channel navigation markers and aids. Its roles in planning, building, regulating, maintaining, and operating the inland waterways give the corps one of the most comprehensive sets of responsibilities for civil infra structure management in the federal government -- perhaps surpassed only by the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's)
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From page 75... ...
The VTS centers provide marine advisories and traffic information; they also advise on routing and vessel separation distances. The Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972 and the Port and Tanker Safety Act of 1978 authorize the Coast Guard to establish vessel traffic management schemes for U.S.
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From page 76... ...
Port authorities and other local interests pay for the PORTS installations as well as their operating costs, while NOAA provides the raw data and sets standards for interoperability. NOAA is promoting PORTS as a means to improve marine safety by reducing collisions and groundings.
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From page 77... ...
PROMOTING NATIONAL SECURITY A long-standing security concern of marine transportation shippers and carriers is preventing cargo theft and vandalism. Another is the use of the MTS for illegal immigration and the entry of illegal drugs and other contraband.
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From page 78... ...
In passing the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) , Congress called on the Coast Guard to develop a National Maritime Transportation Security Plan aimed at ensuring that all ports, facilities, and vessels have comprehensive security plans and incident response capa bilities.
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From page 79... ...
Merchant Marine Academy and administers federal aid to six state maritime academies. 2www.cpb.gov/xp/cgov/import/commercial_enforcement/ctpat/.
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From page 80... ...
. Also with regard to military use of the MTS, the Department of Defense's Transportation Command and its component Army Military Traffic Management Command, Navy Military Sealift Command, and Air Force Military Airlift Command have plans and programs in place to ensure adequate marine transportation capacity for military needs, both on the land- and the watersides.
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From page 81... ...
Perhaps more than in any other area of federal responsibility, means have emerged for agencies to coordinate marine security. By bringing the Coast Guard, TSA, the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, and several other agencies with security-related missions into DHS, Congress expressly sought to integrate the programs of federal agencies with trans portation and homeland security missions.
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From page 82... ...
Numerous federal agencies have environmen tal protection responsibilities that impinge on the MTS, in part because environmental concerns often transcend traditional economic and orga nizational divisions. The protection of wetlands and their ecosystems, for instance, can affect the port and marine transportation community, but wetlands protection is a broader federal goal that requires the involve ment of interests and federal entities outside the marine and transporta tion domains.
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From page 83... ...
The federal Interagency Committee for the Marine Transportation System (ICMTS) , which meets two or three times per year, draws members from at least 18 federal agencies with responsibilities related to the MTS.
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From page 84... ...
FUNDING FEDERAL MARINE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS Because so many federal agencies have responsibilities related to marine transportation, a complete picture of how federal programming and bud getary priorities are established is not possible. Individual agencies and departments, in concert with OMB, prepare the annual budget requests for most programs.
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From page 85... ...
That moratorium eventually gave rise to a series of changes in the way federal navigation projects are conceived and funded. The first major change in this process came in 1978 when Congress passed the Inland Waterways Revenue Act, which assessed a 10-cents per-gallon tax on motor fuel used by barge operators.
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From page 86... ...
However, Congress consented to the wishes of users by establishing an Inland Waterways Users Board consist ing of shippers and carriers to advise the Corps of Engineers on inland waterway construction, replacement, and rehabilitation projects. The act also established a 0.125 percent tax on the value of cargo shipped into and out of U.S.
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From page 87... ...
Even after the introduction of user fees for inland waterway and harbor infrastructure during the 1970s and 1980s, Congress retained a signifi cant role for general revenues in its funding. This infrastructure, especially the locks and dams on the inland waterways, is used for other activities besides commercial transportation, including recreational boating, flood control, water supply, and the generation of electricity.
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From page 88... ...
Many users -- even those standing to benefit from a restructured fee- worried that receipts from the user fees would not be fully reinvested in the system as desired. Trust Funds and Coordination of Federal Marine Transportation Programs Both the IWTF and HMTF, which were created from tax receipts from waterway users, are intended for specific Corps of Engineers navigation projects.
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From page 89... ...
These trust funds cover a much larger portion of program expenses than the portion of the federal marine program that is covered by the Inland Waterways and Harbor Maintenance Trust Funds. Unlike the marine program, the federal aviation and highway programs are administered almost entirely by single federal agencies (FHWA and FAA)
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From page 90... ...
There is no overarching national pol icy or institutional framework for setting national marine transportation priorities or for guiding federal program actions and resource allocations in accordance with these interests. Interagency bodies have been formed to coordinate processes, but their substantive effects have been limited by the absence of coordinated budgeting and legislative authorities.
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From page 91... ...
1997. The 1997 Inland Waterway Review: Executive Summary.
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