Port Revitalization Act of 1996

Summary: Port Revitalization Act of 1996 - Provides that the cost of providing land-based and confined aquatic dredged material disposal facilities (facilities) associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of any Federal navigation project for any harbor or other federally maintained waterway shall be considered a general navigation feature (thereby allowing the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to be used to cover such dredging and disposal activities).  Provides for the determination of the Federal share of the costs of operation and maintenance (O&M) of such disposal facilities, as well as eligible O&M costs related to such facilities.  Prohibits the expenditure of such funds until the Secretary of the Army determines that such funds are not otherwise required to cover other eligible O&M costs assigned to commercial navigation. 
(Sec. 3) Authorizes the Secretary, at the request of a non-Federal project sponsor, to provide additional capacity at a facility constructed by the Army beyond that which would be required for project purposes if the non-Federal sponsor agrees to pay all costs associated with the construction of the additional capacity.  Allows such costs to be recovered through the assessment of user fees from third parties whose dredged materials are deposited in such facilities and who enter into agreements for the use of such facilities.  Requires all user fees collected to be used by the Secretary for O&M costs associated with the facility. 
Authorizes the Secretary to participate in the construction and use of facilities developed by non-Federal interests if such facilities are necessary to the construction or O&M of a Federal navigation project.  Authorizes the Secretary to pay disposal fees associated with the use of such facilities. 
Authorizes the Secretary to use management techniques to extend the useful life of all land-based and confined dredged material disposal facilities constructed and managed by the Secretary after the enactment of this Act. 
(Sec. 4) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to lower, effective on January 1, 1997, the tax imposed on the use of any U.S. port to 0.085 (currently, 0.125) percent of the value of the commercial cargo involved.  Directs the Secretary, in each calendar year, to conduct an assessment of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to determine whether such tax should be reduced or increased to ensure that such Fund remains at a sufficient level to pay the eligible O&M costs under this Act and the Water Resources Development Act of 1986.  Requires an annual report from the Secretary to the Congress on such determination. 
(Sec. 5) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 to add as a purpose of a pilot project under such Act the development of one or more sediment decontamination technologies on a pilot scale demonstrating a capacity of at least 500,000 cubic yards per year.  Extends permanently the authorization of appropriations for such pilot project.  Requires the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to report annually to the Congress on the results of the project, including the development of decontamination technologies. 
(Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary to construct, operate, and maintain a dredged material containment facility for the Port of New York-New Jersey substantially in accordance with a final report of the Army Chief of Engineers.  Requires the Secretary to maintain the facility for the public benefit after it has been filled to capacity with dredged material.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Port Revitalization Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. COST SHARING FOR LAND-BASED AND CONFINED DREDGED MATERIAL 
              DISPOSAL FACILITIES.

    (a) Treatment as General Navigation Feature.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the cost of providing, after the date of 
enactment of this Act, land-based and confined aquatic dredged material 
disposal facilities associated with the construction, operation, and 
maintenance of any Federal navigation project for any harbor or other 
federally maintained waterway, including the cost of diking and 
applying dredged material to beneficial use, and other improvements 
necessary for the proper disposal of dredged material at such 
facilities shall be considered a general navigation feature of the 
project and shall be subject to cost sharing as a general navigation 
feature in accordance with section 101(a) of the Water Resources 
Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2211(a); 100 Stat. 4082-4083).
    (b) Cost Sharing for Operation and Maintenance.--The Federal share 
of the cost of operation and maintenance of each disposal facility to 
which subsection (a) applies shall be determined in accordance with 
section 101(b) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 
U.S.C. 2211(b); 100 Stat. 4083).
    (c) Eligible Operation and Maintenance Costs.--For the purposes of 
section 210 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 
2238; 100 Stat. 4106), eligible operation and maintenance costs shall 
include--
            (1) the Federal share of the costs of constructing dredged 
        material disposal facilities associated with the operation and 
        maintenance of all Federal navigation projects for harbors and 
        other federally maintained waterways;
            (2) the Federal share of the cost of operating and 
        maintaining dredged material disposal facilities associated 
        with the construction, operation, and maintenance of all such 
        navigation projects;
            (3) the Federal share of the costs of environmental 
        dredging and disposal facilities for contaminated sediments 
        which are in or which affect the maintenance of such Federal 
        navigation channels and the mitigation of environmental impacts 
        resulting from Federal dredging activities; and
            (4) the Federal share for the dredging, management and 
        disposal of contaminated sediments, or other environmental 
        remediation in critical port and harbor areas in order to 
        facilitate commercial navigation, as determined by the 
        Secretary.
In selecting and carrying out projects made eligible for assistance by 
paragraph (4), the Secretary of the Army shall give preference to 
projects in a port area to the extent that annual payments of the 
harbor maintenance tax imposed by section 9505 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 exceed Federal expenditures made from the Harbor 
Maintenance Trust Fund for projects carried out in such port area.
    (d) Limitations on Use of Funds.--No funds comprising the Federal 
share of costs of construction of a dredged material disposal facility 
for operation and maintenance of Federal navigation projects for 
harbors and other federally maintained waterways shall be expended for 
such construction until the Secretary of the Army determines that such 
funds are not otherwise required to cover other eligible operation and 
maintenance costs assigned to commercial navigation. The Secretary 
shall assure that funds expended for construction of such facilities 
are equitably apportioned in accordance with identified regional needs.
    (e) Applicability.--This section shall apply to the construction of 
dredged material disposal facilities for which a contract for 
construction or construction of usable increment thereof, or the 
construction of the associated navigation project or usable increment 
thereof, has not been awarded on or before the date of the enactment of 
this Act. With the consent of the non-Federal interest, the Secretary 
of the Army shall amend project cooperative agreements in effect on the 
date of the enactment of this Act to provide for the Federal share of 
project costs of dredged material disposal facilities as provided in 
this section.
    (f) No Increase in Non-Federal Share.--Nothing in this section 
shall be construed as increasing, or resulting in the increase of, the 
non-Federal share of the costs of any dredged material disposal 
facility authorized to be provided before the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL PARTICIPATION.

    (a) Additional Capacity.--At the request of a non-Federal project 
sponsor, the Secretary of the Army may provide additional capacity at a 
dredged material disposal facility constructed by the Department of the 
Army beyond that which would be required for project purposes if the 
non-Federal project sponsor agrees to pay, during the period of 
construction, all costs associated with the construction of the 
additional capacity. The non-Federal project sponsor may recover the 
costs assigned to the additional capacity through fees assessed on 3rd 
parties whose dredged sediments are deposited in the facility and who 
enter into agreements with the non-Federal sponsor for the use of such 
facility. The amount of such fees may be determined by the non-Federal 
sponsor.
    (b) Use of Disposal Facilities.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Army--
                    (A) may permit the use of any dredged material 
                disposal facility under the jurisdiction of, or managed 
                by, the Department of the Army by a non-Federal 
                interest if the Secretary determines that such use will 
                not compromise the availability of the facility for 
                project purposes; and
                    (B) may impose fees to recover capital, operation, 
                and maintenance costs associated with such use.
            (2) Use of fees.--Notwithstanding section 401(c) of the 
        Federal Water Pollution Control Act, any monies received 
        through collection of fees under this subsection shall be 
        available to the Secretary, and shall be used by the Secretary, 
        for the operation and maintenance of the disposal facility from 
        which they were collected.
    (c) Federal Participation in Non-Federal Disposal Facilities.--The 
Secretary of the Army is authorized to participate in the construction 
and use of dredged material disposal facilities developed by non-
Federal interests if such facilities are necessary to the construction 
or operation and maintenance of a Federal navigation project, without 
respect to whether or not such facilities could be used in 
environmental restoration of the applicable water body. The Secretary 
is further authorized to pay disposal fees associated with Federal use 
of such facilities.
    (d) Special Rules.--Any reference in this Act to a non-Federal 
sponsor's obligation to provide ``lands, easements, rights-of-way, 
relocations and dredged material disposal areas,'' shall, with respect 
to ``dredged material disposal areas,'' be limited to the acquisition 
of property and shall not include any costs associated with the 
construction or preparation of such areas or any related engineering, 
design, permitting, environmental mitigation, or restoration costs. 
Unless otherwise specifically provided to the contrary, costs involving 
preparation or improvement of an acquired disposal area to render it 
usable for receipt of dredged material shall be considered a part of 
project costs and as such shall be fully subject to the applicable 
cost-sharing formulas.
    (e) Management Techniques.--The Secretary of the Army shall use, to 
the extent feasible, management techniques to extend the useful life of 
all land-based and confined aquatic dredged material disposal 
facilities managed by the Secretary and constructed by the Secretary 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. LOWER HARBOR MAINTENANCE TAX.

    (a) Amount of Tax.--Effective January 1, 1997, section 4461(b) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Amount of Tax.--The amount of the tax imposed by subsection 
(a) on any port use shall be an amount equal to 0.085 percent of the 
value of the commercial cargo involved.''.
    (b) Assessment of Tax.--For each calendar year beginning after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army, in 
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall conduct an 
assessment of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund established by section 
9505 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to determine the advisability 
of a reduction or an increase in the tax on port use imposed by section 
4461 of such Code with the objective of ensuring the maintenance of a 
balance in the Trust Fund at a sufficient level to pay the eligible 
operation and maintenance costs as provided for in section 210(a) of 
the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 and this Act.
    (c) Report; Process for Changing Amount of Tax.--Not later than 
December 31, 1997, and December 31 of each calendar year thereafter, 
the Secretary of the Army shall report to Congress on the determination 
made under subsection (b).

SEC. 5. SEDIMENTS DECONTAMINATION TECHNOLOGY.

    (a) Project Purpose.--Section 405(a) of the Water Resource 
Development Act of 1992 (33 U.S.C. 2239 note; 106 Stat. 4863) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Project purpose.--The purpose of the project to be 
        carried out under this section is to provide for the 
        development of 1 or more sediment decontamination technologies 
        on a pilot scale demonstrating a capacity of at least 500,000 
        cubic yards per year.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--The first sentence of section 
405(c) of such Act is amended by inserting before the period at the end 
the following: ``and ending before October 1, 1996, and $10,000,000 for 
fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1996''.
    (c) Reports.--Section 405 of such Act is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(d) Reports.--Not later than September 30, 1998, and September 30 
of each calendar year thereafter, the Administrator and the Secretary 
shall transmit to Congress a report on the results of the project to be 
carried out under this section, including an assessment of the progress 
made in achieving the purpose of the project set forth in subsection 
(a)(3).''.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF DREDGE MATERIAL CONTAINMENT FACILITY FOR PORT 
              OF NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Army is authorized to 
construct, operate, and maintain a dredged material containment 
facility with a capacity commensurate with the long-term dredged 
material disposal needs of port facilities under the jurisdiction of 
the Port of New York/New Jersey substantially in accordance with a 
final report of the Chief of Engineers. The costs associated with 
feasibility studies, design, engineering, and construction shall be 
shared with the local sponsor in accordance with the provisions of 
section 2 of this Act.
    (b) Eligibility.--Notwithstanding the provisions of the Marine 
Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, dredged material 
from the Port of New York/New Jersey that is not acceptable for ocean 
disposal may be disposed of in the facility to be constructed under 
this section.
    (c) Beneficial Use.--After the facility to be constructed under 
subsection (a) has been filled to capacity with dredged material, the 
Secretary shall maintain the facility for the public benefit.