I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3648 

To amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to ensure that 

annual expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to pay 

for operation and maintenance costs are allocated equitably among eligible harbor projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 13, 2011 

Mr. BISHOP of New York (for himself and Mr. LANDRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 

to ensure that annual expenditures from the Harbor 

Maintenance Trust Fund to pay for operation and maintenance costs are allocated equitably among eligible harbor projects, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harbor Fairness Act 

5 of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT OF DREDGING NEEDS. 

2 Section 210 of the Water Resources Development Act 

3 of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2238) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘(c) ASSESSMENT OF OPERATION AND MAINTE6 NANCE NEEDS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this subsection, and 

9 biennially thereafter, the Secretary shall assess the 

10 total operation and maintenance needs of the har11 bors referred to in subsection (a)(2), including har12 bors used— 

13 ‘‘(A) for commercial navigation; 

14 ‘‘(B) for commercial fishing; 

15 ‘‘(C) for subsistence, including harbors uti16 lized by Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 

17 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 

18 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) for subsist19 ence and ceremonial purposes; 

20 ‘‘(D) as harbors of refuge; 

21 ‘‘(E) for transportation of persons; 

22 ‘‘(F) in relation to domestic energy produc23 tion, including harbors related to the fabrica24 tion, servicing, or supply of domestic offshore 

25 energy production facilities; 


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1 ‘‘(G) by the Secretary of the department in 

2 which the Coast Guard is operating; 

3 ‘‘(H) for recreation purposes; and 

4 ‘‘(I) for any other authorized purpose. 

5 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—In conjunction 

6 with the transmittal by the President of the budget 

7 of the United States for fiscal year 2013, and bien8 nially thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 

9 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

10 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

11 Environment and Public Works of the Senate a re12 port that, with respect to commercial navigation 

13 projects for the harbors referred to in subsection 

14 (a)(2)— 

15 ‘‘(A) identifies the operation and mainte16 nance costs associated with the projects, includ17 ing those costs required to achieve and main18 tain the authorized length, width, and depth for 

19 the projects, on a project-by-project basis; 

20 ‘‘(B) identifies the amount of funding re21 quested in the President’s budget for the oper22 ation and maintenance costs associated with the 

23 projects, on a project-by-project basis; 


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1 ‘‘(C) identifies the unmet operation and 

2 maintenance needs associated with the projects, 

3 on a project-by-project basis; and 

4 ‘‘(D) identifies the harbors for which the 

5 President will allocate funding over next 5 fiscal 

6 years for operation and maintenance activities, 

7 on a project-by-project basis, including the 

8 amounts to be allocated for such purposes.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. ALLOCATION AND EXPENDITURES FOR LOCAL HAR10 BOR PROJECTS. 

11 Section 210 of the Water Resources Development Act 

12 of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2238) is further amended by adding 

13 at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) EXPENDITURES FOR OPERATION AND MAINTE15 NANCE OF HARBOR PROJECTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 

17 practicable, the Secretary shall make expenditures to 

18 pay for operation and maintenance costs of the har19 bors referred to in subsection (a)(2), including ex20 penditures of funds appropriated from the Harbor 

21 Maintenance Trust Fund, based on an equitable al22 location of funds among all such harbors, regardless 

23 of the size or tonnage throughput of the harbor. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA.—In determining the equitable 

2 allocation of funds under paragraph (1), the Sec3 retary— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall utilize the information obtained 

5 in the assessment conducted under subsection 

6 (c); 

7 ‘‘(B) shall consider the national and re8 gional significance of harbor operation and 

9 maintenance; and 

10 ‘‘(C) shall not make such allocation based 

11 solely on the tonnage transiting through a har12 bor. 

13 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM ALLOCATION FOR MODERATE

14 AND LOW USE WATERWAYS.—Notwithstanding the 

15 requirements of paragraph (1), in making expendi16 tures described in paragraph (1) for each of fiscal 

17 years 2013 and 2014, the Secretary shall allocate 

18 not less than 40 percent of the total amount of the 

19 expenditures to pay for operation and maintenance 

20 costs of moderate and low use harbors, as identified 

21 by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(4) EMERGENCY EXPENDITURES.—Nothing in 

23 this subsection shall prohibit the Secretary from 

24 making an expenditure to pay for the operation and 

25 maintenance costs of a specific harbor, including the 


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1 transfer of funding from the operation and mainte2 nance of a separate project, if— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Secretary determines that such 

4 action is necessary to address the navigation 

5 needs of a harbor where safe navigation has 

6 been severely restricted due to an unforeseen 

7 event; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the Secretary provides advance notice 

9 and information on the need for such a deter10 mination to the Committee on Transportation 

11 and Infrastructure and the Committee on Ap12 propriations of the House of Representatives 

13 and the Committee on Environment and Public 

14 Works and the Committee on Appropriations of 

15 the Senate.’’. 

Æ 


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