I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3113

To amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 relating to cost

sharing for creation of dredged material disposal areas, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 19, 1996

Mr. PALLONE (for himself and Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey) 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

relating to cost sharing for creation of dredged material

disposal areas, 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 ‘‘Partnership for Pro5 ductive Ports Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

8 (1) A network of ports and harbors is essential

9 to the United States economy, competitiveness in
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1 world trade, and national security. Approximately 95

2 percent of United States overseas trade moves on

3 ships in and out of United States ports.

4 (2) The Nation’s coastal, ocean, and freshwater

5 resources are critical assets which must be pro6 tected, conserved, and restored. These resources pro7 vide numerous economic and environmental benefits.

8 (3) Port facilities serve as a key link in the

9 intermodal transportation chain and can realize their

10 full potential as magnets for shipping and commerce

11 only if timely, cost-effective, and environmentally

12 sound dredging and dredged material management

13 occurs.

14 (4) Approximately 400,000,000 cubic yards of

15 sediment are dredged from our Nation’s ports each

16 year, 300,000,000 cubic yards of which is dredged

17 from Federal channels.

18 (5) Improved environmental responsibility re19 quires that dredged material demonstrating a poten20 tial to unreasonably degrade human health or the

21 environment be appropriately managed to minimize

22 negative environmental interactions, yet suitable dis23 posal sites are often not readily available.

24 (6) All Federal navigation dredging projects are

25 approved because they are in the national interest
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1 and therefore should not be blocked because of a

2 lack of disposal capacity that meets the necessary

3 Federal requirements.

4 (7) The cost of disposal and management of

5 sediments dredged in the course of constructing and

6 maintaining a navigation project are integral to the

7 total project costs and as such should be cost shared

8 according to the allocations under existing law.

9 (8) Inconsistent cost-sharing policies for the use

10 of open water, upland, and confined disposal facili11 ties create an economic incentive to use open water

12 disposal sites even when more environmentally posi13 tive alternatives are preferable.

14 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide

15 Federal-non-Federal cost sharing for the construction and

16 operation of confined disposal facilities for contaminated

17 dredged materials in order to make suitable alternatives

18 to open water disposal available nationwide.

19 SEC. 3. CREATION OF CONFINED DREDGED MATERIAL DIS20 POSAL FACILITIES.

21 (a) FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 101(b) of the Water

22 Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2211(b))

23 is amended—

24 (1) by striking ‘‘The Federal share’’ and insert25 ing the following:
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1 ‘‘(1) GENERAL FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal

2 share’’;

3 (2) by moving the text of paragraph (1), as so

4 designated, 2 ems to the right; and

5 (3) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE FOR CONFINED DISPOSAL

7 FACILITIES.—The Federal share of the cost of

8 project features that are necessary for creation of

9 confined dredged material disposal facilities shall be

10 determined in accordance with subsection (a)(1).

11 The cost sharing requirements of this paragraph

12 shall apply to projects authorized before, on, or after

13 the the date of the enactment of this paragraph.

14 ‘‘(3) CONFINED DISPOSAL FACILITY DE15 FINED.—In this section and section 210, the term

16 ‘confined disposal facility’ means any alternative to

17 ocean disposal or ocean disposal with capping, in18 cluding subaqueous borrow pits, containment is19 lands, and upland confined disposal facilities.’’.

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 101 of

21 such Act is further amended—

22 (1) in the second sentence of subsection

23 (a)(2)—

24 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘rights-of25 way,’’; and
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘, and dredged material

2 disposal areas’’;

3 (2) in subsection (a)(3)—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘rights-of5 way,’’; and

6 (B) by striking ‘‘, and dredged material

7 disposal areas’’ and inserting ‘‘, including those

8 required for confined dredged material disposal

9 facilities,’’; and

10 (3) in subsection (e)(1) by striking ‘‘, and to

11 provide dredged material disposal areas’’.

12 SEC. 4. FUNDING FROM HARBOR MAINTENANCE TRUST

13 FUND.

14 Section 210 of the Water Resources Development Act

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

16 end the following:

17 ‘‘(c) INCLUSION OF DISPOSAL COSTS AS O&M

18 COSTS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘operation

19 and maintenance costs’ includes costs related to disposal

20 of dredged materials in a confined dredged material dis21 posal facility. Operation and maintenance costs other than

22 costs related to such disposal shall receive priority consid23 eration for funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust

24 Fund.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. CONFINED DISPOSAL FACILITY IN THE PORT

2 OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY.

3 (a) CREATION AND OPERATION.—Not later than 18

4 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

5 Secretary of the Army, in cooperation with the Adminis6 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency and State

7 and local governmental agencies, shall create, operate, and

8 maintain a confined dredged material disposal fa9 cility in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The facil10 ity shall be designed for the disposal of dredged materials

11 that do not meet applicable criteria for open water dis12 posal.

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