II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1509 

To establish a Maritime Goods Movement User Fee and provide grants 

for international maritime cargo improvements and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To establish a Maritime Goods Movement User Fee and 

provide grants for international maritime cargo improvements 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 ‘‘Maritime Goods Move5 ment Act for the 21st Century’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COMMERCIAL CARGO.—The term ‘‘commer9 cial cargo’’— 

10 (A) means— 


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1 (i) any cargo transported on a com2 mercial vessel, including passengers trans3 ported for compensation or hire; and 

4 (ii) international maritime cargo; and 

5 (B) does not include— 

6 (i) bunker fuel, ship’s stores, sea 

7 stores, or the legitimate equipment nec8 essary to the operation of a vessel; or 

9 (ii) fish or other aquatic animal life 

10 caught and not previously landed on shore. 

11 (2) COMMERCIAL VESSEL.—The term ‘‘commer12 cial vessel’’— 

13 (A) means any vessel used— 

14 (i) in transporting cargo by water for 

15 compensation or hire; or 

16 (ii) in transporting cargo by water in 

17 the business of the owner, lessee, or oper18 ator of the vessel; and 

19 (B) does not include any ferry engaged pri20 marily in the ferrying of passengers (including 

21 their vehicles) between points within the United 

22 States, or between the United States and con23 tiguous countries. 

24 (3) FERRY.—The term ‘‘ferry’’ means any ves25 sel which arrives in the United States on a regular 


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1 schedule during its operating season at intervals of 

2 at least once each business day. 

3 (4) INTERNATIONAL MARITIME CARGO.—The 

4 term ‘‘international maritime cargo’’ means any 

5 cargo that is moved by ship that arrives into the 

6 United States from a point outside the United 

7 States, regardless of whether such cargo— 

8 (A) arrives in the United States by ship; or 

9 (B) is unloaded in a foreign country and 

10 arrives in the United States by another form of 

11 transit. 

12 (5) LOW-USE PORT.—The term ‘‘low-use port’’ 

13 means a port at which not more than 1,000,000 

14 tons of cargo is transported each calendar year. 

15 (6) POINT OF ENTRY.—The term ‘‘point of 

16 entry’’ means a place where commercial cargo enters 

17 the United States. 

18 (7) PORT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

20 subparagraphs (B) and (C), or otherwise spe21 cifically provided in this Act, the term ‘‘port’’ 

22 means any channel or harbor (or component 

23 thereof) in the United States, which— 

24 (i) is not an inland waterway; and 

25 (ii) is open to public navigation. 


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1 (B) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN FACILI2 TIES.—The term ‘‘port’’ does not include any 

3 channel or harbor with respect to which no 

4 Federal funds have been used since 1977 for 

5 construction, maintenance, or operation, or 

6 which was deauthorized by Federal law before 

7 2013. 

8 (C) SPECIAL RULE FOR THE COLUMBIA

9 RIVER.—The term ‘‘port’’ shall include the 

10 channels of the Columbia River in the States of 

11 Oregon and Washington only up to the down12 stream side of the Bonneville Lock and Dam. 

13 (8) SUPER DONOR PORT.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘super donor 

15 port’’ means a port for which average expendi16 tures in the 5 previous fiscal years— 

17 (i) for fiscal years beginning prior to 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, from 

19 the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund pur20 suant to section 9505(c)(1) of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to expend22 itures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust 

23 Fund) are less than 10 percent of the total 

24 average amount of harbor maintenance 


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1 taxes collected through landings at such 

2 port in such fiscal years; or 

3 (ii) for fiscal years beginning after 

4 such date of enactment, from the amounts 

5 collected for the Maritime Goods Move6 ment User Fee are less than 10 percent of 

7 the total average amount of such Fees col8 lected through landings at such port. 

9 (B) INCLUDED EXPENDITURES.—The 

10 amount of expenditures under subparagraph 

11 (A) shall only include expenditures made at 

12 such a port in the immediate harbor area con13 taining docks and other facilities utilized for the 

14 loading and unloading of foreign waterborne 

15 commerce and in any navigational channels in 

16 the United States that are necessary for the 

17 transportation of such foreign waterborne com18 merce between such immediate harbor areas 

19 and foreign ports. 

20 (9) VALUE.—The term ‘‘value’’ means— 

21 (A) with respect to domestic commercial 

22 cargo, the value as determined by standard 

23 commercial documentation; 

24 (B) with respect to imported commercial 

25 cargo, the appraised value for duty as deterVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:34 Sep 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1509.IS S1509

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1 mined under section 402 of the Tariff Act of 

2 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1401a); or 

3 (C) with respect to the transportation of 

4 passengers for hire, the actual charge paid for 

5 such service or the prevailing charge for com6 parable service if no actual charge is paid. 

7 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF MARITIME GOODS MOVEMENT 

8 USER FEE. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro11 vided in this section, there is imposed a Maritime 

12 Goods Movement User Fee on all commercial 

13 cargo— 

14 (A) unloaded from or loaded on a commer15 cial vessel at a port; or 

16 (B) that enters the United States at a 

17 point of entry. 

18 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Maritime Goods 

19 Movement User Fee shall be imposed on commercial 

20 cargo under paragraph (1) beginning on October 1 

21 of the first fiscal year beginning after the date of the 

22 enactment of this Act. 

23 (b) FEE AMOUNT.—The amount of the Maritime 

24 Goods Movement User Fee shall be an amount equal to 

25 0.125 percent of the value of the commercial cargo. 


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1 (c) COLLECTION OF FEE.—The Maritime Goods 

2 Movement User Fee shall be collected by U.S. Customs 

3 and Border Protection. 

4 (d) TIME OF IMPOSITION OF FEE.—The Maritime 

5 Goods Movement User Fee shall be imposed on commer6 cial cargo at the time— 

7 (1) the commercial cargo is unloaded from or 

8 loaded on a commercial vessel at a port in the 

9 United States; or 

10 (2) the commercial cargo enters the United 

11 States at a point of entry. 

12 (e) INAPPLICABILITY TO CARGO.—No Maritime 

13 Goods Movement User Fee shall be imposed under this 

14 section on any export of the United States. 

15 (f) COORDINATION OF FEE WHERE TRANSPOR16 TATION SUBJECT TO TAX IMPOSED UNDER 4042 OF THE

17 INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.—No Maritime Goods Move18 ment User Fee shall be imposed under this section with 

19 respect to the loading or unloading of any cargo on or 

20 from a vessel if any fuel of such vessel has been (or will 

21 be) subject to the tax imposed by section 4042 of the In22 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to tax on fuels used 

23 in commercial transportation on inland waterways). 

24 (g) SPECIAL RULE FOR ALASKA, HAWAII, AND POS25 SESSIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—No Maritime Goods Move2 ment User Fee shall be imposed on— 

3 (A) cargo loaded on a vessel in a port in 

4 the United States mainland for transportation 

5 to Alaska, Hawaii, or any possession of the 

6 United States for ultimate use or consumption 

7 in Alaska, Hawaii, or any possession of the 

8 United States; 

9 (B) cargo loaded on a vessel in Alaska, 

10 Hawaii, or any possession of the United States 

11 for transportation to the United States main12 land, Alaska, Hawaii, or such a possession for 

13 ultimate use or consumption in the United 

14 States mainland, Alaska, Hawaii, or such a pos15 session; 

16 (C) the unloading of cargo described in 

17 subparagraph (A) or (B) in Alaska, Hawaii, or 

18 any possession of the United States, or in the 

19 United States mainland, respectively; or 

20 (D) cargo loaded on a vessel in Alaska, 

21 Hawaii, or a possession of the United States 

22 and unloaded in the State or possession in 

23 which loaded, or passengers transported on 

24 United States flag vessels operating solely withVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:34 Sep 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1509.IS S1509

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1 in the State waters of Alaska or Hawaii and ad2 jacent international waters. 

3 (2) CARGO.—For purposes of this subsection, 

4 the term ‘‘cargo’’ does not include crude oil with re5 spect to Alaska. 

6 (3) UNITED STATES MAINLAND.—For purposes 

7 of this section, the term ‘‘United States mainland’’ 

8 means the continental United States (not including 

9 Alaska). 

10 (h) SPECIAL RULES.—Except as provided by regula11 tions: 

12 (1) FEE IMPOSED ONLY ONCE.—The Maritime 

13 Goods Movement User Fee shall be imposed on the 

14 same commercial cargo only 1 time. 

15 (2) EXCEPTION FOR INTRAPORT MOVE16 MENTS.—Under regulations, no Maritime Goods 

17 Movement User Fee shall be imposed on the mere 

18 movement of commercial cargo within a port. 

19 (3) RELAY CARGO.—Only 1 Maritime Goods 

20 Movement User Fee shall be imposed on cargo (mov21 ing under a single bill of lading) which is unloaded 

22 from one vessel and loaded onto another vessel at 

23 any port in the United States for relay to or from 

24 any port in Alaska, Hawaii, or any possession of the 

25 United States. For purposes of this paragraph, the 


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1 term ‘‘cargo’’ does not include any item not treated 

2 as cargo under subsection (g)(2). 

3 (i) EXEMPTION FOR UNITED STATES.—No Maritime 

4 Goods Movement User Fee shall be imposed on the United 

5 States or any agency or instrumentality thereof. 

6 (j) EXEMPTION FOR HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOP7 MENT ASSISTANCE CARGOS.—No Maritime Goods Move8 ment User Fee shall be imposed on any nonprofit organi9 zation or cooperative for cargo which is owned or financed 

10 by such nonprofit organization or cooperative and which 

11 is certified by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

12 as intended for use in humanitarian or development assist13 ance overseas. 

14 (k) LIMITATION ON COLLECTION OF FEE.—No fee 

15 may be collected under this section except to the extent 

16 that the expenditure of the fee to pay the costs of activities 

17 and services for which the fee is imposed is provided for 

18 in advance in an appropriations Act. 

19 (l) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COLLEC20 TIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, United 

21 States Code, any fee collected under this section— 

22 (1) shall be credited as offsetting collections to 

23 the accounts that finance the activities and services 

24 detailed in section 4; 


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1 (2) shall be available for expenditure only to 

2 pay the costs of activities and services detailed in 

3 section 4; and 

4 (3) shall remain available until expended. 

5 SEC. 4. EXPENDITURES OF MARITIME GOODS MOVEMENT 

6 USER FEE. 

7 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Up to $10,000,000 of 

8 the amount of the Maritime Goods Movement User Fees 

9 collected during any fiscal year shall be available for pay10 ment of expenses of administration incurred by the De11 partment of Homeland Security, the Army Corps of Engi12 neers, and the Department of Transportation. 

13 (b) OTHER EXPENDITURES.—The amounts of the 

14 Maritime Goods Movement User Fees collected for a fiscal 

15 year that are not used for administration under subsection 

16 (a) shall be allocated as follows: 

17 (1) HARBOR MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS.—For 

18 the first 5 fiscal years beginning after the date of 

19 the enactment of this Act, 95 percent, and for each 

20 fiscal year thereafter 80 percent, of such amounts 

21 shall be available to pay up to 100 percent of the 

22 eligible operations and maintenance costs assigned 

23 to commercial navigation of all harbors and inland 

24 harbors within the United States, as authorized by 

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1 ment Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2238(a)(2)), including 

2 the Federal share of the cost of— 

3 (A) maintenance of Federal navigation 

4 projects to their authorized depths and widths; 

5 (B) disposal of maintenance dredged mate6 rial; 

7 (C) construction and maintenance of 

8 dredged material placement facilities; 

9 (D) projects or activities for the beneficial 

10 use of dredged material or sand mitigation; 

11 (E) jetties, breakwaters, bridges, and other 

12 navigation structures; and 

13 (F) related studies and surveys. 

14 (2) LOW-USE PORTS.—Of the amounts made 

15 available each fiscal year for harbor maintenance 

16 programs under paragraph (1), up to 8 percent shall 

17 be allocated for low-use ports. Special emphasis shall 

18 be placed on low-use ports where there is a Coast 

19 Guard presence and low-use ports which the Coast 

20 Guard determines to be restricted navigation areas 

21 or harbors of refuge. 

22 (3) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM FOR GOODS

23 MOVEMENT.— 

24 (A) SUPER DONOR PORTS.—For each fis25 cal year beginning with the sixth fiscal year beVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:34 Sep 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1509.IS S1509

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1 ginning after the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act, 15 percent of the amounts of the Maritime 

3 Goods Movement User Fee not used for admin4 istration under subsection (a), shall be allocated 

5 to super donor ports to carry out projects or ac6 tivities described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) 

7 of section 5(e). 

8 (B) OTHER USES.—For each fiscal year 

9 beginning after the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act, 5 percent of the amounts of the Mari11 time Goods Movement User Fee not used for 

12 administration under subsection (a) shall be al13 located to carry out projects or activities de14 scribed in paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) of sub15 section 5(e). 

16 SEC. 5. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM FOR GOODS MOVE17 MENT. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—There is 

19 established a Competitive Grant Program for Goods Move20 ment to be administered by the Secretary of Transpor21 tation in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of the 

22 Army for Civil Works. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Competitive 

24 Grant Program for Goods Movement to provide financial 

25 assistance for capital investments that improve the effiVerDate Mar 15 2010 19:52 Sep 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1509.IS S1509

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1 ciency of the transportation system of the United States 

2 to move international maritime cargo. 

3 (c) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 (1) MINIMUM NUMBER OF GRANTEES.—For 

5 each fiscal year, there shall be no less than— 

6 (A) 3 grantees that are super donor ports; 

7 and 

8 (B) 3 grantees that are eligible entities 

9 under subsection (d). 

10 (2) COST-SHARE.—The Federal cost share of a 

11 project awarded a grant under this section shall be 

12 no more than 50 percent of the total cost. 

13 (d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—A grant under this section 

14 may only be awarded to a State or local government enti15 ty, including a port authority. 

16 (e) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—A grant awarded under 

17 this section may be used for the following: 

18 (1) Any in-water improvement in the navigable 

19 waters in or near such port that the Secretary of the 

20 Army is authorized to make, including environ21 mental remediation and habitat mitigation if cer22 tified by the Assistant Secretary to improve the 

23 movement of international maritime cargo. 


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1 (2) Any in water improvement in berthing areas 

2 in such port pursuant to a channel widening or 

3 deepening project. 

4 (3) Maintenance of berthing areas adjacent to 

5 navigational channels in such port. 

6 (4) Improvements to an intermodal corridor fa7 cility project to benefit international maritime cargo 

8 as certified by the Secretary of Transportation or 

9 designee, in consultation with the Assistant Sec10 retary of the Army for Civil Works or designee. 

11 (5) Improvements to a land port of entry 

12 project to benefit international maritime cargo as 

13 certified by the Secretary of Transportation or des14 ignee, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of 

15 the Army for Civil Works or designee. 

16 (6) A project that improves access to a port or 

17 intermodal terminal facility to benefit international 

18 maritime cargo as certified by the Secretary of 

19 Transportation or designee, in consultation with the 

20 Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works or 

21 designee. 

22 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF HARBOR MAINTENANCE TAX. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 36 of the 

24 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is repealed. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sub2 chapters for chapter 36 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

3 1986 is amended by striking the item relating to sub4 chapter A. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall apply to port uses (as defined in section 

7 4462, as in effect on the day before the date of the enact8 ment of this Act) on or after October 1 of the first fiscal 

9 year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF BALANCES FROM THE HARBOR 

11 MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND. 

12 Any remaining balances in the Harbor Maintenance 

13 Trust Fund established by section 9505 of the Internal 

14 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to expenditures from the 

15 Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund) shall remain available 

16 until expended in accordance with the requirements of 

17 subsection (c) of that section. 

18 SEC. 8. APPLICATION OF WAGE REQUIREMENTS. 

19 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the 

20 application of wage requirements otherwise applicable to 

21 harbor maintenance improvement projects on the date of 

22 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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