II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3816 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to establish a United States Marine 

Highway Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10 (legislative day, MARCH 7), 2022 

Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to establish a United 

States Marine Highway Program, 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 ‘‘Marine Highway Pro5 motion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Our Nation’s waterways are an integral 

9 part of the transporation network of the United 

10 States. 


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1 (2) Using the Nation’s coastal, inland, and 

2 other waterways can support commercial transpor3 tation, and alleviates surface transportation conges4 tion and burdensome road and bridge repair costs. 

5 (3) Marine highways are serviced by docu6 mented United States Flag vessels and manned by 

7 United States citizens, providing added resources for 

8 national security and to aid in times of crisis. 

9 (4) According to the United States Army Corps 

10 of Engineers, inland navigation is a key element of 

11 economics development and is essential in maintain12 ing economic competitiveness and national security. 

13 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES MARINE HIGHWAY PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 55601 of title 46, United 

15 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘§ 55601. United States marine highway program 

17 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Maritime Admin19 istrator shall establish a marine highway program to 

20 be known as the ‘United States marine highway pro21 gram’. Under such program, the Maritime Adminis22 trator shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) designate marine highway routes as 

24 extensions of the surface transportation system 

25 under subsection (b); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) subject to the availability of appro2 priations, make grants and enter into contracts 

3 and cooperative agreements under subsection 

4 (c). 

5 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out 

6 the marine highway program established under para7 graph (1), the Maritime Administrator may— 

8 ‘‘(A) coordinate with ports, State depart9 ments of transportation, localities, other public 

10 agencies, and the private sector on the develop11 ment of landside facilities and infrastructure to 

12 support marine highway transportation; 

13 ‘‘(B) develop performance measures for 

14 such marine highway program; 

15 ‘‘(C) collect and disseminate data for the 

16 designation and delineation of marine highway 

17 routes under subsection (b); and 

18 ‘‘(D) conduct research on solutions to im19 pediments to marine highway services eligible 

20 for assistance under subsection (c)(1). 

21 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION OF MARINE HIGHWAY

22 ROUTES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Maritime Adminis24 trator may designate or modify a marine highway 


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1 route as an extension of the surface transportation 

2 system if— 

3 ‘‘(A) such a designation or modification is 

4 requested by the Governor of a State or terri5 tory; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the Maritime Administrator deter7 mines such marine highway route satisfies at 

8 least one covered function under subsection (d). 

9 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 180 

10 days after the date on which the Maritime Adminis11 trator receives a request for designation or modifica12 tion of a marine highway route under paragraph (1), 

13 the Maritime Administrator shall make a determina14 tion of whether to make the requested designation or 

15 modification. 

16 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 14 days 

17 after the date on which the Maritime Administrator 

18 makes the determination whether to make the re19 quested designation or modification, the Maritime 

20 Administrator shall send the requester a notification 

21 of the determination. 

22 ‘‘(4) MAP.—Not later than 120 days after the 

23 date of enactment of the United States Marine 

24 Highway Promotion Act, and thereafter each time a 

25 marine highway route is designated or modified, the 


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1 Administrator shall make publicly available a map 

2 showing the location of marine highway routes, in3 cluding such routes along the coasts, in the inland 

4 waterways, and at sea. 

5 ‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE FOR MARINE HIGHWAY SERV6 ICES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Maritime Adminis8 trator may make grants to, or enter into contracts 

9 or cooperative agreements with an applicant to im10 plement a marine highway service or component of 

11 a marine highway service, if the Administrator de12 termines the service— 

13 ‘‘(A) satisfies at least one covered function 

14 under subsection (d); 

15 ‘‘(B) uses vessels documented under chap16 ter 121; 

17 ‘‘(C) develops, expands, or promotes— 

18 ‘‘(i) marine highway transportation 

19 services; 

20 ‘‘(ii) shipper utilization of marine 

21 highway transportation; or 

22 ‘‘(iii) infrastructure for which assist23 ance is not available under section 5307(h) 

24 of title 49; or 


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1 ‘‘(D) implements strategies developed 

2 under section 55603. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

4 grant or enter into a contract or cooperative agree5 ment under this subsection to implement a marine 

6 highway service, an applicant shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) submit an application in such form 

8 and manner, at such time, and containing such 

9 information as the Maritime Administrator may 

10 require, including a comprehensive description 

11 of— 

12 ‘‘(i) the regions to be served by the 

13 marine highway service; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the marine highway route that 

15 the service will use, which may include con16 nection to existing or planned transpor17 tation infrastructure and intermodal facili18 ties, key navigational factors such as avail19 able draft, channel width, bridge air draft, 

20 or lock clearance, and any foreseeable im21 pacts on navigation or commerce, and a 

22 map of the proposed route; 

23 ‘‘(iii) the marine highway service sup24 porters, which may include business affili25 ations, private sector stakeholders, State 


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1 departments of transportation, metropoli2 tan planning organizations, municipalities, 

3 or other governmental entities (including 

4 Tribal governments), as applicable; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the estimated volume of pas6 sengers or cargo using the service, and 

7 predicted changes in such volume during 

8 the 5-year period following the date of the 

9 application; 

10 ‘‘(v) the need for the service; 

11 ‘‘(vi) the definition of the success goal 

12 for the service, such as volumes of cargo or 

13 passengers moved, or contribution to envi14 ronmental mitigation, safety, reduced vehi15 cle miles traveled, or reduced maintenance 

16 and repair costs; 

17 ‘‘(vii) the methodology for imple18 menting the service, including a description 

19 of the proposed operational framework of 

20 the service including the origin, destina21 tion, and any intermediate stops on the 

22 route, transit times, vessel types, and serv23 ice frequency; and 

24 ‘‘(viii) any existing programs or ar25 rangements that can be used to suppleVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Mar 13, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3816.IS S3816

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1 ment or leverage assistance under the pro2 gram; and 

3 ‘‘(B) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the 

4 Maritime Administrator that— 

5 ‘‘(i) the marine highway service is fi6 nancially viable; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the funds or other assistance 

8 provided under this subsection will be 

9 spent or used efficiently and effectively; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(iii) a market exists for the services 

12 of the proposed marine highway service, as 

13 evidenced by contracts or written state14 ments of intent from potential customers. 

15 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF GRANT NOTICE.—The Mari16 time Administrator shall post a Notice of Funding 

17 Opportunity regarding grants, contracts, and cooper18 ative agreements under this subsection not more 

19 than 90 days after the date of enactment of the ap20 propriations Act for the fiscal year concerned. 

21 ‘‘(4) GRANT APPLICATION FEEDBACK.—Fol22 lowing the award of grants for a particular fiscal 

23 year, the Maritime Administrator may provide feed24 back to applicants to help applicants improve future 


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1 applications if the feedback is requested by that ap2 plicant. 

3 ‘‘(5) TIMING OF GRANTS.—The Maritime Ad4 ministrator shall award grants, contracts, and coop5 erative agreements under this subsection not later 

6 than 270 days after the date of the enactment of the 

7 appropriations Act for the fiscal year concerned. 

8 ‘‘(6) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An applicant shall 

10 provide not less than 20 percent of the costs 

11 from non-Federal sources, except as provided in 

12 subparagraph (B). 

13 ‘‘(B) RURAL AREAS.—The Maritime Ad14 ministrator may increase the Federal share of 

15 service costs above 80 percent for a service lo16 cated in a rural area. 

17 ‘‘(C) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants, 

18 or entering in contracts or cooperative agree19 ments under this subsection, the Maritime Ad20 ministrator shall give a preference to marine 

21 highway services that present the most finan22 cially viable transportation services and require 

23 the lowest percentage Federal share of the 

24 costs. 


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1 ‘‘(7) REUSE OF UNEXPENDED GRANT FUNDS.— 

2 Notwithstanding paragraph (5), amounts awarded 

3 under this subsection that are not expended by the 

4 recipient for 3 fiscal years after the award is made 

5 shall be returned to the Maritime Administrator and 

6 remain available to make grants and enter into con7 tracts and cooperative agreements under this sub8 section. 

9 ‘‘(8) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 

10 3 percent of the total amount made available to 

11 carry out this subsection for any fiscal year may be 

12 used for the necessary administrative costs associ13 ated with grants, contracts, and cooperative agree14 ments made under this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(9) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—The Mari16 time Administrator, in consultation with the Office 

17 of the Inspector General, shall issue guidelines to es18 tablish appropriate accounting, reporting, and review 

19 procedures to ensure that— 

20 ‘‘(A) amounts made available to carry out 

21 this subsection are used for the purposes for 

22 which they were made available; 

23 ‘‘(B) recipients of funds under this sub24 section (including through grants, contracts, or 


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1 cooperative agreements) have properly ac2 counted for all expenditures of such funds; and 

3 ‘‘(C) any such funds that are not obligated 

4 or expended for the purposes for which they 

5 were made available are returned to the Admin6 istrator. 

7 ‘‘(10) CONDITIONS ON PROVISION OF FUNDS.— 

8 The Maritime Administrator may not award funds 

9 an applicant under this subsection unless the Mari10 time Administrator determines that— 

11 ‘‘(A) sufficient funding is available to meet 

12 the non-Federal share requirement of para13 graph (6); 

14 ‘‘(B) the marine highway service for which 

15 such funds are provided will be completed with16 out unreasonable delay; and 

17 ‘‘(C) the recipient of such funds has au18 thority to implement the proposed marine high19 way service. 

20 ‘‘(d) COVERED FUNCTIONS.—A covered function 

21 under this subsection is one of the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) Promotion of marine highway transpor23 tation. 

24 ‘‘(2) Provision of a coordinated and capable al25 ternative to landside transportation. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Mitigation or relief of landside congestion. 

2 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITED USES.—Funds awarded under this 

3 section may not be used to— 

4 ‘‘(1) raise sunken vessels, construct buildings or 

5 other physical facilities, or acquire land unless such 

6 activities are necessary for the establishment or op7 eration of a marine highway service implemented 

8 using grant funds provided, or pursuant to a con9 tract or cooperative entered into under, subsection 

10 (c); or 

11 ‘‘(2) distribute resources outside the United 

12 States. 

13 ‘‘(f) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In making 

14 grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under this 

15 section the Maritime Administrator shall take such meas16 ures so as to ensure an equitable geographic distribution 

17 of funds. 

18 ‘‘(g) AUDITS AND EXAMINATIONS.—All recipients 

19 (including recipients of grants, contracts, and cooperative 

20 agreements) under this section shall maintain such 

21 records as the Maritime Administrator may require and 

22 make such records available for review and audit by the 

23 Maritime Administrator.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. MULTISTATE, STATE, AND REGIONAL TRANSPOR2 TATION PLANNING. 

3 Chapter 556 of title 46, United States Code, is 

4 amended by inserting after section 55602 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 55603. MULTISTATE, STATE, AND REGIONAL TRANS6 PORTATION PLANNING. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Maritime Administrator, in 

8 consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal 

9 departments and agencies, State and local governments, 

10 and appropriate private sector entities, may develop strat11 egies to encourage the use of marine highway transpor12 tation for the transportation of passengers and cargo. 

13 ‘‘(b) STRATEGIES.—If the Maritime Administrator 

14 develops the strategies described in subsection (a), the 

15 Maritime Administrator may— 

16 ‘‘(1) assess the extent to which States and local 

17 governments include marine highway transportation 

18 and other marine transportation solutions in trans19 portation planning; 

20 ‘‘(2) encourage State departments of transpor21 tation to develop strategies, where appropriate, to 

22 incorporate marine highway transportation, ferries, 

23 and other marine transportation solutions for re24 gional and interstate transport of freight and pas25 sengers in transportation planning; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) encourage groups of States and multistate 

2 transportation entities to determine how marine 

3 highway transportation can address congestion, bot4 tlenecks, and other interstate transportation chal5 lenges.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. RESEARCH ON MARINE HIGHWAY TRANSPOR7 TATION. 

8 Section 55604 of title 46, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

11 (3) as paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively; and 

12 (2) by inserting before paragraph (4), as redes13 ignated by paragraph (1), the following new para14 graphs: 

15 ‘‘(1) the economic importance of marine high16 way transportation to the United States economy; 

17 ‘‘(2) the importance of marine highway trans18 portation to rural areas; 

19 ‘‘(3) pairs of United States regions and terri20 tories, and within-region areas, that do not yet have 

21 marine highway services underway, but that could 

22 benefit from the establishment of marine highway 

23 services;’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 55605 of title 46, United States Code, is 

3 amended to read as follows: ‘‘ 

4 ‘‘§ 55605. Definitions 

5 ‘‘In this chapter— 

6 ‘‘(1) the term ‘marine highway transportation’ 

7 means the carriage by a documented vessel of 

8 cargo— 

9 ‘‘(A) that is— 

10 ‘‘(i) contained in intermodal cargo 

11 containers and loaded by crane on the ves12 sel; 

13 ‘‘(ii) loaded on the vessel by means of 

14 wheeled technology; 

15 ‘‘(iii) shipped in discrete units or 

16 packages that are handled individually, 

17 palletized, or unitized for purposes of 

18 transportation; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) freight vehicles carried aboard 

20 commuter ferry boats; and 

21 ‘‘(B) that is— 

22 ‘‘(i) loaded at a port in the United 

23 States and unloaded either at another port 

24 in the United States or at a port in Can25 ada or Mexico; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) loaded at a port in Canada or 

2 Mexico and unloaded at a port in the 

3 United States; 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘marine highway service’ means a 

5 planned or contemplated new service, or expansion 

6 of an existing service, on a marine highway route, 

7 that seeks to provide new modal choices to shippers, 

8 offer more desirable services, reduce transportation 

9 costs, or provide public benefits; and 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘marine highway route’ means a 

11 route on commercially navigable coastal, inland, or 

12 intracoastal waters of the United States, including 

13 connections between the United States and contig14 uous territories, that is designated under section 

15 55601(b).’’. 

16 SEC. 7. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

17 The analysis for chapter 556 of title 46, United 

18 States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) by striking the item relating to section 

20 55601 and inserting the following: 

‘‘55601. United States marine highway program.’’; 

21 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec22 tion 55602 the following: 

‘‘55603. Multistate, State, and regional transportation planning.’’; and 


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1 (3) by striking the item relating to section 

2 55605 and inserting the following: 

‘‘55605. Definitions.’’. 

Æ 


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