I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3447 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to implement on-going appropriations for withdrawals from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2009 

Ms. RICHARDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to implement 

on-going appropriations for withdrawals from the Harbor 

Maintenance Trust Fund, 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 Maintenance 

5 Trust Fund Reform Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3447 IH

1 (1) According to the Army Corps of Engineers 

2 Fiscal Year 2008 Contract Dredging Program, only 

3 160 contracts for America’s over 300 harbors were 

4 awarded last year at a cost of $710,841,061 to 

5 dredge 146,747,977 cubic yards of sediment. 

6 (2) Vessels are increasing in tonnage, requiring 

7 deeper drafts and making the dredging of America’s 

8 harbors vital to keep America’s ports globally com9 petitive. 

10 (3) According to the Department of Transpor11 tation, approaches and alongside depths in several 

12 key ports must be increased to as much as 45 to 50 

13 feet to allow increasingly larger vessels to access 

14 America’s ports. 

15 (4) The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund has a 

16 current surplus of approximately $4,600,000,000. 

17 (5) In fiscal year 2009, $1,626,426,155 was de18 posited into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, 

19 yet only $710,841,061 or 43.7 percent of the rev20 enue generated in the Harbor Maintenance Trust 

21 Fund was appropriated out to fund the dredging of 

22 America’s harbors. 

23 (6) Each of the 22,975,000 businesses through24 out the United States are suffering as many of our 

25 Nation’s harbors are inadequately dredged, creating 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3447 IH

1 the need to use smaller and less cost-effective vessels 

2 to access American markets. 

3 (7) Ports, States, and municipalities are uti4 lizing sparse resources on dredging instead of fund5 ing critical transportation infrastructure or health 

6 and education programs. 

7 (8) The expansion of the Panama Canal has se8 rious economic consequences to the United States 

9 economy as increased cargo diversion will occur due 

10 to the increased amounts of cargo entering the 

11 Unites States via foreign port use. 

12 (9) According to the United States Census Bu13 reau, United States ports handled some $3.95 tril14 lion in international trade for an all-encompassing 

15 range of goods and services in fiscal year 2007, with 

16 nearly 1.4 billion tons, valued at $1.4 trillion, in wa17 terborne imports and exports alone. 

18 (10) According to the United States Census 

19 Bureau, United States ports generated more than 

20 $23.2 billion in United States Customs duty reve21 nues in fiscal 2007, representing 70 percent of all 

22 Customs duties collected. 

23 SEC. 3. HARBOR MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND REFORM. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9505(c) of the Internal 

25 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘shall be 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3447 IH

1 available, as provided in appropriations Acts,’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘shall be available, without further appropriation,’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 subsection (a) shall apply to fiscal years ending after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 4. HARBOR MAINTENANCE EXPENDITURES. 

7 (a) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS FROM HARBOR

8 MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 210 of the Water 

10 Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 

11 2238) is amended— 

12 (A) in the section heading by striking 

13 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘FUNDING’’; and 

15 (B) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘are au16 thorized to be appropriated’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘shall be available, without further appropria18 tion,’’. 

19 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

20 by paragraph (1) shall apply to fiscal years ending 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (b) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 210 of 

23 such Act (33 U.S.C. 2238) is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following: 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3447 IH

1 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

2 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this sub3 section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the 

4 Army shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 

5 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 

6 the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

7 Senate a report that— 

8 ‘‘(1) describes the progress of making expendi9 tures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to 

10 meet requests for funding projects; 

11 ‘‘(2) analyzes the benefits dredging projects 

12 have to the overall economy of the United States; 

13 ‘‘(3) analyzes how critical each dredging project 

14 is to the local, State and Federal economy; and 

15 ‘‘(4) addresses the sufficiency of balances in the 

16 Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to meet antici17 pated project requests.’’. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS