I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3447 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to implement on-going appro-
priations 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 Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com-
mittee 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harbor Maintenance 
Trust Fund Reform Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) According to the Army Corps of Engineers 
Fiscal Year 2008 Contract Dredging Program, only 
160 contracts for America’s over 300 harbors were 
awarded last year at a cost of $710,841,061 to 
dredge 146,747,977 cubic yards of sediment. 
(2) Vessels are increasing in tonnage, requiring 
deeper drafts and making the dredging of America’s 
harbors vital to keep America’s ports globally com-
petitive. 
(3) According to the Department of Transpor-
tation, approaches and alongside depths in several 
key ports must be increased to as much as 45 to 50 
feet to allow increasingly larger vessels to access 
America’s ports. 
(4) The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund has a 
current surplus of approximately $4,600,000,000. 
(5) In fiscal year 2009, $1,626,426,155 was de-
posited into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, 
yet only $710,841,061 or 43.7 percent of the rev-
enue generated in the Harbor Maintenance Trust 
Fund was appropriated out to fund the dredging of 
America’s harbors. 
(6) Each of the 22,975,000 businesses through-
out the United States are suffering as many of our 
Nation’s harbors are inadequately dredged, creating 
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the need to use smaller and less cost-effective vessels 
to access American markets. 
(7) Ports, States, and municipalities are uti-
lizing sparse resources on dredging instead of fund-
ing critical transportation infrastructure or health 
and education programs. 
(8) The expansion of the Panama Canal has se-
rious economic consequences to the United States 
economy as increased cargo diversion will occur due 
to the increased amounts of cargo entering the 
Unites States via foreign port use. 
(9) According to the United States Census Bu-
reau, United States ports handled some $3.95 tril-
lion in international trade for an all-encompassing 
range of goods and services in fiscal year 2007, with 
nearly 1.4 billion tons, valued at $1.4 trillion, in wa-
terborne imports and exports alone. 
(10) According to the United States Census 
Bureau, United States ports generated more than 
$23.2 billion in United States Customs duty reve-
nues in fiscal 2007, representing 70 percent of all 
Customs duties collected. 
SEC. 3. HARBOR MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND REFORM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9505(c) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘shall be 
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available, as provided in appropriations Acts,’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘shall be available, without further appropriation,’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to fiscal years ending after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. HARBOR MAINTENANCE EXPENDITURES. 
(a) AVAILABILITY
OF AMOUNTS FROM HARBOR 
MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 210 of the Water 
Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 
2238) is amended— 
(A) in the section heading by striking 
‘‘AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS’’ 
and inserting ‘‘FUNDING’’; and 
(B) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘are au-
thorized to be appropriated’’ and inserting 
‘‘shall be available, without further appropria-
tion,’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply to fiscal years ending 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 210 of 
such Act (33 U.S.C. 2238) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
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‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT
TO CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this sub-
section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the 
Army shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 
Senate a report that— 
‘‘(1) describes the progress of making expendi-
tures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to 
meet requests for funding projects; 
‘‘(2) analyzes the benefits dredging projects 
have to the overall economy of the United States; 
‘‘(3) analyzes how critical each dredging project 
is to the local, State and Federal economy; and 
‘‘(4) addresses the sufficiency of balances in the 
Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to meet antici-
pated project requests.’’. 
Æ 
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