I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2273 
To implement a program establishing the Great Lakes Navigation System, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 6, 2013 
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan (for herself, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Ms. 
SLAUGHTER, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. BENISHEK, and Mr. ROGERS of Michi-
gan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To implement a program establishing the Great Lakes 
Navigation System, 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 ‘‘Great Lakes Naviga-
tion System Sustainability Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act the term— 
(1) ‘‘Great Lakes’’ and ‘‘Great Lakes Naviga-
tional System’’ means— 
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(A)(i) Lake Superior; 
(ii) Lake Huron; 
(iii) Lake Michigan; 
(iv) Lake Erie; and 
(v) Lake Ontario; 
(B) all connecting waters between the 
lakes referred to in subparagraph (A) used for 
commercial and recreational navigation; 
(C) any navigation features in the lakes re-
ferred to in subparagraph (A) or waters de-
scribed in subparagraph (B) that are a Federal 
operation or maintenance responsibility; and 
(D) areas of the Saint Lawrence River 
that are operated or maintained by the Govern-
ment for commercial navigation. 
(2) ‘‘eligible operations and maintenance’’ has 
the same meaning as that term is defined in section 
214 of the Water Resources Development Act of 
1986 (33 U.S.C. 2241); 
(3) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the 
Army. 
SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES NAVIGATION SYSTEM. 
(a) MANAGEMENT OF GREAT LAKES NAVIGATION 
SYSTEM.—To sustain the most effective and efficient op-
eration and maintenance of the Great Lakes Navigation 
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System, the Secretary, acting through the Chief of Engi-
neers, shall manage and allocate funding for all of the in-
dividually authorized commercial and recreational naviga-
tion projects in the Great Lakes Navigation System as 
components of a single, comprehensive system, recognizing 
the interdependence of the projects. 
(b) CARGO MEASUREMENTS.—Cargo measurements 
for the purpose of prioritizing annual operations and 
maintenance budget resources for the Great Lakes Navi-
gation System, and for any of the component projects of 
the System, shall aggregate the tonnage of all components 
of the System. 
SEC. 4. GREAT LAKES SYSTEM SUSTAINABILITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 
Chief of Engineers, shall establish a program to fund eligi-
ble operations and maintenance projects of the Great 
Lakes Navigation System with the objective of maintain-
ing such projects to their authorized depths and widths. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall consult 
with the Congressional delegations from States that bor-
der the Great Lakes in developing annual priorities for 
the apportionment of funding authorized to be appro-
priated pursuant to this section. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For each 
of fiscal years 2014 through 2023, there is authorized to 
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be appropriated from the Harbor Maintenance Trust 
Fund established by section 9505 of the Internal Revenue 
Code $200,000,000 to fund eligible operations and main-
tenance of the Great Lakes Navigation System. Funds ap-
propriated pursuant to this section may remain available 
until expended. 
(d) COST SHARE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made avail-
able pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary, act-
ing through the Chief of Engineers, shall give a 
higher priority to projects described in paragraph 
(2) than to projects described in paragraph (3). 
(2) CERTAIN
HARBORS
PROVIDING
A
COST 
SHARE.— 
(A) NOT
SUBJECT
TO
HARBOR
MAINTE-
NANCE FEE.—A Great Lakes Navigation Sys-
tem project that is not subject to the harbor 
maintenance fee under section 24.24 of title 19, 
Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu-
lations) and for which the non-Federal sponsor 
provides a cost share of 50 percent of the costs 
of eligible operations and maintenance expenses, 
is eligible for Federal operations and mainte-
nance funds made available pursuant to sub-
section (c). 
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(B) SUBJECT TO HARBOR MAINTENANCE 
TRUST FUND BUT NO CARGO.—A Great Lakes 
Navigation System project that is subject to the 
harbor maintenance fee under section 24.24 of 
title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc-
cessor regulations), has not had commercial 
cargo loaded or unloaded from its harbor dur-
ing the previous 2 fiscal years, and for which 
the non-Federal sponsor provides a cost share 
of 50 percent of the costs of eligible operations 
and maintenance expenses is eligible for Fed-
eral operations and maintenance funds made 
available pursuant to subsection (c). 
(3) 
CERTAIN
HARBORS
WITH
NO
COST 
SHARE.—A Great Lakes Navigation System project 
that otherwise meets the description in subpara-
graphs (A) or (B) of paragraph (2), and for which 
the non-Federal sponsor of the project does not pro-
vide a cost share of 50 percent of the costs of eligi-
ble operations and maintenance expenses, is eligible 
to receive Federal operations and maintenance funds 
made available pursuant to subsection (c) after 
projects under such subparagraphs are funded. 
Æ 
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