Waterways Are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency, and Environment Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-1149
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Whitfield, Ed [R-KY-1]
Introduced: 2013-03-14
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Government trust funds

Navigation, waterways, harbors

Transportation programs funding

User charges and fees
Latest action: action_date: 2013-04-11
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.

Summaries:
action_date: 2013-03-14
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>Waterways Are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency, and Environment Act of 2013 or WAVE4 Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to require certain delivery process reforms for qualifying construction and major rehabilitation projects for navigation infrastructure of inland and intracoastal waterways.</p> <p>Directs the Secretary, working in conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board, to submit to Congress a 20-year program for making capital investments on inland and intracoastal waterways. Authorizes such program to be based on the 20-year capital investment strategy contained in the Inland Marine Transportation System (IMTS) Capital Projects Business Model, Final Report published on April 13, 2010, as approved by the Board.</p> <p>Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit expenditures from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund to 50% of the total cost of the construction or rehabilitation project. Makes Fund amounts unavailable for: (1) construction or rehabilitation of dams, or (2) rehabilitation expenditures that do not equal or exceed $100 million.</p>

tv_txt: I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1149 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 14, 2013 Mr. Whitfield (for himself, Mr. Lipinski , Mr. Cassidy , Mr. Olson , and Mr. Bachus ) 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 provide for funding for construction and major rehabilitation for projects located on inland and intracoastal waterways of the United States, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Waterways Are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency, and Environment Act of 2013 or the WAVE4 Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The inland waterways navigation system is vital to the economic well-being of the Nation. (2) Energy reliability and conservation are the cornerstones of the inland waterways navigation system. (3) The efficiency of the inland waterways navigation system creates the optimum transportation mode for bulk commodities in the United States. (4) The inland waterways navigation system provides for environmental protection and ecosystem sustainability. 3. Purposes In order to ensure continued safe, dependable, highly cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable navigation on the inland and intracoastal waterways of the United States, the purposes of this Act are to— (1) improve program and project management applicable to the construction and major rehabilitation of navigation projects on such waterways; (2) optimize inland waterways navigation system reliability; (3) minimize the size and scope of inland waterways navigation project completion schedules; (4) eliminate preventable delays in inland waterways navigation project completion schedules; and (5) make inland waterways navigation capital investments through use of prioritization criteria that seek to maximize system-wide benefits and minimize overall system risk. 4. Definitions In this Act: (1) Qualifying project The term qualifying project means any construction or major rehabilitation project for navigation infrastructure of the inland and intracoastal waterways that is— (A) authorized before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act; (B) not completed as of the date of enactment of this Act; and (C) funded at least in part from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. (2) Major rehabilitation project The term major rehabilitation project means a project for the restoration of a major project or major project feature that has an estimated cost greater than $100,000,000. 5. Project delivery process reforms The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall require the following: (1) Formal project management training and certification for project managers of a qualifying project. (2) Assignment as project managers for a qualifying project only of personnel fully certified by the Chief of Engineers. (3) Cost estimation that is risk-based and has a confidence level of at least 80 percent for a qualifying project. (4) Independent external peer review and submission to Congress (in the case of a feasibility report) or the Secretary (in the case of a rehabilitation evaluation report) for any qualifying project— (A) that— (i) has an estimated total project cost greater than $45,000,000; (ii) is subject to public safety concerns, as determined by the Chief of Engineers; (iii) involves a high level of complexity or novel or precedent-setting approaches, as determined by the Chief of Engineers; or (iv) is identified by the Chief of Engineers as a matter of significant interagency interest; or (B) for which such a review has been requested by the Governor of any State affected by the project. (5) Appointment to a project development team for a qualifying project of a member of the Inland Waterways Users Board, selected by the Chairman of the Users Board. (6) Communication quarterly to the Inland Waterways Users Board of the status of a qualifying project that is under construction. (7) Inclusion of the Chairman of the Inland Waterways Users Board and the project development team appointee under paragraph (5) as signatories of the project management plan for a qualifying project. (8) Establishment of a system to identify and apply on a continuing basis lessons learned from prior or ongoing projects so as to improve the likelihood of on-time and on-budget completion of qualifying projects. (9) Evaluation, including through use of one or more pilot projects, of early contractor involvement acquisition procedures to improve on-time and on-budget project delivery performance. (10) Such additional measures that the Secretary determines will achieve the purposes of this Act, including, as determined appropriate by the Secretary— (A) implementation of applicable practices and procedures drawn from the Secretary’s management of the military construction program; (B) creation of one or more centers of expertise for the design and review of qualifying projects; (C) development and use of a portfolio of standard designs for inland navigation locks; (D) use of full-funding contracts or formulation of a revised continuing contracts clause; and (E) establishment of procedures for recommending new project construction starts using a capital projects business model. 6. 20-year capital investment program (a) Program required Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army, working in conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board, shall submit to Congress a 20-year program for making capital investments on the inland and intracoastal waterways based on application of objective national project-selection prioritization criteria, as developed by the Secretary. Such program may be based on the 20-year capital investment strategy contained in the Inland Marine Transportation System (IMTS) Capital Projects Business Model, Final Report published on April 13, 2010, as approved by the Inland Waterways Users Board. (b) Annual review and update Beginning not later than 1 year after the date on which a 20-year program is submitted to Congress under subsection (a), and each year thereafter, the Secretary of the Army, working in conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board, shall submit to Congress an updated 20-year program. Such updated program shall include identification and explanation of any changes that were made to the prior year’s project-specific recommendations, including any changes that were made to the objective national project-selection prioritization criteria that were used to develop the updated recommendations. (c) Strategic review and update Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of the Army, working in conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board, shall submit to Congress a strategic review of the capital investment program for the Inland Marine Transportation System and make such revisions to the program as the Secretary and Users Board jointly consider appropriate. 7. Cost sharing for qualifying projects (a) General rule Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and subject to subsection (b), one-half of the cost of construction of a qualifying project shall be paid only from amounts appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury, and one-half of such costs shall be paid only from amounts appropriated from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. (b) Special rule for dams Notwithstanding subsection (a), the cost of construction of a dam shall be paid only from amounts appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury. 8. Limitation on expenditures from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund Section 9506 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— (1) in subsection (c)(1), by— (A) inserting and subject to subsection (d), after Except as provided in paragraph (2), ; and (B) striking , as in effect on the date of the enactment of this section and inserting , provided that such expenditures may not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the construction or rehabilitation ; and (2) by inserting at the end the following: (d) Limitation on expenditures from trust fund (1) Amounts in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund shall not be available for expenditures for— (A) construction or rehabilitation of dams; or (B) any rehabilitation expenditure that does not equal or exceed $100,000,000. (2) Amounts in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund may not be used to pay for any part of the cost to construct an authorized Federal project that exceeds the sum of— (A) the total authorized cost to construct the Federal project as specified in the Public Law that authorized construction of the project or, in the case of a rehabilitation project, in the relevant rehabilitation evaluation report; (B) an adjustment for inflation for the time that elapses between the date of the project’s authorization and the date on which construction of the project begins; and (C) an additional amount, if any, jointly agreed to by the Secretary and the Inland Waterways Users Board as appropriate to the project. . 9. Revision to inland waterways user fee Section 4042(b)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: (A) The Inland Waterways Trust Fund financing rate is the rate determined in accordance with the following table: The tax per If the use occurs: gallon is: During 2013 20 cents After 2013 26 cents .