Roll Call - Port, Waterways Funds May Have Surplus Next Year

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By Kellie Mejdrich

Rep. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., is leading a push in Congress to make spending from the HMTF mandatory and plans to introduce legislation within months. Her district includes the Port of Los Angeles, one of the nation's busiest shipping hubs.

"It is really a breach of faith, I believe, with the federal government and those who pay this tax," she said. "I'd like to see the caps go away, and have it be a part of mandatory spending. If you collect a tax you have to spend it."

The Congressional Research Service said in a 2011 report the HMTF surplus was effectively lost in the budget, because the fund didn't have a separate account.

Inland Waterways

Waterways Council President Mike Toohey estimates the barge diesel fuel tax will, at its increased level, put at least $116 million into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund in fiscal 2016.

Toohey said that's more than the $84.5 million spent from the fund last year. It's also more than the president's request to spend $53 million from the fund in fiscal 2016.

"Our major concern is they don't spend that 9 cents," Toohey said to reporters earlier this month.

Unlike the HMTF, which pays 100 percent of the cost of dredging operations for most channels, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund pays for 50 percent of the cost of most major rehabilitation or construction projects. The federal government picks up the other 50 percent.

Operations and maintenance costs for inland waterways are funded 100 percent by the federal government.

Previous Commitments

Congress took a stab at making both funds more effective in a piece of legislation last year known as the Water Resources Reform and Development Act.

Navigation groups lauded WRRDA as a plan to gradually increase spending from the HMTF to match what was collected and it established a process to improve project delivery and cost effectiveness of inland waterways projects, in part by limiting how much of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund went to the Olmsted Lock and Dam project on the Ohio River between Illinois and Kentucky. The bill received bipartisan support.

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