October 30, 2019 3:30 a.m.
On Monday the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation authored by Congressman Peter DeFazio that he said will unlock the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.
The DeFazio release said the legislation will increase investments in “critical harbor and port projects” which DeFazio said will help ensure that money intended to dredge the nation’s coastal and inland commercial ports would actually go toward harbor maintenance. The bill passed by a vote of 296 to 109, with 79 Republicans voting in favor of the legislation.
In reaction, DeFazio said that “bipartisanship in Washington is not dead”. He called the vote “a win, years in the making” for the nation’s coastal communities and members of the maritime workforce. DeFazio said “I encourage a swift passage through the Senate” and said he looks forward to the President signing it into law.
The release said HB 2240 makes it easier for Congress to appropriate any funds collected in the Trust Fund for authorized harbor maintenance needs. That includes the existing $9.5 billion balance in the Trust Fund. The release said the legislation enables the expenditure of approximately $34 billion over the next decade, which will allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge all federal harbors to their constructed widths and depths.