2012 Policy Statement
Great Lakes Maritime Task Force:
Promotes a strong U.S.-flag Merchant Marine on the Great Lakes to best advance the domestic and international trades. To this end, we:
a.) Advocate full application of the U.S. maritime cabotage laws, primary of which is the Jones Act. These laws and statutes ensure the safety and efficiency of Great Lakes commerce. Any exemptions to these laws will create an unlevel playing field and will drive U.S.-flag vessels from their own waters.
b.) Support maritime security legislation that ensures U.S.-flag deep-sea vessels are available to meet the national security needs of the United States.
Seeks expanded domestic and international trade through public and private Great Lakes ports and docks. To this end, we:
a.) Support legislation to initiate Short Sea Shipping on ferries and other vessels on the Great Lakes.
b.) Oppose re-imposition of U.S. tolls on the St. Lawrence Seaway if proposed.
Seeks to restore adequate funding for dredging of Great Lakes deep-draft ports and waterways. To this end, we:
a.) Seek equity in funding for Operation and Maintenance Dredging (O&M) of the nation's waterways. The Great Lakes host 25 of the nation's top 100 ports, yet decades of underfunding have left a backlog of sediment so great that it will cost an estimated $200 million to restore ports and waterways to project dimensions system-wide. The situation is only getting worse. The Administration's proposed budget for FY12 funds dredging at only 11 of the 63 Federally-maintained U.S. ports on the Great Lakes. The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), which funds the Corps dredging budget from a tax paid on cargo, has a surplus of nearly $6 billion, yet U.S.-flag vessel operators estimate three of every four cargos they've carried in recent years have been less than full loads. The HMTF must be used for its intended purpose - maintaining the nation's deep-draft ports and waters. At a minimum, it must spend as much as its takes in each year, approximately $1.6 billion. Withdrawals from the Fund have been only about $750 million a year.
Promotes fuller utilization of U.S. shipyards in the Great Lakes region. To this end, we:
a.) Support continuation of Federal Mortgage Insurance (Title XI) and Capital Construction Fund programs administered by the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Seeks to strengthen the economy of the Great Lakes basin in ways that promote commerce while protecting the environment. To this end, we:
a.) Support efforts to enact Federal legislation to regulate ballast water and stem the influx of non-indigenous species into the Great Lakes system via the ballast water on ocean-going vessels. The state-by-state regime that is emerging threatens to end waterborne commerce on the Great Lakes. New York's regulations - unless amended or superseded by Federal legislation - will close the St. Lawrence Seaway no later than August 1, 2013.
b.) Support EPA efforts to reduce emissions from vessels (and all sources), but educate the public that vessel emissions are but a fraction of total emissions in the region and pose no threat. Ill-crafted regulations will force cargo to land-based modes that produce more emissions and burn more fuel than ships and tug/barge units or shift production of steel and other goods to other regions or countries.
