Impact of the 112 th Congress on the Port Industry Jean C. Godwin - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Impact of the 112th Congress

• n the Port Industry

Jean C. Godwin Executive Vice President and General Counsel American Association of Port Authorities

April 7, 2011

American Association of Port Authorities 703.684.5700 • www.aapa-ports.org

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American Association of Port Authorities

Representing Seaports of the Western Hemisphere

• 150 Members from throughout Western

Hemisphere

• AAPA provides a space for collaboration and

exchange of best practices

• Fostering collaboration among members and allied
• groups. We do this through:
• Education and Training
• Networking and one on one interaction
• Legislative and Policy support
• Outreach

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Seaport Industry Overview Committed to Keeping Seaports Navigable/Secure/Sustainable

• For centuries seaports have been an economic lifeline
• Seaports help build and grow international trade;

strengthening local and national economies

• Provide high paying jobs and increase standard of living
• Seaports connect us to the rest of the world
• Keeping seaports modern, navigable, safe and in the

national interest is a CORE PRIORITY for AAPA

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Seaports as Critical Link to Global Trade

• Seaports are a critical link to

global marketplace, and AAPA and its members are committed to keeping seaports modern and efficient.

• Seaports support 13 million

jobs/strong family wages

• Every $1 billion in exports

creates an estimated 15,000 jobs in the U.S.

American Association of Port Authorities 703.684.5700 • www.aapa-ports.org

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The Role that Seaports Play to the Economy Cannot be Overstated

• Nearly everything we buy or

consume – everything from the clothes we wear, to the foods we eat, to the coffee we start our day with – comes to us on a ship, through one of our nation’s seaports.

• In turn, nearly everything the United States sells in the global

marketplace makes its way there via our seaports. This includes valuable domestic commodities like machinery, steel and building materials.

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Seaports as Partnerships

• A successful seaport is supported by its partners including

federal, state and local governments and the private sector.

• Ports are investing over $2 billion/year in their facilities, and

rely on the federal, state and local governments to uphold their end of the bargain maintaining the waterside and landside connections to ports.

• Modern, navigable seaports are vital to international

commerce, economic prosperity and must remain a federal priority, even in these times of fiscal restraint.

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Need for Investment and a STRONG Federal Partner

• Maintaining our national infrastructure that supports foreign

and interstate commerce is not only a Federal responsibility but is in the national interest.

• Navigation channels and connecting landside infrastructure are
• Investing federal, state, local and private resources into

seaports and connecting infrastructure is critical

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AAPA U.S. Policy Issues Existing transportation programs do not adequately address goods movement!

• AAPA policy focuses heavily on improving port infrastructure

and connections through greater investment in:

• Federal navigation channels and marine highways
• On the waterside, federal navigation channel dimensions are not

keeping pace with needs (especially with Panama Canal expansion)

• Port, road and rail infrastructure
• On the landside

bottlenecks often outside port gates

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112th Congress

• New Leadership in Congress
• Moratorium on earmarks directly affects our

waterways

• Timing, scope and funding for surface

transportation legislation uncertain

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Landside Access Pending Surface Transportation Legislation Overdue: Ports advocating for greater focus on freight transportation including:

• National Freight Policy
• Funding for projects/corridors of national/regional significance
• Funding for intermodal connections to ports (highway/rail/maritime)
• Match transportation policy with trade promotion policy

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Waterside Access

Federal navigation channels not being maintained at authorized dimensions

• cargo. Without routine dredging, ships are limited from entering certain

waterways or cannot sail with full cargo loads, which ultimately increases costs to consumers.

• The federal government does not fully utilize the Harbor Maintenance Tax

(HMT) for its intended purpose and critical dredging needs have been

• neglected. (only half the required dredging is done):
• Needs =

$1.3-1.6 billion annually

• Collected =

$1.5 billion annually

• Appropriated = $800 million annually
• Only a fraction of user fees are being spent resulting in increased costs for

waterborne transportation, higher prices to consumers and reduced competiveness of U.S. exports in the global marketplace

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Navigation Channels Need Deepening

Panama Canal expansion increases available draft to 50 feet

• With ships getting increasingly larger and with Panama Canal expansion, dredging

deep-draft navigation channels is critical

• Need to increase navigation channel deepening & widening investments to help keep

U.S. globally competitive

• Without deeper channels we cannot take advantage of new export opportunities

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What Lies Ahead

• n the land and waterside to increase competitiveness and our

ability to accommodate trade growth/expanded exports.

• In the port industry we are up for the challenges and planning

for what comes next:

• Demonstrating the importance of ports both nationally and

locally through jobs, the economy, trade

• Demonstrating that prosperity will come through seaports

and a strong and efficient transportation system

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Thank you!