n o vem b er / d ecem b er 2 0 0 9
short sea shipping
THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE
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short sea transportation projects to be conducted under the program to mitigate landside congestion.’ In response to this legislation, the Department issued an Interim Final Rule in October 2008 and will Ray LaHood issue final regulations to implement the program later this year. Additionally, the Maritime Administration’s reauthorization gives the Agency the authority to implement a Marine Highway Grant program and the President’s budget for 2010 through 2012 includes funding for such a program. While it is yet to be seen if these funds will be appropriated by Congress for 2010, this clearly represents a move by both the Administration and Congress toward such a mechanism to expand our use of Marine Highways where it makes sense. Properly implemented, this program can help reduce landside congestion. For example, a single vessel can shift over 450 trucks or 225 rail cars from costly and capacity constrained road and rail corridors to our underutilized waterways Marine Highways can also help reduce oil use. One study shows that inland towing moves each ton of freight nearly three times farther than by truck and almost 40 percent farther than rail on a gallon of fuel. This can also result in environmental benefits. Because inland towing consumes
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73 percent less fuel than truck and 28 percent less than rail, it emits proportionally less greenhouse gases. We are dedicated to systematically removing barriers in order to make better use of the Marine Highway. We will issue a report to Congress in the near future that describes some of these barriers and offers options to address them. Our approach is to integrate Marine Highways into the overall Surface Transportation System as we implement the new program. Several regions of the country offer particular opportunity in that there are landside corridors with some of our worst congestion with corresponding water routes that could offer some relief.” Read Secretary LaHood’s full response by clicking: http:// tinyurl.com/lahood-amh Congressmen James L. Oberstar, Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure “The federal government has an important role in promoting the expansion of the commercial waterways and making them a more integrated component of the nation’s transportation system. Policy initiatives currently being considered by Congress could help address some of the logistical, operational and financial constraints of short sea shipping. Capital investment in vessels and infrastructure is anoth-