House Transportation Leadership Proposes Maritime Title to Highway Bill

Chairman John Mica of Florida announced on July 7, 2011 his plans for a renewed surface transportation authorization bill usually referred to as the "highway bill." The present authorization expires on September 30, 2011, and the last multi-year authorization was enacted in August 2005 (and expired in 2009). Unlike the previous multi-year authorization, the Chairman Mica proposed highway bill will include a focused maritime transportation title. The summary of the title indicates that the bill will address several lingering problems with domestic maritime transportation including the overfunding of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and double harbor maintenance taxation of domestic maritime shipments. The bill also intends to propose changes to the Maritime Administration's capital construction fund program to increase qualified uses of CCF funds.