Page 4 - AAPA Year End Report
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AAPA: Your Voice in Washington
2016 Policy Accomplishments
Waterside Infrastructure
Water Resources Legislation
For the  rst time in 16 years, Congress brought water resourc- es legislation back to “normal order” by passing a biennial bill – WIIN. AAPA policy priorities fared very well. Key policy changes include:
w Modernizing the construction cost-share formula, saving ports millions of dollars. For navigation channel deepen- ing projects up to 50 feet of dredging depth, the federal government will pay 75 percent of the cost. This would change the federal cost-share of 75 percent from 45 feet to 50 feet of dredging depth. AAPA had fought for decades for changes in the cost-share formula to re ect the changes in the size of the world shipping  eet. In 2014, AAPA success- fully advocated for a change to the cost-share formula used for channel maintenance, and this year’s WIIN changed the construction formula as well.
w Stabilizing future harbor maintenance tax (HMT) spending authorization levels. This became a goal once the President released his FY 2017 budget request, which signi cantly reduced projections of HMT revenue and, thus, would have reduced HMT expenditures. (Under WRRDA 2014, HMT authorized spending levels are tied to HMT revenues. The revised revenue estimate could have resulted in an $82 million decrease for FY 2017 if Congress approved funding in line with WRRDA’s original HMT targets.) AAPA sought a solution and worked with other stakeholders to draft legis- lative language, included in the  nal WIIN, to authorize HMT spending to be three percent above the prior year appropri- ations or the HMT target based on revenues, whichever is higher. Although Congress did not complete appropriations for the  scal year, both the House and Senate provisions adopted this three percent goal.
w Extending the Donor and Energy Transfer Port Program through 2025. WRRDA 2014 established a new program providing donor and energy transfer ports up to $50 million per year. The program was set to expire in 2018, but WIIN extended the program through 2020. The bill also included a further extension to 2025 if HMT appropriations meet or exceed annual funding targets. The bill also includes lan- guage to enable HMT rebates to be targeted to cargo at risk for diversion to non-U.S. ports. Additionally, WIIN included provisions to expand the program to ports that are large HMT donors but have lower cargo volumes.
w AAPA proposed technical and streamlining provisions in- cluded in WIIN. These provisions related to the HMT spend- ing formula. They enabled a project sponsor to fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to conduct the economic analysis on sponsor-led feasibility studies and clari ed the Corps’ ability to accept and use materials and services to expedite project maintenance.
Coordinated Donor and Energy Transfer Port Payments
For FY 2016, Congress appropriated, for the  rst time, $25 million in Donor and Energy Transfer payments; however, the original law did not include distribution details. AAPA led the 18 Donor and Energy Transfer Ports to reach an agreement on funds distribution details. This approach was incorporated into the Corps of Engineers implementation guidance and used to distribute the $25 million funded by Congress in the FY 2016 Corps appropriation. This distribution approach was subse- quently included in WINN.
Landside Infrastructure
Federal Transportation Policy
AAPA continues to see transportation policy focus more on seaports and the need for additional multi-modal freight investments. The Association strongly advocated for landside needs throughout the year despite there being no formal legislation. To highlight these needs AAPA teamed with AASHTO to issue The State of Freight II, a report intended to provide a baseline of state investment needs and seaport involvement
as a result of the FAST Act. The report identi ed $259 billion in state freight needs, though that number will likely grow as more states complete their freight plans. The report was announced on a joint AAPA/AASHTO telephone press conference that re- ceived considerable media attention.
AAPA also participated in a Congressional roundtable on FAST Act implementation and provided comments to the Department of Transportation (DOT) on the National Freight Strategic Plan and the National Multimodal Strategic Plan. In 2016, ports saw an increase in DOT funds devoted to seaports, including $160.4 million of  rst-year FASTLANE Grants and $61.8 million of TIGER funds. Seaports received a higher percentage of the number of TIGER grants this year, 21 percent versus nine percent last year, although they received the same percentage of the funds.
Security Grants
AAPA was pleased that the Administration dropped its proposal to bundle port security grants with other homeland security grants and send them to the states. AAPA and others had fought hard during the last several budget cycles to oppose this pro- posal.
Diesel Emissions Reduction
Ports continue to see value in EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grants. These grants helped seaports develop pro- grams to offer incentives to truckers and vessel operators, as well as terminal operations, to convert to cleaner equipment. For FY 2016, 12 seaport projects received 43 percent of the $26.5 million available in DERA funds. This high percentage rec- ognizes the value both EPA and seaports see in this program. During 2016, AAPA also worked closely with EPA on advisory committee recommendations to EPA on the development of a ports initiative, and much of the focus in the report was on the importance of the DERA program.


































































































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