House bill would triple harbor maintenance tax to fund freight infrastructure projects
June 18, 2009
World Trade\Interactive
Legislation introduced recently in the House would nearly triple the Harbor Maintenance Tax in an effort to generate about $2.7 billion a year for freight infrastructure improvement projects. Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., said the Making Opportunity via Efficient and More Effective National Transportation (MOVEMENT) Act of 2009 (H.R. 2355) would fund projects to “improve the movement of goods, mitigate environmental damage caused by the movement of goods, and enhance the security of transported goods.” She said that after meetings with fellow lawmakers as well as business leaders and stakeholders she decided that increasing the HMT, rather than imposing a new fee on containerized cargo, would be “the most equitable way to generate and distribute revenue” for these projects.
H.R. 2355 would increase the HMT from 0.125% to 0.4375% of the value of commercial cargo entering through any seaport or inland port. Commercial cargo entering the customs territory of the U.S. other than by port use, following foreign port use, would be assessed a 0.3125% HMT. Shipments originated from Canada or Mexico would not be subject to the tax.
The vast majority (90%) of the revenue raised by the higher fees would go to projects to improve the movement of goods in interstate commerce, including relieving truck congestion leading into and out of ports and enhancing or expanding freight rail service. Another 7% would be earmarked for environmental projects such as promoting the use of clean trucks, cold iron technology and equipment that reduces smokestack emissions from vessels at a port. The remaining 3% would go to homeland security projects, which the bill defines as projects to improve cargo inspection, screening and security training for workers.
The Department of Transportation would be required to report annually to Congress on the projects funded under this bill, including their impact on enhancing the efficiency of goods movement and the cost of imported consumer goods, the amount of cargo transported through each state by a seaport or inland port, and recommendations regarding the potential for expansion or other changes to the program, such as adjustments to the amount of the HMT.
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