Federal Contractors Win Big on Highway Extension Vote

One of three amendments adopted during the debate of H.R. 4348. The Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II, was a modified version of Congressman Charles Boustany’s (R-LA) Realizing America’s Maritime Promise (RAMP) Act.  H.R. 4348 is serving as the vehicle to get the House to a conference committee with the Senate on their surface transportation reauthorization bill which passed last month. The RAMP Act ensures revenue coming into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) is used and spent for its designated purposes:  harbor maintenance and dredging projects.  The Army Corps of Engineers estimates that almost 30 percent of our nations ports are hindered because of inadequate channel depths attributed to a lack of proper dredging.  This amendment guarantees the total amount available for spending from the HMTF each fiscal year through the appropriations process is equal to the receipts collected as estimated in the President’s budget for that year. Appropriations from the HMTF, which are primarily used by the Army Corps of Engineers for maintenance dredging, dredged material disposal areas, jetties, and breakwaters, have lagged behind revenues in the fund for several years.  The resulting HMTF surplus was approximately $6.42 billion at the end of fiscal year 2012. AGC has long advocated for the appropriations from the HMTF equal the revenue collected by the Harbor Maintenance Tax and we will work to ensure this provision which is supported by both Republicans and Democrats is part of the final package negotiated by the conference committee on the surface transportation bill. For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 oroneills@agc.org.