Inland waterway lobby pleased with 2005 civil works appropriation

Inland waterway lobby pleased with 2005 civil works appropriation    A group of American inland waterway proponents for freight transportation said it was pleased with an omnibus spending package passed by the Congress during its recent lame duck session, which allocates $4.7 billion in fiscal 2005 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
   The bill includes $331.5 million for the Inland Waterways Users Board’s most critical navigation improvement projects, a $61 million increase over last year’s appropriation, and $64.6 million over the president’s fiscal 2005 request for these projects.
   “As funding for the Army Corps of Engineers continues to increase to allow for the maintenance of the inland waterways’ navigation infrastructure, we as a nation ultimately benefit,” said R. Barry Palmer, president and chief executive officer of Waterways Council, in a statement Tuesday.
   The Washington-based council receives support from more than 250 waterways carriers, shippers, port authorities, shipping associations and waterways advocacy groups from around the country. The U.S. waterways industry transports more than 800 million tons of commodities each year.
   The omnibus bill appropriated funds to the following waterway infrastructure projects:
   * Inner Harbor — $14.5 million.
   * Kentucky Lock — $32.5 million.
   * Lower Mon 2,3 and 4 — $35.5 million.
   * Marmet — $75 million.
   * McAlpine — $68.5 million.
   * Olmsted — $69 million.
   * Chickamauga — $17 million.
   * Lock & Dam 11 — $1.5 million.
   * Lock & Dam 19 — $4.8 million.
   * Lock & Dam 24 — $8.8 million.
   The Waterways Council, however, expressed “disappointment” that the lame duck congressional session failed to produce agreement on the Water Resources Development Act. Palmer said the council will “redouble our efforts to see its passage.”
   Even though the bill did not pass, the omnibus bill contains $355,000 to continue the Upper Mississippi-Illinois Waterways navigation study and another $13.5 million in planning funds to start pre-construction engineering and design, the council said.