House budget bill for Corps wins praise from inland waterways shippers

House budget bill for Corps wins praise from inland waterways shippers    The House version of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ fiscal year 2005 budget was praised Friday by shippers and carriers that rely on the nation’s inland waterway system for transportation.
   The budget bill includes $4.83 billion for Corps, of which a large portion is dedicated to commercial navigation projects.
   “Our nation’s inland waterways transportation sector is simply one of the greatest contributors to economic prosperity in this country and we need to continue funding inland navigation infrastructure at the highest levels possible,” said R. Barry Palmer, president and chief executive officer for the Waterways Council, a Washington-based industry lobby, in June 25 statement.
   The Waterways Council outlined proposed funding in the bill for some of the most crucial navigation improvement projects:
   * Olmsted Locks and Dam — $75 million.
   * Monongahela River Locks and Damas — $42 million.
   * Kentucky Lock and Dam — $45 million.
   * Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock — $20 million.
   * McAlpine Lock and Dam — $80 million.
   * Chicamaugua — $14 million.
   * Marmet Lock — $70 million
   The House’s proposed Corps budget bill also proposes appropriations from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, which has been allowed to accumulate to more than $400 million. The fund, created in 1986, requires the collection of a 20-cent per gallon diesel fuel tax from barge and towing operators on the inland waterways to be used for congressionally authorized lock and dam projects. The federal government provides matching funds.
   Inland waterway user groups have lobbied Congress in recent years to increase spending for navigation improvements. It’s estimated that more than $31 billion in bulk commodities, such as coal, grain, petroleum and chemicals, transit the inland waterways each year.