South Carolina budget includes funds for Jasper Terminal

The Georgia Ports Authority and the South Carolina Ports Authority signed an agreement in 2015 to develop the Jasper Ocean Terminal, which will be jointly owned and operated by both port authorities.    Gov. Nikki Haley has included in the 2017-18 fiscal year budget funding for a proposed port in Jasper, S.C.
   “We must continue to ensure that we remain competitive regionally, nationally and globally,” Gov. Haley said. “Infrastructure investments such as the Inland Port Greer, deepening the Port of Charleston, and plans for a new deep water port in Jasper Couty will ensure that South Carolina remains an international hub for business.”
   The Georgia Ports Authority and South Carolina Ports Authority signed an agreement in 2015 to develop the Jasper Ocean Terminal, which will be jointly owned and operated by both port authorities.
   The budget includes $3.2 million for administration, consulting, and permitting of the proposed Jasper Ocean Terminal, channel, and supporting infrastructure. Permitting is expected to take several years. There is also included in the proposed budget $19 million for the Jasper County Port Infrastructure fund for improvements outside the gates of the proposed terminal.
   Money for deepening the Port of Charleston has already been appropriated by the state in prior budgets.
   Gov. Haley is leaving state government to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration.
   The Jasper County Sun Times said the request for $19 million “comes in response to a resolution last fall of the Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Project Office, or JPO, requesting that both Georgia and South Carolina – as joint owners of the Jasper site – begin now to set aside their half of the estimated $190 million for the new JOT connector road.
   “The idea is to have funds available at the end of the five-year permitting process that began in late 2015,” it explained.
   The terminal is expected to open its first phase in 2025, the newspaper said.