Bill proposes national container fee

Bill proposes national container fee Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., last week introduced a bill that directs the Secretary of Transportation to implement a national container fee.
   H.R. 7002, the 'MOVEMENT Act of 2008' proposes that within 180 days after enactment the secretary should “establish a national container fee to be collected on each cargo container that is imported into the United States or exported out of the United States in commerce at a covered seaport.”
   The beneficial cargo owner would be responsible for the $25-per-TEU fee. If there is more than one beneficial cargo owner of cargo within a container, each beneficial cargo owner would be responsible for payment of an equal portion of the fee.
   Half of the fees collected, after administrative expenses, would be doled out to states according to the amount of cargo that moves through state seaports, and the remaining funds used by the secretary for discretionary grants.
   In both instances, the bill said 80 percent of the funds would be available only for eligible goods movement improvement projects, 10 percent for eligible homeland security projects, and 10 percent for eligible environmental projects.
   Text of the bill is at frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h7002ih.txt.pdf.