Senators introduce port “sunshine” bill

New legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate seeks to provide the government with more data about port performance.    New legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate, S-1298, seeks to provide the government with more data about port performance.
   Sponsors of the “port transparency bill” say its aim is to “help with early identification of port disruptions caused by labor strife or other factors before they inflict serious damage on businesses and the broader U.S. economy,” pointing to port disruption on the West Coast during negotiations for a new contract between longshoremen and employers.
   While there are large numbers of trade magazines, consultants, and information services that produce information about the shipping industry and ports, in the press release announcing the legislation, sponsor Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said “at present, statistics for air cargo and even forms of ground transportation are more developed and accessible than those for maritime transport.”
   “This legislation adds needed sunshine to maritime shipping through our ports to help head off future economically destructive impediments to commerce,” Thune said of the bill.
   Other sponsors include Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Deb Fischer R-Neb. and Cory Gardner, R-Colo.
    The bill would require:

• The director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to establish a port performance statistics program and report annually to Congress on the performance and capacity of the nation’s key ports.
• U.S. port authorities that are subject to federal regulation or that receive federal assistance to report annually to BTS.
• The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Commerce, to report to Congress on a port’s performance before and after the expiration of maritime labor agreements to help indicate whether labor discussions have impacted operations, the estimated economic impact of such disputes and roughly how long it will take for shipments to return to normal.