Page 9: of Marine News Magazine (January 2, 2006)

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January, 2006 • MarineNews 9

NEWS

As the inland waterways industry looks back at the year nearly passed and to the year ahead, Waterways

Council, Inc. (WCI) offers the following highlights in 2005 and areas of focus for 2006: Waterways Council was gratified by the Appropriation Conference Com- mittee leadership and Conferees for an exceptionally strong FY '06 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that set funding of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Civil Works Program at $5.4 billion. This is the high- est appropriation ever for the Corps of Engineers. A notable change is the elimination of the practice of across-the-board withholding of monies for Savings and Slippage, as well as restrictions on the reprogram- ming of monies from one project to the other. The elimination and curtailment of these practices is impor- tant because projects will now be funded at appropriat- ed levels. This funding level is a significant increase above the Administration's requested $4.5 billion, the

House of Representatives request of $4.7 billion, and the Senate's requested $5.3 billion. The bill also will fund Inland Waterways Trust Fund financed projects at $379 million, to include construction and major reha- bilitation projects.

Specifically, the following projects were funded, at efficient levels or near full capability of the Corps:

Olmsted Lock and Dam (IL/KY), $90 million;

McAlpine Lock and Dam (IN/KY), $70 million; Inner

Harbor Navigation Canal (LA), $11.3 million; Marmet

Lock and Dam (WV), $73.5 million; Monongahela

River Locks and Dams 2, 3 and 4 (PA), $51 million;

Kentucky Lock Addition (KY); $23 million; and

Chickamauga Lock and Dam (TN), $10 million. Major rehabilitation projects include Emsworth Dam on the

Ohio, Locks and Dams 3, 11, 19, and 24 on the Upper

Mississippi River. WCI will urge higher levels of funding for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) to address the critical needs of the inland system in 2006. • WCI applauded the overwhelming passage (406 to 14) by the House of Representatives of a Water

Resources Development Act (WRDA), which, among other provisions, authorized $1.8 billion for the mod- ernization of Great Depression-era locks along the

Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and Bayou Sor- rel on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West. The rec- ommendation of the New Orleans District Engineer calls for a new 75- x 1,200-ft. lock at a cost of $88.5 million at Bayou Sorrel. When complete, WCI will work toward Senate action on a WRDA bill in 2006. The Board of Directors of WCI elected officers and Executive Committee members for 2005-2006:

Mark Knoy, President, AEP MEMCO LLC, Chairman;

R. Barry Palmer, WCI, President and CEO; Dan Meck- lenborg, Senior Vice President, HR & Chief Legal

Officer, Ingram Barge Company, General Counsel;

Lisa Fleming, Sr. Vice President Law and Administra- tion, American Commercial Lines LLC,

Secretary/Treasurer; Peter Lilly, Chief Operating Offi- cer-Coal, CONSOL Energy Inc., and Rick Calhoun,

President, Cargo Carriers, Vice-Chairmen. Peter

Stephaich, Chairman, Campbell Transportation Co; H.

Merritt Lane III, President and Chief Executive Offi- cer, Canal Barge Company; and Berdon Lawrence,

Chairman, Kirby Corporation, and WCI Past Chair- man, were named as additional Executive Committee

Members. WCI looks forward to working with these officers and Executive Committee members, as well as newly elected directors, in the year ahead. The National Waterways Foundation elected new trustees in October 2005: Rev. Dr. Jean Smith, Sea- men's Church Institute; Teri Goodmann, Mississippi

River Museum and Aquarium Charles Jones,

Amherst/Madison Coal & Supply Company; Terry

Becker, Riverway Co.; Robert (Bobby) Guthans, retired; and Robert Nichol, Moffatt & Nichol Engi- neers. The Foundation was launched in 1978 to foster waterways related research promoting the public value of America's inland navigation system, and will become ever-more active in 2006. The Honorable John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) and

The Honorable Jerry Costello (D-IL) received the

Fourth Annual Waterways Council Leadership Service

Award in March 2005. Reps. Duncan and Costello were honored jointly for their steadfast commitment to the improvement of the Nation's ports and commercial inland waterways system. The Fifth Annual Leader- ship Service Award will be presented in March 2006.

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