Page 39: of Marine News Magazine (June 2014)

2014 and FY 2015 navigation programs and their dredg- ing components account for roughly 40 percent of US- ACE?s civil works budget, Pawlik said. In the three years before FY 2014, navigation was allocated about 35 percent of the civil works budget. A number of U.S. Senators complained during a Senate hearing, held in late March on the Corps? 2015 funding requests, that the agency wasn?t advocating for more dredg- ing money. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La, said the 2015 budget left the agency without enough funds to dredge the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge and the Port of Lake Charles. Jo Ellen Darcy, the Corps? assistant secretary, responded that FY 2015 funding for federal agencies was tight.USACE?s civil works missions include commercial navi- gation,  ood and coastal storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration. The agency funds programs that contribute to the protection of the nation?s waters and wetlands; hydro-power generation; restoring sites contami- nated by past efforts to develop atomic weapons; emergency preparedness; and training to respond to natural disasters. USACE Dredge Hurley In operation on the Mississippi River. www.marinelink.com MN June14 Layout 32-49.indd 39MN June14 Layout 32-49.indd 395/20/2014 10:22:49 AM5/20/2014 10:22:49 AM