Page 9: of Marine News Magazine (May 2025)

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Column

Washington Watch operating authority. Carriers’ participation in USMHP initiatives enhances

With the increasing digitized compliance obligations of both operational resilience and commercial value for ship- federal agencies, as well as the STB’s enforcement trends, pers. The U.S. inland waterway system is structurally and service providers need to maintain proactive tariff gover- environmentally challenged, which presents certain risks nance and digital audit readiness. and barriers to entry, including:

Commercial Growth & Infrastructure Development • Aging Infrastructure: Downtime and delays are

The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST) a threat, so monitoring for USACE scheduled and the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) serve maintenance can help carriers build delay as foundational policy tools the STB considers to build out clauses into commercial agreements and avoid and promote inland water operations and infrastructure, force majeure disputes.

development, and investment. In 2017, the FAST Act ac- celerated long-delayed lock-and-dam modernization proj- • Environmental Compliance: Carriers are ects and the 2024 WRDA update reinforced federal support increasingly subject to Environmental Protection for channel maintenance, port dredging, and equipment Agency (EPA), Customs Border Patrol (CBP), upgrades. Carriers are only beginning to leverage programs and even state-level rules governing emissions, spearheaded through these Acts to structure proposals that ballast water treatment, and fuel standards.

meet eligibility requirements, long-term network ef