MTS: Navigable Waterways, Ports, and Port Connectors

The MTS is integral to the efficient movement of the nation’s freight. A Variety of Corps and DOT Programs Can Be Used to Maintain or Improve Some Segments of the MTS

The Corps and DOT have programs that can be used to address three  key infrastructure segments of the MTS. Specifically, the Corps is  responsible for navigable waterways’ infrastructure and provides funding  through its navigation program. Projects that improve or maintain ports  and port connectors can receive federal funding or financing through a  variety of programs administered by the DOT. As shown in Table 1 below, our analysis of Corps data  found that the Corps’ total obligations for these accounts have decreased  from over $3 billion in fiscal year 2009 to about $1.8 billion in fiscal year  2011, a reduction of approximately 41 percent.funds in each fiscal year are obligated for operation and maintenance  activities. Several Challenges Exist to Maintaining and Improving the MTS

We identified three key challenges to maintaining and improving MTS  infrastructure. Aging MTS Infrastructure

			Navigable Waterways and Supporting Structures

The Corps is facing challenges maintaining and improving navigation  infrastructure, such as dredging channels and repairing locks. DOT has a more limited ability to prioritize funding for port infrastructure  projects given the structure of federal surface transportation funding. The  vast majority of DOT funding goes directly to state DOTs through  formulas where decisions about transportation priorities are made at the  state and local level. DOT’s competitive grant and credit programs provide one opportunity for  the agency to prioritize funding for port infrastructure, yet funding for  these projects is relatively limited compared to formula funding. Involving the Corps in the development of that plan is particularly  important given the nexus between freight and the entire MTS, since the  vast majority of the nation’s freight is imported and exported via navigable  waterways through our nation’s ports. The CMTS does not have a process for reporting the extent to which  the Strategy’s recommended actions have been addressed. The recently passed MAP-21 will focus efforts on improving freight  mobility and the surface infrastructure that supports it, but it also provides  an opportunity to better coordinate MTS investments system-wide. Besides establishing a framework for a national freight policy, MAP-21  requires DOT to develop a National Freight Strategic Plan in consultation  with appropriate state DOTs and other appropriate private and public  stakeholders. While the National Freight Strategic Plan requirements do  not specifically mention consultation with the Corps and its plans to  maintain and develop the nation’s navigable waterways, consideration of  these waterside infrastructure investments is important to strategically  investing in the MTS system-wide. Recommendations for Executive Action

To help ensure coordination of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and  Department of Transportation infrastructure investments in the Marine  Transportation System, we recommend that the Secretary of  Transportation take the following two actions:  1) Direct the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration to  inform the development of the National Freight Strategic Plan with  information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ planned investments  in the nation’s navigable waterways. In ensuring the review and update of the  National Strategy for the Marine Transportation System, the Secretary  should: establish accountability mechanisms—such as developing clear and  desired results, specific milestones, and outcome-related performance  measures—for the recommended actions of the National Strategy for  the Marine Transportation System, and establish and implement a schedule for regular reporting of progress  made in addressing the recommended actions of the National  Strategy for the Marine Transportation System. DOT agreed to consider the report’s recommendations. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The objectives of this report are to (1) identify programs the U.S. Army  Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Department of Transportation (DOT)  administer to maintain or improve the Marine Transportation System  (MTS); (2) determine the key challenges to maintaining and improving the  MTS; and (3) discuss opportunities that may exist for the federal  government to improve the effectiveness of its role in the MTS. To identify and assess opportunities for the federal government to  improve the effectiveness of its role in the MTS, we reviewed  documentation from the Committee on the Marine Transportation System  (CMTS), including the CMTS Charter and the National Strategy for the  Marine Transportation System (Strategy). During interviews  with Corps and DOT officials, and industry associations, we also asked  about their perspectives on the federal government role in maintaining  and improving the MTS.
Why GAO Did This Study

The MTS is integral to the efficient movement of the nation's freight. The MTS includes navigable waterways, ports, and port connectors, such as roads and railways that provide access to the Interstate highway system and the national rail network. According to DOT, approximately 90 percent of America's overseas imports and exports by tonnage move by ship. Consequently, the continued maintenance and improvement of the MTS is essential to sustaining the nation's competitive position in the global economy. This report examines (1) Corps and DOT programs that can be used to maintain or improve the MTS, (2) key challenges to maintaining and improving the MTS, and (3) opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the federal role in the MTS. GAO analyzed information from the Corps and DOT, interviewed relevant agency officials and industry associations, and conducted site visits to six ports--selected based on tonnage, geographic representation, and other factors--to discuss federal, state, and local investment in MTS infrastructure.

What GAO Found

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) use a variety of programs to maintain and improve Marine Transportation System (MTS) infrastructure. The Corps is the lead federal agency responsible for maintaining and improving navigable waterways. Corps data show that obligations for navigable waterways have decreased from over $3 billion in fiscal year 2009 to about $1.8 billion in fiscal year 2011. Most annual DOT funding is provided to states through formulas, and states determine which projects to fund. For example, in fiscal year 2011, the Surface Transportation Program provided $9.5 billion to states for a variety of transportation projects, which may have included port improvements. However, because DOT does not specifically track formula funding used to maintain or improve ports or port connectors, officials were unable to provide GAO the extent to which these funds were used for port improvements, although the officials stated that the number of port-specific projects was likely small. Several DOT grant and credit programs can also provide specific funding to ports, though ports are primarily responsible for maintaining and improving infrastructure on port property.
Aging MTS infrastructure, a growing backlog of projects, and the lack of an MTS system-wide prioritization strategy represent key challenges for the Corps and DOT to maintain and improve MTS infrastructure. For example, some structures that support navigation, such as locks, are over 100 years old, and their condition has resulted in deteriorating performance and costly delays to shippers. The Corps and DOT have taken some steps to prioritize their individual funding decisions, but none of these efforts consider MTS infrastructure system-wide. While the Corps is prioritizing projects within its navigation program, DOT has a more limited ability to prioritize funding for port infrastructure projects because the majority of DOT's funding goes to the states where decisions about transportation priorities are made at the state and local level.
Two efforts in particular provide opportunities to improve the effectiveness of federal support to MTS infrastructure. First, the recently enacted Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act requires DOT to develop a National Freight Strategic Plan and to consult with appropriate transportation stakeholders. However, DOT and the Corps have historically had limited coordination involving system-wide MTS investments. Involving the Corps in the development of the National Freight Strategic Plan is particularly important given the critical role navigable waterways play in freight movement. Second, the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS), a partnership of federal agencies chaired by DOT, has the opportunity to take further actions to help ensure that its 2008 National Strategy for the Marine Transportation System is reviewed and updated to reflect new and emerging challenges, and that its 34 recommendations to improve the MTS are implemented. One recommendation included studying approaches to allocate federal dollars among competing transportation priorities. However, the Strategy has not been reviewed and updated since the CMTS published it in 2008 and it does not incorporate accountability mechanisms, such as identifying desired results or performance measures, for the recommended actions. Such mechanisms would help ensure that the actions CMTS recommended to improve the MTS are indeed implemented.

What GAO Recommends

DOT should (1) inform the development of the National Freight Strategic Plan with the Corps' planned investments in the nation's navigable waterways and (2) ensure the review and update of the National Strategy for the MTS to include accountability mechanisms for the Strategy's recommended actions. DOT agreed to consider the report's recommendations.