Summary Report

Assessment of the Marine Transportation System (MTS) Challenges Summary Report December 23, 2009 Prepared for: Institute for Water Resources, United States Army Corps of Engineers 7701 Telegraph Road Casey Building Alexandria, VA 22315-3868 Prepared by: Volpe National Transportation Systems Center Research and Innovative Technology Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 55 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02142 In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Reimbursable Agreement (RA)-VH99 Table of Contents PREFACE ..........................................................................................................................................................4 MTS ASSESSMENT.........................................................................................................................................5 Scope of Analysis .......................................................................................................................................5 Overarching Concepts ...............................................................................................................................5 Risk Analysis Framework ..........................................................................................................................6 Resiliency Analysis Framework.................................................................................................................7 NATIONAL MTS STRATEGIC PRIORITIES ...........................................................................................11 Continuity of Operations: Facilitating Trade and Ensuring Adequate Capacity ....................................11 National Security and Navigation Safety .................................................................................................12 Environmental Stewardship .....................................................................................................................12 Adequate Funding and Institutional Structure.........................................................................................12 System Resiliency and Reliability ............................................................................................................12 ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF MTS FOR U.S. GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS ............................13 GDP AND GLOBAL MARITIME TRADE...........................................................................................................13 FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC U.S. WATERBORNE TRADE ...................................................................................14 GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS AND THE MTS.......................................................................................................15 CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS........................................................................................................17 RISKS OF INADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY AND DETERIORATING ASSET CONDITION ...................17 Growing Gap in Meeting Channel Capacity Needs.................................................................................17 Deteriorating Conditions of the Nation’s Locks, Dams and Levees ........................................................20 Congestion at the Nation’s Top 10 Marine Ports ....................................................................................21 Overloaded or Structurally Deficient Bridges and Intermodal Connectors ............................................23 ECONOMIC RISKS OF DISRUPTION IN OPERATIONS ........................................................................................24 Economic Losses from Port Closure........................................................................................................25 Consequences of the Growing Reliance on Imports ................................................................................25 Economic Consequences of Container Transloading ..............................................................................28 SAFETY AND SECURITY RISKS ARISING FROM GROWING EXPOSURE TO HIGH-CONSEQUENCE EVENTS........29 Vessel Safety Risks ...................................................................................................................................29 National Security Risks............................................................................................................................31 ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS ARISING FROM VESSEL EMISSIONS, OIL SPILLS, AND BALLAST WATER ................33 RISKS ARISING FROM GROWING BUDGETARY AND INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS.......................................35 REDUCING THE IMPACTS OF DISRUPTION: BUILDING RESILIENCY INTO THE MTS..........38 MAKING MTS MORE ADAPTIVE TO DISRUPTION...........................................................................................39 MAKING MTS MORE FAULT-TOLERANT BY PROMOTING ROBUST DESIGN-BASED CAPABILITIES................41 Support a Dedicated Use of the HMTF for Modernizing the Waterway System......................................41 Support Design and Construction of a Fleet of Small Self-Propelled Jones Act Feeder Vessels ............41 MAKING MTS MORE RESILIENT BY PROMOTING BUILT-IN REDUNDANCY....................................................42 Promote Short Sea Shipping ....................................................................................................................42 Exempt Domestic Cargo from Double Payment of HMT.........................................................................44 Support Efficient Utilization of Small Ports and Inland Port Networks ..................................................45 ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................................................................46 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................48 MTS Task 7 Summary Report 2 List of Figures Figure 1 - Marine Transportation Risks: System Interaction and Tight Coupling .................9 Figure 2 - U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Compared to GDP ...................13 Figure 3 – Trends in Domestic and Foreign Waterborne Traffic ..................................15 Figure 4 – Growth Trends in U.S. Export/Import Container TEU, 1980-2008....................19 Figure 5 – Top Ten U.S. Container Port Traffic, 2007-2008 ...............................................22 Figure 6 – Trends in Declining per Ton Value of the U.S. Exports and Imports.................26 Figure 7 – Balance of International Trade in Goods and Services, 1960-2008....................27 Figure 8 - Trade Deficits as a Percentage of GDP, 1985-2008 ............................................28 Figure 9 – Causal Chain of Accidents ..................................................................................29 Figure 10 - Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Annual Revenues,..........................................36 MTS Task 7 Summary Report 3 Preface This report concludes and summarizes a series of six Task Reports prepared by the Volpe Center for the Maritime Transportation System (MTS) Assessment, initiated in July 2006 under a reimbursable agreement (RA) with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The purpose of the RA was to provide support to the Committee on MTS (CMTS) and its Needs Assessment Integrated Action Team (IAT) for conducting an Assessment of the MTS Challenges. The report has been prepared by Dr. Bahar Barami, the Volpe Center project manager, and revised to reflect the comments and inputs received from the project sponsors and members of the MTS Needs Assessment IAT, including the comments received from LCDR Ellis Moose, USCG, CG-54121, and Matthew Chambers, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), USDOT. Nathan Grace, MacroSys, LLC., provided editorial assistance and Rod Cook, Chief, Intermodal Infrastructure Security and Operations Division, Volpe Center, provided peer review and quality control input. As the 7th Task Report, this report provides a summary of the previous six tasks that consisted of over 470 pages of data analysis and review of academic, industry, and government studies of the MTS operations. The six task reports, plus a report prepared for the Office of Naval Research (ONR) on short sea shipping, a total of 555 pages, are transmitted as appendices to this Summary Report, as follows: Appendix A - Task 1. MTS Infrastructure Challenges Appendix B - Task 2. MTS Economics and Productivity Challenges Appendix C – Task 3. MTS Environmental Challenges Appendix D - Task 4. MTS Safety Appendix E - Task 5. MTS and National Security Appendix F - Task 6. MTS Institutional Challenges Appendix G – Assessment of Short-Sea Shipping Options for Domestic Applications MTS Task 7 Summary Report 4 MTS Assessment Scope of Analysis The U.S. marine infrastructure network encompasses the navigable inland waterways, harbor channels, ports, terminals and intermodal connectors, coastal sea-lanes and associated maritime domain, locks, dams and levee systems, and vessels and equipment. This vast system of waterways and assets supports a broad array of commercial cargo and passenger transportation, military navigation and force projection, and non-transportation uses of the waterways for recreational boating, commercial fishing, aqua-culture, and oceanic research. This report conducts an assessment of the MTS functions and condition, threats to its continued operations, and vulnerabilities that make the threats more likely

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