Waterways Are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency, and Environment Act of 2013 or WAVE4 Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to require certain delivery process reforms for qualifying construction and major rehabilitation projects for navigation infrastructure of inland and intracoastal waterways.
Directs the Secretary, working in conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board, to submit to Congress a 20-year program for making capital investments on inland and intracoastal waterways. Authorizes such program to be based on the 20-year capital investment strategy contained in the Inland Marine Transportation System (IMTS) Capital Projects Business Model, Final Report published on April 13, 2010, as approved by the Board.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit expenditures from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund to 50% of the total cost of the construction or rehabilitation project. Makes Fund amounts unavailable for: (1) construction or rehabilitation of dams, or (2) rehabilitation expenditures that do not equal or exceed $100 million.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1149 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1149
To provide for funding for construction and major rehabilitation for
projects located on inland and intracoastal waterways of the United
States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 2013
Mr. Whitfield (for himself, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Olson, and
Mr. Bachus) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for funding for construction and major rehabilitation for
projects located on inland and intracoastal waterways of the United
States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Waterways Are Vital for the Economy,
Energy, Efficiency, and Environment Act of 2013'' or the ``WAVE4 Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The inland waterways navigation system is vital to the
economic well-being of the Nation.
(2) Energy reliability and conservation are the
cornerstones of the inland waterways navigation system.
(3) The efficiency of the inland waterways navigation
system creates the optimum transportation mode for bulk
commodities in the United States.
(4) The inland waterways navigation system provides for
environmental protection and ecosystem sustainability.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
In order to ensure continued safe, dependable, highly cost-
effective, and environmentally sustainable navigation on the inland and
intracoastal waterways of the United States, the purposes of this Act
are to--
(1) improve program and project management applicable to
the construction and major rehabilitation of navigation
projects on such waterways;
(2) optimize inland waterways navigation system
reliability;
(3) minimize the size and scope of inland waterways
navigation project completion schedules;
(4) eliminate preventable delays in inland waterways
navigation project completion schedules; and
(5) make inland waterways navigation capital investments
through use of prioritization criteria that seek to maximize
system-wide benefits and minimize overall system risk.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Qualifying project.--The term ``qualifying project''
means any construction or major rehabilitation project for
navigation infrastructure of the inland and intracoastal
waterways that is--
(A) authorized before, on, or after the date of
enactment of this Act;
(B) not completed as of the date of enactment of
this Act; and
(C) funded at least in part from the Inland
Waterways Trust Fund.
(2) Major rehabilitation project.--The term ``major
rehabilitation project'' means a project for the restoration of
a major project or major project feature that has an estimated
cost greater than $100,000,000.
SEC. 5. PROJECT DELIVERY PROCESS REFORMS.
The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers,
shall require the following:
(1) Formal project management training and certification
for project managers of a qualifying project.
(2) Assignment as project managers for a qualifying project
only of personnel fully certified by the Chief of Engineers.
(3) Cost estimation that is risk-based and has a confidence
level of at least 80 percent for a qualifying project.
(4) Independent external peer review and submission to
Congress (in the case of a feasibility report) or the Secretary
(in the case of a rehabilitation evaluation report) for any
qualifying project--
(A) that--
(i) has an estimated total project cost
greater than $45,000,000;
(ii) is subject to public safety concerns,
as determined by the Chief of Engineers;
(iii) involves a high level of complexity
or novel or precedent-setting approaches, as
determined by the Chief of Engineers; or
(iv) is identified by the Chief of
Engineers as a matter of significant
interagency interest; or
(B) for which such a review has been requested by
the Governor of any State affected by the project.
(5) Appointment to a project development team for a
qualifying project of a member of the Inland Waterways Users
Board, selected by the Chairman of the Users Board.
(6) Communication quarterly to the Inland Waterways Users
Board of the status of a qualifying project that is under
construction.
(7) Inclusion of the Chairman of the Inland Waterways Users
Board and the project development team appointee under
paragraph (5) as signatories of the project management plan for
a qualifying project.
(8) Establishment of a system to identify and apply on a
continuing basis lessons learned from prior or ongoing projects
so as to improve the likelihood of on-time and on-budget
completion of qualifying projects.
(9) Evaluation, including through use of one or more pilot
projects, of early contractor involvement acquisition
procedures to improve on-time and on-budget project delivery
performance.
(10) Such additional measures that the Secretary determines
will achieve the purposes of this Act, including, as determined
appropriate by the Secretary--
(A) implementation of applicable practices and
procedures drawn from the Secretary's management of the
military construction program;
(B) creation of one or more centers of expertise
for the design and review of qualifying projects;
(C) development and use of a portfolio of standard
designs for inland navigation locks;
(D) use of full-funding contracts or formulation of
a revised continuing contracts clause; and
(E) establishment of procedures for recommending
new project construction starts using a capital
projects business model.
SEC. 6. 20-YEAR CAPITAL INVESTMENT PROGRAM.
(a) Program Required.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army, working in
conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board, shall submit to
Congress a 20-year program for making capital investments on the inland
and intracoastal waterways based on application of objective national
project-selection prioritization criteria, as developed by the
Secretary. Such program may be based on the 20-year capital investment
strategy contained in the Inland Marine Transportation System (IMTS)
Capital Projects Business Model, Final Report published on April 13,
2010, as approved by the Inland Waterways Users Board.
(b) Annual Review and Update.--Beginning not later than 1 year
after the date on which a 20-year program is submitted to Congress
under subsection (a), and each year thereafter, the Secretary of the
Army, working in conjunction with the Inland Waterways Users Board,
shall submit to Congress an updated 20-year program. Such updated
program shall include identification and explanation of any changes
that were made to the prior year's project-specific recommendations,
including any changes that were made to the objective national project-
selection prioritization criteria that were used to develop the updated
recommendations.
(c) Strategic Review and Update.--Not later than 5 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the
Secretary of the Army, working in conjunction with the Inland Waterways
Users Board, shall submit to Congress a strategic review of the capital
investment program for the Inland Marine Transportation System and make
such revisions to the program as the Secretary and Users Board jointly
consider appropriate.
SEC. 7. COST SHARING FOR QUALIFYING PROJECTS.
(a) General Rule.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and
subject to subsection (b), one-half of the cost of construction of a
qualifying project shall be paid only from amounts appropriated from
the general fund of the Treasury, and one-half of such costs shall be
paid only from amounts appropriated from the Inland Waterways Trust
Fund.
(b) Special Rule for Dams.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), the
cost of construction of a dam shall be paid only from amounts
appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury.
SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES FROM THE INLAND WATERWAYS TRUST
FUND.
Section 9506 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)(1), by--
(A) inserting ``and subject to subsection (d),''
after ``Except as provided in paragraph (2),''; and
(B) striking ``, as in effect on the date of the
enactment of this section'' and inserting ``, provided
that such expenditures may not exceed 50 percent of the
total cost of the construction or rehabilitation''; and
(2) by inserting at the end the following:
``(d) Limitation on Expenditures From Trust Fund.--(1) Amounts in
the Inland Waterways Trust Fund shall not be available for expenditures
for--
``(A) construction or rehabilitation of dams; or
``(B) any rehabilitation expenditure that does not equal or
exceed $100,000,000.
``(2) Amounts in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund may not be used to
pay for any part of the cost to construct an authorized Federal project
that exceeds the sum of--
``(A) the total authorized cost to construct the Federal
project as specified in the Public Law that authorized
construction of the project or, in the case of a rehabilitation
project, in the relevant rehabilitation evaluation report;
``(B) an adjustment for inflation for the time that elapses
between the date of the project's authorization and the date on
which construction of the project begins; and
``(C) an additional amount, if any, jointly agreed to by
the Secretary and the Inland Waterways Users Board as
appropriate to the project.''.
SEC. 9. REVISION TO INLAND WATERWAYS USER FEE.
Section 4042(b)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is
amended to read as follows:
``(A) The Inland Waterways Trust Fund financing
rate is the rate determined in accordance with the
following table:
The tax per
``If the use occurs: gallon is:
During 2013........................................ 20 cents
After 2013......................................... 26 cents''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
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