Marine Log - December 2008 - (Page 36) ICE CLASS TANKERS would foster federal, state and local cooperation in the planning and financing of shoreside infrastructure, and attract private sector investment to finance vessel requirements, while at the same time providing strictly limited elements of direct federal assistance. MARAD IMPLEMENTATION On October 9, MarAd published its initial “short sea transportation” interim final rule for the development of the Marine Highways Program that MarAd will administer. The proposed Marine Highways rule contemplates a regime involving the MarAd designation of Marine Highway Corridors and Marine Highway Projects. The rule establishes a mechanism for these designations on basis of which MarAd will oversee federal support for marine transportation services that will complement existing highway and railroad networks in order to reduce landside congestion. Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton has stated that “stakeholder input is vital to the success of this new program” and has urged private sector “Stakeholder input is vital to the development of this new program.” Sean Connaughton, Maritime Administrator, U.S. Maritime Administration assistance “in identifying freight and passenger corridors that may be further developed to support the Marine Highways initiative” and that “our goal is to craft regulations that not only identify freight and passenger corridors of significance, but [to] develop specific waterborne transportation projects designed to reduce surface transportation congestion.” MARINE HIGHWAY CORRIDORS The Marine Highway Corridors initiative will designate corridors as “extensions of the surface transportation system.” The purpose will be to focus public and private efforts and encourage multijurisdictional partnerships to relieve landside congestion along Marine Highway Corridors. The initiative will be modeled after the landside “Corridors of the Future” program to maximize potential public benefit in congestion and emissions reduction, energy efficiency and infrastructure maintenance cost savings. The designations will establish waterway Corridor “extensions to the surface transportation system,” that will be the basis for multi-jurisdictional coalitions to coordinate public and private efforts on the use of the waterways to relieve landside Corridor congestion, with the near term objectives of achieving air quality and emissions improvements, reduced energy consumption, improved freight reliability and enhanced safety, and in reducing the projected costs of highway and bridge construction and maintenance over time. The goal is to provide DOT leadership and an organizational framework to accelerate the development of the multi-State and multi-jurisdictional Corridor coalitions that will address the issues of terminal compatibility, at multiple locations, with private sector 36 MARINE LOG DECEMBER 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.sika.dk http://www.sika.dk http://www.marinelog.com
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