§2238b — Title 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters | U.S. Code

Summary

Sets yearly minimum amounts from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to pay for harbor upkeep. The law defines two key terms: the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received — the money credited to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for a fiscal year as shown in the President’s budget estimate for the next year; and total budget resources — the money made available by appropriations from that Fund for harbor maintenance in a fiscal year. For each year the minimum must be at least: FY2015 = 67% of taxes from FY2014; FY2016 = 69% of taxes from FY2015; FY2017 = 71% of taxes from FY2016; FY2018 = 74% of taxes from FY2017; FY2019 = 77% of taxes from FY2018; FY2020 = 80% of taxes from FY2019; FY2021 = 83% of taxes from FY2020; FY2022 = 87% of taxes from FY2021; FY2023 = 91% of taxes from FY2022; FY2024 = 95% of taxes from FY2023; and FY2025 and later = 100% of the taxes from the previous year. Those funds may only be used for the harbor maintenance spending authorized under section 9505(c) of title 26. If a year’s target (for FY2015–FY2024) would be lower than the prior year’s target, the target is adjusted to the smaller of: 103% of what was appropriated the previous year, or 100% of the taxes received the previous year. Congress also says any increase in harbor maintenance funding must come from an overall increase in the Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works appropriations, not by cutting other Corps programs. The targets apply only in years when civil works appropriations rise by at least the dollar amount needed to meet the target.

Title 33, §2238b

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In this section:

(1)The term “total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received” means, with respect to a fiscal year, the aggregate of amounts appropriated, transferred, or credited to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund under section 9505(a) of title 26 for that fiscal year as set forth in the current year estimate provided in the President’s budget request for the subsequent fiscal year, submitted pursuant to section 1105 of title 31.

(2)The term “total budget resources” means the total amount made available by appropriations Acts from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for a fiscal year for making expenditures under section 9505(c) of title 26.

(b)(1)Except as provided in subsection (c), the target total budget resources made available to the Secretary from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for a fiscal year shall be not less than the following:

(A)For fiscal year 2015, 67 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2014.

(B)For fiscal year 2016, 69 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2015.

(C)For fiscal year 2017, 71 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2016.

(D)For fiscal year 2018, 74 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2017.

(E)For fiscal year 2019, 77 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2018.

(F)For fiscal year 2020, 80 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2019.

(G)For fiscal year 2021, 83 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2020.

(H)For fiscal year 2022, 87 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2021.

(I)For fiscal year 2023, 91 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2022.

(J)For fiscal year 2024, 95 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in fiscal year 2023.

(K)For fiscal year 2025, and each fiscal year thereafter, 100 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in the previous fiscal year.

(2)The total budget resources described in paragraph (1) may be used only for making expenditures under section 9505(c) of title 26.

(c)If the target total budget resources for a fiscal year described in subparagraphs (A) through (J) of subsection (b)(1) is lower than the target total budget resources for the previous fiscal year, the target total budget resources shall be adjusted to be equal to the lesser of—

(1)103 percent of the total budget resources appropriated for the previous fiscal year; or

(2)100 percent of the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes received in the previous fiscal year.

(d)(1)It is the sense of Congress that any increase in funding for harbor maintenance programs under this section shall result from an overall increase in appropriations for the civil works program of the Corps of Engineers and not from reductions in the appropriations for other programs, projects, and activities carried out by the Corps of Engineers for other authorized purposes.

(2)The target total budget resources for a fiscal year specified in subsection (b)(1) shall only apply in a fiscal year for which the level of appropriations provided for the civil works program of the Corps of Engineers in that fiscal year is increased, as compared to the previous fiscal year, by a dollar amount that is at least equivalent to the dollar amount necessary to address such target total budget resources in that fiscal year.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, and not as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 which comprises this chapter.

Amendments

Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1108(1), substituted “Except as provided in subsection (c), the target total” for “The target total” in introductory provisions. Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1108(2), (3), added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

“Secretary” Defined Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see section 2 of Pub. L. 113–121, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title.

§2238b Funding for harbor maintenance programs