§50401 United States Committee on the Marine Transportation System

Summary

Creates a federal committee to coordinate and improve the nation’s marine transportation system. The committee must check how well ports, waterways, channels, and their links to other transport modes work. It must promote better integration with other transportation and marine uses, and make and coordinate federal policy recommendations about the system. The committee is made up of cabinet-level and other federal agency leaders, including the Secretaries of Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce, Treasury, State, Interior, Agriculture, Labor, Energy, the Attorney General, the EPA Administrator, the Federal Maritime Commission Chairman, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and any other agency heads a majority adds. It may also have nonvoting members. A Coordinating Board of senior representatives from each member helps run things. The board’s chair rotates each year among the Secretaries of Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, and Commerce. The Secretary of Transportation, with input from those three other secretaries, appoints an Executive Director. Member agencies may give staff, equipment, facilities, services, or money to support the committee and may transfer funds to each other for that work. The committee must send Congress a report within one year of enactment and every five years after. The report must cover progress on the July 2008 national strategy, system conditions and performance, challenges and needed investment, a plan with recommended actions, past report follow-up, and a list of federal programs involved. The committee may consult advisory groups, stakeholders, and the public.