US Senator Chuck Schumer, [D-NY], is calling on Congress to use money in the federal Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for dredging the nation’s harbors. The language was attached to the most recent transportation bill specifying that the money collected from taxes at ports across the US actually be used for harbor dredging, but it was watered down in the House. So, this week, Senator Schumer and several other senators sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget asking that the Army Corps of Engineers come through in the issue.

(click here to view the letter)

The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is made up of taxes collected on all sorts of shipments on waterways across the country. Only about half of those dollars have been allocated for dredging projects.