unanimous consent that a copy of pertinent portions of that committee report, plus the text of our amendment, be printed at this point in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

AMENDMENT No. 442

On page 35, after line 15, insert the following:

TITLE III

"SEC. 301. This title may be cited as "The Inland Navigation Improvement Act of 1977".

"SEC. 302. (a) The Congress finds that construction of an inland navigational system that imposes no costs on the direct beneficiaries of such system is unfair to the operators and users of competing modes of transportation and creates distortions in transportation usage that are wasteful of the Nation's resources. The Congress further finds that certain improvements, including the reconstruction of locks and dam 26, Mississippi River, Alton, Illinois, are necessary for the effective operation of the Nation's inland waterway system.

"(b) The Congress declares that national economic development requires the maintenance of an adequate inland waterway system but, as a matter of equity and efficiency, that the commercial users of this inland waterways system should contribute a portion of the Federal navigation-related costs involved in building, operating, maintaining, and rehabilitating such waterways.

"(c) It is, therefore, the purpose of this Act both to establish a system of user charges that will promote greater equity and efficiency among all modes and demonstrate the economic feasibility of projects on the inland waterways of the United States providing a market test for their need, and to authorize the reconstruction of locks and dam 26, Mississippi River, Alton, Illinois, as a way to promote the more efficient operation of the existing waterway system.

"SEC. 303. (a) Not later than ten months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall, after consultation with the Secretary of the Army, and after conducting public hearings and permitting not less than fortyfive days for public comment, publish in the Federal Register preliminary regulations on a proposed system of user charges (including a method of collection) intended to recover that portion of the Federal navigation-related costs of the operation, maintenance, new construction, and rehabilitation of the inland waterways of the United States described in subsection (e) of this section. After receiving comments on the preliminary regulations required by this subsection, the Secretary shall, no later than January 1, 1979, promulgate final regulations that establish a schedule and method of collection of user charges to be paid by commercial users of the inland waterways of the United States and submit such regulations to the Congress. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, such charges shall become effective on October 1, 1979, unless disapproved or amended under the terms of subsection (b) of this section, and, after they become effective shall not be modified to any significant degree unless such modification is submitted to Congress under the terms of subsection (b) of this section. In establishing user charges under this section, the Secretary of Transportation is directed to assure that user charges that apply to any particular existing segment of the inland waterways of the United States shall be set at a level so as not to cause serious economic disruption among the commercial users of such segment. The Secretary of Transportation is also required to establish the scale of user charges under this section so that, even after full implementation of this section, no user charge affecting a particular shipment exceeds 1 per centum of the value of that shipment, including transportation costs.

"(b) (1) The final regulations first submitted to the Congress under subsection (a) of this section shall take effect as provided in such subsection, unless, during the 60-day period beginning on the date the Secretary of Transportation submits such regulations to the Congress, the Congress adopts a joint resolution disapproving such regulations. In the event the Congress adopts such a joint resolution amending such regulations, the regulations, as amended, shall take effect as provided in subsection (a).

"(2) In the event the Congress disapproves such regulations, or any significant modification thereto subsequently submitted to it, the Secretary of Transportation shall, within 90 days after the date of adoption of the joint resolution disapproving such regulations or significant modifications, submit revised regulations or significant modifications, as the case may be. Such revised regulations or significant modifications shall take effect 180 days after the date they are submitted to the Congress unless, during the first 60 days after the date of such submittal, the Congress adopts a joint resolution either amending or disapproving such revised regulations or significant modifications.

"(3) In the event the Congress, during the 60-day period beginning on the date regulations establishing user charges or significant modifications thereto are submitted, adopts a joint resolution amending any regulations (other than the first such regulations submitted to the Congress under subsection (a)), or any significant modifications thereto, such amended regulations or significant modifications shall take effect 180 days after the date such regulations or significant modifications were submitted to Congress.

"(c) The schedule of user charges promulgated under this section shall, to the extent reasonable and equitable, be assessed annually on the basis of (1) the costs of operating, maintaining, constructing, and rehabilitating the inland waterways of the United States, and various segments thereof, during the preceding fiscal year; (2) the volume of traffic; (3) seasonal and other repetitive peak demands for use of the inland waterways of the United States; and any other factors that the Secretary of Transportation finds reasonable and equitable.

"(d) The Secretary of Transportation, in promulgating final regulations under this section, is authorized to utilize, but is not limited to, one or more of the following mechanisms as a way to recover a portion of the Federal navigationrelated costs from the users of the system: (1) license fees; (2) congestion charges; (3) charges based on ton-miles over a given segment; (4) lockage fees; and (5) charges based on the capacity of cargo vessels, loaded and unloaded, over various segments of the inland waterways of the United States. No charge shall be collected from, or imputed to, the use of any inland waterway that is not operated and maintained by the United States.

"(e) (1) Final user charges shall be adequate to recover (A) 100 per centum of the Federal navigation-related expenditures of the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, on the operation and maintenance of the inland waterways of the United States in accordance with paragraph (2) of this subsection, and (B) 50 per centum of the Federal navigation-related capital expendi. tures on new construction and rehabilitation of the inland waterways of the United States in accordance with paragraph (3) of this subsection.

“(2) During the first year that user charges established under this section are effective, such charges shall be equal to 20 per centum of the total expenditures described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of this subsection, and shall be increased by 20 per centum of such total expenditures for each of the succeeding four years until 100 per centum of such total expenditures is reached. "(3) During the sixth year that user charges established under this section are effective, such charges shall, in addition to the charges in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of this subsection, be equal to 10 per centum of the total expenditures described in subparagraph (B) if paragraph (1) of this subsection, and shall be increased by 10 per centum of such total expenditures for each of the next succeeding four years until the maximum of 50 per centum of such total expenditure is reached.

"(f) Funds collected under this section shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.

"SEC. 304. Failure to pay any user charges established under this Act shall subject the violator to a forfeiture of not more than $5,000 per day, and prohibit the violator from the use of any lock on the inland waterways of the United States that is operated and maintained by the United States during the period of violation of this Act. Such forfeiture shall be collected by the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers.

"SEC. 305. No later than three years after the effective date of the regulations established under section 303 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation in cooperation with the Secretary of the Army, shall submit to the Congress a report on the implementation of section 303 of this Act. Such report shall describe

"(a) the economic impact or user charges on the commercial users of, and consumers of goods capable of being shipped on the inland waterways of the United States;.

"(b) the economic impact of user charges on a regional and national basis; "(c) the effectiveness of user charges in establishing a more balanced national transportation system;

"(d) the effectiveness of user charges in promoting the more efficient use of public investments in the Nation's system of waterborne transportation and reliance on the private sector; and

"(e) the effectiveness of user charges in providing for the balanced use of the Nation's water resources.

"SEC. 306. In establishing and revising any regulations promulgated to provide for the recovery of operation, maintenance, construction, and rehabilitation costs under this Act, the Secretary shall allow, as an offset or deduction, the payment of any Federal tax enacted subsequent to enactment of this Act, including a tax on fuels, that may be imposed, by the United States, as a tax exclusively on vessels subject to the user charges authorized under section 303 of this Act.

"SEC. 307. (a) The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, is authorized to replace locks and dam 26, Mississippi River, Alton, Illinois and Missouri, by constructing a new dam and a single, one-hundred-and-tenfoot by one-thousand-two-hundred-foot lock at a location approximately two miles downstream from the existing dam, substantially in accordance with the recommendations of the Chief of Engineers in his report on such project dated July 31, 1976, at an estimated cost of $421,000,000.

"(b) The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, is authorized and directed to replace, at Federal expense as a part of project costs authorized in subsection (a), terrestrial wildlife habitat inundated as a result of the construction of the project on an acre-for-acre basis in the respective States of Missouri and Ililnois and to manage such lands as are thus acquired by the Secretary for wildlife mitigation purposes. The Secretary is further authorized to provide project-related recreation development on or in the vicinity of Ellis Island, Missouri, that requires no separable project lands and includes facilities such as roads, parking lots, walks, picnic areas, a boat launching ramp and a beach at an estimated cost of $4,000,000 to be cost shared with the State of Missouri and administered in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Water Project Recreation Act (Public Law 89-72) and undertaken independently of the navigation features of the project.

"(c) the channel above Alton, Illinois on the Mississippi River shall not exceed nine feet, and neither the Secretary of the Army nor any other Federal official shall study the feasibility of deepening the navigation channels in the Minnesota River, Minnesota; Black River, Wisconsin: St. Croix River, Minnesota and Wisconsin; the Mississippi River north of Cairo, Illinois; the Kaskaskia River, Illinois; and the Illinois River and Waterway, Illinois unless specifically authoried by a future Act of Congress.

"(d) There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Army such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section for fiscal year 1978 and succeeding fiscal years. Any funds which have been allocated to a replacement project for locks and dam 26. prior to enactment of this Act, shall be available for the project authorized in this section and shall remain available until expended.

"SEC. 308. (a) There is hereby created an Upper Mississippi River System Council (hereinafter referred to as 'Council') consisting of the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Interior, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Chairman of the President's Council on Environmental Quality, and the Governors of the States of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. The Secretary of the Interior shall serve as Chairman of the Council.

"(b) The Congress hereby authorizes and directs the Council to prepare a comprehensive master plan for the management of the Upper Mississippi River. System in cooperation with the appropriate Federal, State, and local officials. A premiminary plan shall be prepared by January 1, 1981. The plan shall be subject to public hearings in each affected State. The Council shall review all comments presented at such hearings and submitted in writing to the Council and shall make any appropriate revisions in the preliminary plan, and shall by Janu

ary 1, 1982, submit to the Congress for approval a final master plan. Public participation in the development, revision, and enfrocement of said plan shall be provided for, encouraged, and assisted by the Council. The Council shall, within 150 days of enactment of this Act, publish final regulations in the Federal Register specifying minimum guidelines for public participation in such processes. Approval of the final master plan shall be granted only by enactment of the Congress. Changes to the master plan proposed by the Council shall require enactment by the Congress to become effective. All related activities inconsistent with the master plan or guidelines shall be deemed unlawful.

"(c) The master plan authorized under subsection (b) of this Section shall identify the various economic, recreational, and environmental objectives of the Upper Mississippi River System, recommend guidelines to achieve such objectives, and propose methods to assure compliance with such guidelines and coordination of future management decisions affecting the Upper Mississippi River System, and include any legislative proposals which may be necessary to carry out such recommendations and objectives.

"(d) For the purposes of developing the comprehensive master plan, the Council is authorized and directed to conduct such studies as it deems necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this Section, with provision that it utilize, to the fullest extent possible, the resources and results of the Upper Mississippi River resources managements (GREAT) study conducted pursuant to Section 117 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-587) and of other ongoing or past studies. The Council shall request appropriate Federal, State, or local agencies to prepare such studies, and any Federal agency so requested is authorized to conduct any such study for the purpose of this Section. Studies conducted pursuant to this Section shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

"(1) The Secretary of the Army shall provide for the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a study to determine: (a) the carrying capacity of the Upper Mississippi River System, (b) the long and short-term systemic ecological impacts of: (1) present and any projected expansion of navigation capacity on the fish and wildlife, water quality, wilderness, and public recreational opportunities of said Rivers, (2) present operation and maintenance programs, (3) the means and measures that should be adopted to prevent or minimize loss of or damage to fish and wildlife, and (4) a specific analysis of the immediate and systemic environmental effects of any second lock at Alton, Illinois, and provide for the mitigation and enhancement of such resources and shall submit his report containing his conclusions and recommendations to the Congress and the Secretary of the Army; "(2) The Secretary of the Army shall provide for the Secretary of Transportation to undertake studies to determine: (a) the relationship of any expansion of navigational capacity on the Upper Mississippi River System to national transportation policy, (b) the direct and indirect effects of any expansion of navigational capacity on the nation's railroads and on shippers dependent upon rail service, and (3) the transportation costs and benefits to the nation to be derived from any expansion of navigational capacity on said River System. The Council, acting through the Secretary of Transportation, is directed to immediately initiate a specific evaluation of the need for a second lock at Alton, Illinois and the direct and indirect systemic effects and need for such a second lock at Alton, Illinois :

"(3) Studies and demonstration programs, including a demonstration program to evaluate the benefits and costs of disposing of dredge spoil material in contained areas located out of the floodplain. Said program shall include, but shall not be limited to, the evaluation of possible uses in the marketplace for the dredge spoil studies and demonstration programs to minimize the environmental effects of channel operation and maintenance activities;

"(4) Development for the Upper Mississippi River System of a computerized, analytical inventory and system analysis to facilitate evaluation of the comparative environmental effects of alternative management proposals.

"(e) Guidelines developed pursuant to this Section shall include, but not be limited to, guidelines for channel maintenance, minimization of dredging volumes, alternate uses of dredged material, barge fleeting, protection of water quality, fish and wildlife protection and enhancement, wilderness preservation, and management of the wildlife and fish refuges within and contiguous to the Upper Mississippi River System.

"(f) To carry out the provisions of this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Council $20,000,000. The Council is authorized to transfer funds to such Federal, State, or local government agencies as it deems necessary to carry out the studies and analysis authorized in this section.

"(g) The Upper Mississippi River System consists of those river reaches containing commercial navigation channels on the Mississippi River main stem north of Cairo, Illinois; the Minnesota River, Minnesota; Black River, Wisconsin; St. Croix River, Minnesota and Wisconsin; Illinois River and Waterway, Illinois; and Kaskaskia River, Illinois.

"(h) Except for the provisions of Section 307 of this Act, and necessary operation and maintenance activities, no replacement, construction, or rehabilitation that expands the navigation capacity of locks, dams, and channels shall be undertaken by the Secretary of the Army to increase the navigation capacity of the Upper Mississippi River System, until the master plan prepared pursuant to this section has been approved by the Congress.

“(i) the lock and dam authorized pursuant to Section 307 of this Act shall be designed and constructed to provide for possible future expansion. All other construction activities initiated by the Secretary of the Army on the Upper Mississippi River north of Cairo, Illinois and on the Illinois River north of Grafton, Illinois, shall be initiated only in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the master plan.

"Sec. 309. As used in this Act, the term

"(a) 'user charges' means a charge established by the Secretary of Transportation, under the authority of section 307 of this Act, to be paid by the owner or operator of shallow-draft cargo vessels that use the inland waterways of the United States for commercial purposes;

"(b) inland waterway of the United States' means any improved waterway operated and maintained by the United States, the improvements to which are primarily for the use of commercial vessels other than oceangoing vessels, and does not include the Great Lakes, their interconnecting channels, and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

"(c) 'Commercial users' means common contract, or other carriers for hire and owners or operators of private shallow-draft cargo vessels."

EXCERPT FROM SENATE REPORT NUMBERED 95-215
GENERAL STATEMENT

Two of the more controversial issues to come before the Committee on Environment and Public Works are addressed in this bill: authorization of the reconstruction of Locks and Dam 26 on the Mississippi River at Alton, Ill., and the imposition of waterway user charges.

It is the view of the Committee that these two issues must be resolved together, because inland waterways are the sole exception to the principle of both water resources and national transportation policy that direct beneficiaries repay a portion of the Federal costs. These issues are, in fact, linked. They are different facets of the same issue: How the Federal Government can best promote an efficient inland navigation system that is equitable to other transportation forms and the Federal taxpayer. The administration has endorsed the linking of these two issues.

The issue of replacement of Locks and Dam 26 is not new to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. The controversy surrounding this proposed project came to the attention of the committee in 1975 when the Federal district court in the District of Columbia ruled against the Secretary of the Army's authorization for replacement.

During the ensuing time, a great deal of discussions were devoted by the Committee to the proposed rehabilitation or replacement of the facility at Alton, Ill. In 1976, the Committee held 5 days of hearings and authorized a replacement lock and dam as recommended by the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Engineers together with a system of user charges similar to this bill.

The Senate was unable to approve the Committee's recommended legislation on Locks and Dam 26 and user charges during the closing days of the 94th Congress. Following adjournment, the Committee continued to consider proposed alter