Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 121.djvu/1781

 121 STAT. 1760

PUBLIC LAW 110–140—DEC. 19, 2007

Subtitle C—Marine Transportation SEC. 1121. SHORT SEA TRANSPORTATION INITIATIVE.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding after chapter 555 the following: ‘‘CHAPTER 556—SHORT SEA TRANSPORTATION ‘‘Sec. ‘‘Sec. ‘‘Sec. ‘‘Sec. ‘‘Sec.

dkrause on GSDDPC44 with PUBLAW

Designation.

VerDate Aug 31 2005

07:12 Jan 26, 2009

55601. 55602. 55603. 55604. 55605.

Short sea transportation program. Cargo and shippers. Interagency coordination. Research on short sea transportation. Short sea transportation defined.

‘‘§ 55601. Short sea transportation program ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transportation shall establish a short sea transportation program and designate short sea transportation projects to be conducted under the program to mitigate landside congestion. ‘‘(b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program shall encourage the use of short sea transportation through the development and expansion of— ‘‘(1) documented vessels; ‘‘(2) shipper utilization; ‘‘(3) port and landside infrastructure; and ‘‘(4) marine transportation strategies by State and local governments. ‘‘(c) SHORT SEA TRANSPORTATION ROUTES.—The Secretary shall designate short sea transportation routes as extensions of the surface transportation system to focus public and private efforts to use the waterways to relieve landside congestion along coastal corridors. The Secretary may collect and disseminate data for the designation and delineation of short sea transportation routes. ‘‘(d) PROJECT DESIGNATION.—The Secretary may designate a project to be a short sea transportation project if the Secretary determines that the project may— ‘‘(1) offer a waterborne alternative to available landside transportation services using documented vessels; and ‘‘(2) provide transportation services for passengers or freight (or both) that may reduce congestion on landside infrastructure using documented vessels. ‘‘(e) ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.—For a short sea transportation project designated under this section, the Secretary may— ‘‘(1) promote the development of short sea transportation services; ‘‘(2) coordinate, with ports, State departments of transportation, localities, other public agencies, and the private sector and on the development of landside facilities and infrastructure to support short sea transportation services; and ‘‘(3) develop performance measures for the short sea transportation program. ‘‘(f) MULTISTATE, STATE AND REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.—The Secretary, in consultation with Federal entities and State and local governments, shall develop strategies to encourage the use of short sea transportation for transportation of passengers and cargo. The Secretary shall—

Jkt 059194

PO 00002

Frm 00468

Fmt 6580

Sfmt 6581

M:\STATUTES\2007\59194PT2.001

APPS10

PsN: 59194PT2

�