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	<title>MTS Matters</title>
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	<description>notes on the marine transportation system, issues and policy</description>
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		<title>MTS Matters</title>
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		<item>
		<title>WRDA Words</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2013/05/07/wrda-words/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2013/05/07/wrda-words/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 May 2013 04:05:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appropriations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USACE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Channels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WRDA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dredging]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1297</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Senate is about to take up the first water resources bill since President George W. Bush signed WRDA 2007 into law.  By the count of many stakeholders&#8211;ports, river dependent shippers, flood weary communities&#8211;it is around four years late.  So if, for argument&#8217;s sake, the Senate passes the bill this month of May will WRDA [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1297&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Red Cape Wish List</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2013/03/17/a-red-cape-wish-list/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2013/03/17/a-red-cape-wish-list/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Mar 2013 03:28:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Channels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dredging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Warming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USACE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WRDA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1280</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The first formal expression of what the Obama Administration is looking for in a water resources bill came to light the other day in a March 14 letter from Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy to Senate Environment &#38; Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA). The letter provides requested &#8220;input on the development of a Water Resources [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1280&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>What&#8217;s the Big Deal about Public Works?</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2013/03/09/whats-the-big-deal-about-public-works/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2013/03/09/whats-the-big-deal-about-public-works/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Mar 2013 04:04:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MAP-21]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WRDA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1271</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Questions of the Remotely Curious: Why should I care if Congress approves a WRDA bill&#8230;and what&#8217;s WRDA anyhow! So what if the surface transportation bill expires! What business does Washington have to do with the  sewage treatment plant the county is trying to build! And why the hell does the Army Corps of Engineers have [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1271&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>Two Trust Funds in Search of a Solution</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/10/25/two-trust-funds-in-search-of-a-solution/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/10/25/two-trust-funds-in-search-of-a-solution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:31:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTS Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appropriations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USACE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Channels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WRDA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dredging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Inland Waterways Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Tax]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1257</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R) stood near Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga and said, &#8220;We have two trust funds to deal with waterway infrastructure like the Chickamauga Lock, and neither of them works.&#8221;  He tells the truth. The senator and former governor convened a presser to preview legislation&#8211;the American Waterways Act&#8211;that he and others will introduce when [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1257&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/10/25/two-trust-funds-in-search-of-a-solution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>FMC on HMT: Unintended Consequences</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/10/18/fmc-on-hmt-unintended-consequences/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/10/18/fmc-on-hmt-unintended-consequences/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:52:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Competition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Maritime Commission]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NAFTA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prince Rupert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Puget Sound]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trade Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[user fee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vancouver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WRDA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1217</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In July the Federal Maritime Commission released a study that claims a relationship between the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) charged in U.S. ports and logistics decisions that result in some imports bypassing U.S. gateways and moving through Canadian ports to American destinations. Concerns at the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma that the HMT are tilting [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1217&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/10/18/fmc-on-hmt-unintended-consequences/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>The WRDA Mantra</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/10/16/we-want-wrda/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/10/16/we-want-wrda/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:28:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Channels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civil works]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dredging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stakeholders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USACE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water resource projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WRDA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1212</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Perennial Question: Will there be a WRDA?  Perennial Answer: Eventually. The WRDA question is one of the more predictable queries heard over the course of every two-year Congress. It is legislative Zen among the water resources community in Washington where mind-and-body is focused on achieving &#8220;WER-da.&#8221; Likewise, that focus is found in the hinterland where [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1212&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>One Hundred Percent Security</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/07/23/one-hundred-percent-security/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/07/23/one-hundred-percent-security/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2012 00:46:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[9/11]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appropriations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cargo security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CBP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coast Guard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Homeland Security]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1158</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Not even Ivory Soap is 100 percent.  It may float but, as the once ubiquitous slogan puts it, Ivory doesn&#8217;t do better than &#8220;99 and 44/100 percent pure!&#8221; So if the blue chip labs of Proctor &#38; Gamble can&#8217;t deliver a simple matter of 100 percent pure soap why should anyone think it&#8217;s possible to [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1158&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Now They&#8217;ve Gone and Done It!</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/07/03/now-theyve-gone-and-done-it/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/07/03/now-theyve-gone-and-done-it/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:54:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intermodal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MAP-21]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SAFETEA-LU]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1160</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Washington, which is to say Congress, got it done.  Really. The &#8220;it&#8221; is the surface transportation authorization legislation that sets the programs for highway, transit and related infrastructure&#8211;hereafter referred to as MAP-21 (&#8220;Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century&#8221; for those of you who feel a need to know.)  The bill, H.R. 4348, won [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1160&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>Stalled and Sinking</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/06/10/stalled-and-sinking/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/06/10/stalled-and-sinking/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jun 2012 03:13:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marine Highway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTS Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jones Act]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1135</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[POLITICO, the Washington, DC daily journal, published a story on May 22nd by reporter Jessica Meyers on one of my favorite topics, marine highway development. I had hoped for more but then a partisan, as I am, is always hard to please. It was the multiple titles sitting atop the various pages and editions of the piece [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1135&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>So Spake the Freight Stakeholders</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/06/04/so-spake-the-freight-stakeholders/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/06/04/so-spake-the-freight-stakeholders/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:49:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Intermodal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LaHood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SAFETEA-LU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stakeholders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USDOT]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1117</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Freight Stakeholders Coalition&#8211;a group of 18 or more organizations&#8211;spoke  freight to power.  But in today&#8217;s Washington, where the policy makers often wear policy blinders, will the Deciders (to use Dubya-speak) listen to the goods movement call for change? Back in 2005, when SAFETEA-LU came out of the House-Senate conference cooker, the Stakeholders were dumbfounded [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1117&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>HMTF: A Bump and RAMP Strategy</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/04/27/hmtf-a-bump-and-ramp-strategy/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/04/27/hmtf-a-bump-and-ramp-strategy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:19:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appropriations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Channels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dredging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1079</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bump and RAMP doesn&#8217;t sound like a sophisticated legislative strategy.  It certainly isn&#8217;t a complicated one.  But when one is talking about the world of dredging one must do what one can to make it sound interesting. As I&#8217;ve discussed previously the RAMP Act is an attempt to remedy a failing of current law.   A [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1079&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
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		<title>That Transportation Can Got Kicked Again</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/03/30/that-transportation-can-got-kicked-again/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/03/30/that-transportation-can-got-kicked-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:51:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SAFETEA-LU]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1083</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Congress this week again extended SAFETEA-LU by approving H.R. 4281, what might reasonably be labeled the kicking-the-can-down-the-road road bill.  This 9th extension buys 90 days of time for the House and Senate to come to terms on a new, surface transportation authorization measure.   And while putting off a decision on a multi-year bill is not [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1083&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>HMTF: RAMP Gets Its Chance</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/02/14/hmtf-ramp-gets-its-chance/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/02/14/hmtf-ramp-gets-its-chance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:33:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appropriations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Channels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dredging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RAMP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1065</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[HR 7, the surface transportation (and energy) bill that was reported from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the wee hours of February 3, has a wee Water Transportation title whose only provision is hortatory language about full use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. The HMTF, along with the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, was [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1065&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/02/14/hmtf-ramp-gets-its-chance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>HMTF: The Seven Billion Dollar Clue</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/02/11/hmtf-the-seven-billion-dollar-clue/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/02/11/hmtf-the-seven-billion-dollar-clue/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:04:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTS Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appropriations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USACE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NY/NJ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Channels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WRDA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1046</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) is overdue for a remedy. How do we know? The unspent balance of Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) receipts, plus interest, is a mere $7,000,000,000. HMT receipts are accounted for in the channel “maintenance” trust fund. However (not to be too picky) the Federal channel system is not fully maintained, [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1046&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>&#8220;What&#8217;s Taking So Long?&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/01/31/whats-taking-so-long/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/01/31/whats-taking-so-long/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:57:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marine Highway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AMH]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MARAD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine highways]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TIGER grants]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1034</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I filed a version of this with the good folks at the Connecticut Maritime Coalition whose Deep Water Port notes newsletter carries my perspectives from Washington&#8230; A few years back the trade press started asking from their columns and story headlines why it was taking so long for marine highway progress—on the water and in [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1034&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>Time for a Maritime Title</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/01/30/time-for-a-maritime-title/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2012/01/30/time-for-a-maritime-title/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Intermodal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Highway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTS Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine highways]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[surface transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=1025</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a few days we will see if there is a maritime title, or section, in what is traditionally the highway bill.  What&#8217;s that, you say?  You heard right. Back in July 2011  House Transportation &#38; Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) let us peek at the planned contents of the surface transportation bill that finally will [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=1025&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>Functional (Not WTF) Government</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/08/02/functional-not-wtf-government/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/08/02/functional-not-wtf-government/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:51:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Federal Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appropriations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USDOT]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=979</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[~ Political Drama in Three Acts ~ Cast:  Persons who come to positions in government to make a point and others who come to govern.  Neither conservatives nor liberals alone are cast as good at governing. Forward:  Some like wielding power but their interest wanes when it comes to the nuisance of making government function well. [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=979&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<title>Make Time for Maritime Policy</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/07/02/make-time-for-maritime-policy/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/07/02/make-time-for-maritime-policy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jul 2011 03:37:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Federal Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Highway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTS Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine highways]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USDOT]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=967</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The piece below appears in the June 2011 edition of the Eno Transportation Foundation newsletter, EnoBrief.  I appreciated the invitation to pen something on a maritime theme and decided to continue on the topic of American maritime policy, which is in need of attention.  Comments are welcome.  Pbea “Now, what about our national maritime policy?” [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=967&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>If you only have hot dog money in your pocket maybe you just buy a hot dog&#8230;but which hot dog?</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/06/02/if-you-only-have-hot-dog-money-in-your-pocket-maybe-you-just-buy-a-hot-dog-but-which-hot-dog/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/06/02/if-you-only-have-hot-dog-money-in-your-pocket-maybe-you-just-buy-a-hot-dog-but-which-hot-dog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:36:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Efficiency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SAFETEA-LU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USDOT]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=935</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My previous post about the surface transportation reauthorization bill—TEA for short—ended with a bit of wait-and-see optimism.  That was then.  Here is a bit of face-facts pessimism to balance it out.  It&#8217;s the kind of yin yang see-sawing that this town sets the mind to doing.  Spend more than a few minutes thinking that things [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=935&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/06/02/if-you-only-have-hot-dog-money-in-your-pocket-maybe-you-just-buy-a-hot-dog-but-which-hot-dog/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>The Rush/No-Rush to Replace SAFETEA-LU</title>
		<link>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/05/26/the-rushno-rush-to-replace-safetea-lu/</link>
		<comments>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/05/26/the-rushno-rush-to-replace-safetea-lu/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 May 2011 20:39:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>PaulHBea</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surface Transportation Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SAFETEA-LU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mtsmatters.com/?p=928</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You&#8217;d think that Congress and the Administration are proud of SAFETEA-LU. That&#8217;s the &#8220;bridge-to-nowhere&#8221;, 6000+ earmark, strangely named measure that was signed into law in 2005 and immediately trashed on the front page of Parade (yes, Parade!), on editorial pages of all stripes, and by interested interest groups. Freight stakeholders were grossly disappointed by the final [&#8230;]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mtsmatters.com&#038;blog=8522093&#038;post=928&#038;subd=mtsmatters&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://mtsmatters.com/2011/05/26/the-rushno-rush-to-replace-safetea-lu/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">PaulHBea</media:title>
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