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The Impact Of Proposed "Barge Tax by Harry N. Cook, president, National Waterways Conference, Inc. ff For inland waterways, the "barge tax" has become a potential Achilles heel. At the level recommended by the Clinton Administration, it could mortally wound the waterways in- dustry just as surely as the arrow which pierced Achilles' vulnerable heel. Earlier this year, the Presi- dent urged that the fuel tax, now 17 cents a gallon, be increased to $1.20 a gallon. In addition, the proposed BTU tax would have added another 10 cents to the total. Waterway interests, including the National Waterways Conference, immediately launched an all-out campaign to head off the tax. Our counter-attack took a variety of forms. - The Conference prepared a se- ries of authoritative fact sheets, showing how the proposed $l-per- gallon tax would affect interior re- gions, tributary waterways, indus- try and agricultural sectors, export trade, and the barge industry. We wanted to get the facts out as soon as possible. - With the help of consultants, we developed more specialized fact sheets on affected industries, start- ing with coal and agriculture, which had the most at stake in the user tax fight. - The Conference then received a coalition of waterway interests which we originally set up in 1977 during the Congressional debate over the first waterway fuel tax. Our Na- tional Waterways Alliance includes representatives, most of them based in Washington, of some 175 water- way-related associations and indus- tries. At meetings held every couple of weeks, we shared information and insights and discussed strategy. - Working with navigation propo- nents in the Congress, we helped with a number of "Dear Colleague" letters and joint letters addressed to the President, Cabinet Secretaries and Congressional Committee chair- men. We also framed responses to a number of issues raised by Adminis- tration spokespeople in support of the new inland waterways tax. - Upon request from members of Congress, other public officials, and industry leaders, we prepared speeches, statements, testimony, and resolutions in opposition to the proposed $l-per-gallon fuel tax. Some of these materials later made a splash in the press. - We conducted an aggressive campaign in the media pointing out flaws in the fuel tax proposal. Con- ference officers were frequently in- terviewed in leading publications and on radio, including National Public Radio. We distributed sev- eral opposite-editorial page ("op-ed") columns, one of which was syndi- cated by Scripps Howard News Ser- vice. - Conference officials made a num- ber of speeches and testified before Congressional committees, empha- sizing the magnitude of the fuel tax, its probable impact on river valley economies, and its potential role in dismantling the inland waterway system as it now exists. Through the National Waterways Alliance, we coordinated our efforts with other organizations such as the National Grain and Feed Associa- tion, National Coal Association, National Industrial Transportation League, and American Waterways Operators. Working closely to- gether, we were able to marshal our resources and cover more bases than ordinarily would have been possible. At the National Waterways Conference's forthcoming 1993 an- nual meeting, two separate panel discussions will examine the fuel tax proposal. The first will deal with the basic issue: whether the Federal government should recover 100 per- cent of the expenditures attributed Harry N. Cook to the operation and maintenance (O & M) of shallow-draft navigation channels. Dr. G. Edward Dickey, acting assistant secretary of the Army (Civil Works), will present the case for full O & M recovery. Christopher J. Brescia of St. Louis, president of the Midwest Area River Coalition (MARC-2000), will discuss the pub- lic value of the Federal investment in navigation O & M programs. The second user tax panel will examine the prospective impacts of such taxation. Dr. Robert N. Stearns of Dr. Dickey's office will contend that the impacts are rela- tively minor, but Timothy R. Murphy of Mercer Management Consulting (formerly Temple, Barker & Sloane, Inc.) believes coal, chemical and agricultural sectors could suffer. The waterway fuel tax will re- main a lively issue, regardless of what Congress does this year. On May 27, the House of Representa- tives approved an increase of 50 cents a gallon, and on June 25, the U.S. Senate deleted the tax - send- ing the entire revenue package to a House-Senate conference, which is to report later this summer. W. Richard Christensen Takes Conference Helm At Mid-Year Horps of Engineers and U.S. Fish md Wildlife Service. The final panel will address wet- ands issues. W. R. (Ron) Coles of Mashville, who is president of In- iandRivers Ports & Terminals, Inc., will be the moderator, and panel- ists will include John S. Doyle, Jr., chief of staff for Congr. James A. Hayes (Louisiana), sponsor of Legislation (H.R. 1330) to modify Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, as amended. The final luncheon will follow. Luncheon speakers are to be an- nounced later. Several other organizations will hold meetings to coincide with NWC's convention, including the U.S. Section of the Permanent In- ternational Assn. of Navigation Congresses (PIANC). It plans a panel discussion on innovative con- struction techniques which may re- duce the cost of future lock-and- dam replacement projects. The NWC convention will kick off on Wednesday, Sept. 15, with an inspection trip to President's Island, Litco Terminal and David Taylor Naval Surface Warfare Basin to see the large cavitation channel, the most advanced and largest cavita- tion water tunnel in the world. Reg- istration will begin at 2:00 p.m., the same time that the Waterways Ex- position will open. In the evening, the early arriv- als' reception will be held at the Memphis Convention Center, and delegates will have an opportunity to tour the critically acclaimed Na- poleon exhibition. A spouses tour is planned on Thursday, including a visit to Graceland, home of the legendary Elvis Presley, followed by a tour and luncheon at the Dixon Gallery. The convention will end at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 17. Richard A. Wilson of Memphis, president of Rivergate Terminal Group, is chairman of the general arrangements Committee. Vice chairman is Donald C. McCrory, director of the Memphis and Shelby County Port Commission. W. Richard (Dick) Christensen of Ashland, Ky., a consultant for Ashland Petroleum Co., is the newly installed Chair- man of the National Waterways Conference, Inc. He took over the reins at the March meeting of the Board of Directors from J.D. (Johnnie) Laman of Houston. Before moving to a consultant's post at Ashland last fall, Mr. Christensen was vice president, marine/surface transportation and facilities. He previously was the Conference's vice chairman. Serving as the Conference's first vice president, and in line to be- come the next vice chairman, is Robert W. Portiss, who is port director at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa. Tulsa will host NWC's 1995 annual meeting, which will mark the port's 25th anniversary. There are four vice presidents: Wallace A. Gieringer, executive director of the Pine Bluff-Jefferson County (Ark.) Port Authority; Den- nis L. Kirwin of Houston, vice presi- dent and general manager of Mid- land Marine Corp.; Charles F. Lehman of Jeffersonville, Ind., vice president of American Commercial Barge Line Co.; and Donald G. Walden of Columbus, Miss., admin- istrator of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority. William J. Hull of Sea Island, Ga., is vice president and counsel. H. Nelson Spencer, III, of St. Louis, publisher of The Waterways Journal, is secretary, and Donald C. McCrory, director of the Mem- phis and Shelby County (Tenn.) Port Commission, is treasurer. The officers, plus 15 other mem- bers elected from the Board of Direc- tors, constitute the Executive Com- mittee: Nicholas J. Barchie, Jr., of Chickasaw, Ala., president of War- rior and Gulf Navigation Company; Robert G. Brave, executive direc- tor of the Port of Little Rock; J. Ron Brinson, president and chief ex- ecutive officer of the Port of New Orleans; W. R.(Ron) Coles of Nash- ville, president of W.R. Coles & As- sociates; Brian L. Garrity of Mundelein, 111., manager of water distribution system, IMC Fertilizer, Inc.; Keith R. Gosney of St. Louis, president of Pinnacle Transporta- tion, Inc.; William F. Harbison of Greenville, Miss., president of Ar- kansas River Co.; David W. Kreutzer of Elizabeth, Pa., general manager-river division of Consol Inc.; Gary P. LaGrange of Franklin, La., executive director of the Port of West St. Mary. Thomas D. Murphree, Jr., of Memphis, director-sales and mar- keting, Mid-South Terminal Co.; Offa S. Nichols, Jr., of Birming- ham, president of Warrior- Tombigbee Development Assn.; R. Barry Palmer of Pittsburgh, presi- dent of DINAMO; Gale R. Rhodes of Lakin, W. Va., manager-river transportation division, AEP Fuel Supply; T. Mark Simmons of Belzoni, Miss., Lower Mississippi Valley Flood Control Assn.; and L.E. (Les) Sutton of Houston. The Conference is governed by a 75-member Board of Directors. Former chairpeople and presidents who are still active in the water- ways industry serve on the Conference's Consultative Council and from time to time the Executive Committee elects former board mem- bers to the Advisory Board. Vernon Behrhorst of Lafayette, La., execu- tive director of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Assn., is currently chairman of the Advisory Board. August, 1993 53
