OUR POSITION
TFI supports government efforts to restore full funding for maintenance of our nation’s ports and harbors. Water transport is an integral part of the fertilizer distribution system, employing ocean-going tankers and river barges to move fertilizers in either solid or liquid form. TFI closely monitors policies and regulations that may affect nutrient transportation by water.
Barges move about 60% of our nation’s agriculture exports on our rivers, but 80% of locks have outlived their design life. The nation’s lock and dam infrastructure needs recapitalization to keep barges – and America’s economy – moving. Barges and towboats are a critical part of our supply chain, moving fertilizer and America’s harvest.
THE POLICY
TFI supports passage of biennial Water Resources Development Acts (WRDA), legislation authorizing Corps of Engineers’ work on locks and dams, dredging and other Civil Works water projects critical to the Nation. This legislation will be considered by Congress in 2024.
Maintaining water resources bills on an every two-year cycle is important to the continuation of modernizing our lock and dam infrastructure – a vital part of America’s supply chain, the envy of the world, but infrastructure that needs maintenance and recapitalization to ensure the future of America’s inland waterway transportation network.