FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 25, 2000
Contact: Dan Dewell
Tel.: (202) 267-2304
DOT 83-00
U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and representatives of other federal agencies today pledged to work together to improve the federal government's coordination of maritime transportation programs.
The Secretary also announced a nationwide series of dialogue sessions aimed at improving the safety, efficiency and quality of America's maritime transportation system (MTS).
"Our nation's ports and waterways -- and how they connect with other modes of transportation such as highways and rail -- make up a vital, complex system that impacts the lives and livelihoods of every American," Slater said. "We need to involve waterway users, government officials, and all members of the public with an interest in this essential segment of America's infrastructure in the effort to enhance our maritime system’s ability to contribute to economic growth while protecting the environment and maintaining the highest standards of safety."
Secretary Slater added that the interagency effort will contribute to President Clinton’s vision of building a transportation system for the 21st century that is international in reach, intermodal in form, intelligent in character, inclusive in service and innovative in scope.
Officials from the Departments of Defense, Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture, Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency joined Slater in signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which creates the Interagency Committee for the MTS (ICMTS). This committee is charged with improving the federal government’s coordination of MTS-related programs and ensuring that maritime policies, strategies and goals are consistent with national needs.
ICMTS is an outgrowth of a national task force, chaired by U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. James M. Loy and Maritime Administrator Clyde J. Hart Jr., which met last year and issued a major report outlining recommendations to meet the growing challenges to the nation’s marine transportation system.
The announcement and signing ceremony took place aboard the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter James Rankin moored next the Coast Guard Headquarters on Washington's Anacostia River.
DOT and other agencies involved in MTS will host the one- and two-day dialogue sessions this summer from late May through mid July in Chicago; Memphis, Tenn.; Philadelphia; Jacksonville, Fla.; Seattle; the Los Angeles/Long Beach area; and Houston. The sessions will feature national transportation issues as well as regional topics, such as the Gulf Coast's handling of a sharp increase in trade with Latin America and dealing with aquatic nuisance species in the Great Lakes.
The United States MTS consists of waterways, ports, and intermodal landside connections which allow different types of transportation to move people and goods to, from and on the water. There are some 25,000 miles of navigable channels, 238 locks, over 3,700 marine terminals plus smaller marinas and docks that support recreation and tourism. Federal officials estimate the MTS supports the import of 67 percent of consumer goods purchased by the American public.
For more information on the regional dialogue sessions, contact the U. S. Coast Guard, Lt.j.g Patrick Barelli, (202) 267-2384, pbarelli@comdt.uscg.mil. More information about MTS is available at http://www.dot.gov/mts or http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/mts/mtshome.htm.
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