Introduction of the Ferry Service Expansion Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today I introduce the ``Ferry Service Expansion Act'' with U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). I want to thank my House colleagues for their support as original cosponsors of this bipartisan legislation.

Ferries are among the most climate-resilient modes of public transportation, capable of reaching areas where it is infeasible or imprudent to build new bridges or causeways. Historically, Congress has underfunded public ferry service compared to other transit and roadway projects. Our ``Ferry Service Expansion Act'' would correct this by increasing funding for both the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) formula and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) competitive grant programs to the levels requested by the Public Ferry Coalition, which represents public ferry operators across the country.

In the Bay Area, the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) is working to expand ferry service for commuters and visitors alike. WETA is also retrofitting its existing diesel-powered ferries to reduce emissions of particulates and greenhouse gases, WETA is pursuing new, zero-emissions ferries to eventually replace its entire vessel fleet. The ``Ferry Service Expansion Act'' would provide federal support for this important work, while also holding federal grantees to the high standards for ``Buy American'' requirements and prevailing wages under the Davis-Bacon Act that already apply to other federal funding for ferries.

Under current law, States may use their federal Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) for public or private ferry projects. In December 2020, the Bay Area Council released a feasibility study for employing hovercraft to provide ferry service in the South Bay. Hovercrafts can provide ferry service in environmentally sensitive areas that cannot be dredged to sufficient depth for vessels. Section 4 of the ``Ferry Service Expansion Act'' would simply clarify that States could use their STBG for hovercraft ferries, provided the project is otherwise eligible under the program as providing ferry service to the public. On July 1, 2021, the House passed this same provision as my amendment to Chairman Peter A. DeFazio's (D-OR) ``Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act.''

Lastly, our bicameral, bipartisan legislation would also support private operators of passenger ferries by allowing them to register Capital Construction Funds with the Maritime Administration (MARAD). Capital Construction Funds allow vessel operators to forgo paying federal business taxes on such vessels provided all that forgone tax payment is reinvested in constructing new U.S.-flagged vessels in American shipyards. Under current law, only cargo vessels and commercial fishing boats are eligible for this special tax exemption. However, some car ferry operators successfully registered Capital Construction Funds with MARAD, arguing that the cars are ``cargo'' and therefore their vessels are a ``cargo vessel'' and not a ``ferry.'' The ``Ferry Service Expansion Act'' corrects this discrepancy by ensuring that passenger ferries are also clearly eligible. On March 29, 2022, the House passed this same provision from my H.R. 6882 as part of the ``Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022'' (H.R. 6865).

As a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I continue working to secure additional federal funding to complement the state, county, and local investments to improve ferry service across the Bay Area. I plan to work with Senator Murray to make this legislation a priority. Madam Speaker, I encourage all members of the House to join us in cosponsoring the ``Ferry Service Expansion Act.''

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