Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I want to thank
you and the Appropriations Committee for its hard work on bringing this
important legislation to the floor.

As you know, we have been working with your staff on an issue of
great importance to the Port of Savannah, which services 40 percent of
American consumers.

Since 1940, the National Park Service has leased a small parcel of
land on Cockspur Island within the Fort Pulaski National Monument to the
Savannah Bar Pilots. The bar pilots help navigate large ships through
the Savannah River channel to the port and have done so from Cockspur
Island since as far as back as the 1730s.

In 2011, at the request of the Park Service, Congress passed
legislation to change the relationship between the bar pilots and the
Park Service. With enactment of the Fort Pulaski National Monument
Lease Authorization Act, Public Law 112-69, the relationship between
the bar pilots and Park Service was shifted from a series of special
use permits to a noncompete lease of up to 10 years.

At the time of consideration of the legislation, the Congressional
Budget Office estimated the annual lease fee for the bar pilots would
be $25,000, a slight increase from their existing rate based on a 2008
appraisal conducted by the Park Service.

It has come to my attention that the Park Service is attempting to
use passage of the legislation to increase the lease fee by as much as
tenfold. This is extremely problematic because such an increase could
threaten to force the bar pilots off Cockspur Island.

Simply given their history on the island, the idea of forcing the bar
pilots to relocate is inappropriate, in and of itself. However, this is
more troubling when you realize that pilotage services are required by
law, so vessels are required to use their services to move in and out
of the Port of Savannah, and there is no other known location from
which pilots could operate more efficiently.

Moving the facility could lead to longer transit times for vessels,
increased safety risk in foul weather, delays in ship movement, and
greater fuel usage for pilots and vessels waiting to call on the Port
of Savannah.

The resulting environmental and economic harm would significantly
increase costs and could threaten growth at the Port of Savannah just
as the Federal Government embarks on the construction phase of the $706
million Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

The legislation passed in 2011 was intended to create a long-term fix
to the permitting issue, not to create an outlet by which the National
Park Service could continuously raise fees to exorbitant levels.

Mr. Chairman, I would request your support of our efforts to find an
equitable and timely resolution to this matter that reflects Congress'
intent and establishes a process for ensuring that the pilots are
charged only fair market value in line with previous National Park
Service appraisals and that they are able to continue operating from
their current location on Cockspur Island.

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