New, enacted funding distribution of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) is a sea change over the status quo and the result of a decade-plus-long fight by Senator Murray to ensure the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma get their fair share of funding
In 2020, Murray secured long-sought changes to increase funding for WA state ports—after the Army Corps failed to implement these changes in FY23, Chair Murray wrote language into the FY24 appropriations bills to ensure HMTF funding would be allocated as intended in FY24
Murray has been an unrelenting advocate for WA state ports and worked hard year-after-year to secure this change, making the case repeatedly to Army Corps leadership and bringing stakeholders together
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, announced $25,210,000 for the Port of Seattle and $28,863,000 for the Port of Tacoma—funding she unlocked in the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2024. The vast majority of the funding comes from changes to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) Senator Murray successfully secured in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020—which are being implemented for the first time this year—to more equitably distribute money from the HMTF for projects at America’s ports. The provisions Murray fought for set percentages of annual HMTF allocations for donor and energy transfer ports—which include the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma—Great Lakes ports, small harbors, and strategic ports. Currently, imports through large, “donor” ports like Tacoma and Seattle generate over 50% of the national HMTF revenues, yet these ports receive only 3% in return because their naturally deep harbors require minimal maintenance dredging. The 12 percent HMTF set-aside for donor and energy transfer ports Murray secured will dramatically boost annual funding for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
The HMTF set-aside for donor and energy ports was meant to go into effect in Fiscal Year 2023, however, the Corps’ Work Plan for FY23 failed to implement the change as Congress intended—meaning that donor ports, including Ports of Seattle and Tacoma, did not get the funding they were meant to receive. In response, as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Murray wrote provisions into the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2024 that specified the exact distribution of funding for donor and energy transfer ports—leaving no room for an alternative interpretation of how the money could be spent. Murray worked closely with Corps leadership to ensure they got it right this year, engaging extensively with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor to ensure the 12 percent set aside for donor and energy ports was protected. The Corps’ Fiscal Year 2024 Work Plan was released on Monday—with the changes Murray pushed for fully reflected.
“For decades the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma have been some of the biggest contributors to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, but they’ve been essentially walled off from using the fund because of outdated and unfair restrictions that disadvantage Washington state ports in a major way. The status quo was patently unfair—and I’ve been working year after year for over a decade to fix it,” said Senator Murray. “In 2014 we were able to unlock a small amount of annual funding for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma by expanding eligible uses for HMTF—but even before then I was working toward the much more ambitious goal of creating an annual set-aside from the HMTF for donor ports like Seattle and Tacoma. Now, it’s finally happening.”
“This has been a long-fought battle but it is nothing short of a sea change when it comes to annual funding for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma,” Murray continued. “Not only are we bringing home over $50 million dollars for Seattle and Tacoma this year, but the HMTF change is permanent—meaning that every year it’s in effect, Washington state ports will take home many times the funding they previously received each year from the Corps. I will always fight for our ports, which are true economic engines for our state. When federal law is putting Washington state at a disadvantage, I will push with everything I’ve got to change the law and deliver a solution that works for our communities and creates jobs.”
“Senator Murray went above and beyond to deliver a monumental achievement for the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. For many years, our Commissions have prioritized HMT reform as our top federal issue, and Senator Murray has been our champion every step of the way. Our ports have traditionally received only pennies for every dollar of HMT funding we generate. Thanks to Senator Murray’s efforts, we will finally begin to receive a fair return from this important port funding source,” said Hamdi Mohamed, Port of Seattle Commission President and The Northwest Seaport Alliance Co-Chair.
“For decades, the structure of the HMT has put Puget Sound ports at a disadvantage to other ports throughout North America. Senator Murray has fixed a problem that seemed unfixable. We are deeply grateful for her persistence and her dedication to the success of Washington’s ports,” said Kristin Ang, Port of Tacoma Commission President and The Northwest Seaport Alliance Co-Chair.
“Years-long reform of America’s Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) has made equitable and sustainable changes to seaport funding, a bedrock of supply chain resilience. The 2024 U.S. Army Corps Work Plan is the result of more than a decade of collective work to unlock the full potential of the HMTF. The effort required the steady hand of rockstar senators like Chairwoman Patty Murray and other champions; alongside fierce, collective seaport industry advocacy,” said Cary S. Davis, President & CEO, American Association of Port Authorities.
The implementation of the new system Murray championed to more equitably provide funding from the HMTF is a culmination of Senator Murray’s tireless work over more than a decade to change the law so that the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma get their fair share of funding after decades of contributing far more than they are eligible to use from the HMTF on traditional operation and maintenance activities. Murray’s efforts included introducing multiple pieces of legislation to reform the HMTF and securing a new provision, Section 2106, in the 2014 Water Resources Reform and Development Act and every reauthorization since to allow donor ports, like Seattle and Tacoma, to be eligible for some federal funding that supports additional uses that were previously ineligible for funding—including port infrastructure improvements and rebates to importers to help address competition from ports in Canada and Mexico that are not subject to the same fees.
Below is an abbreviated timeline of Senator Murray’s work to address inequities in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and secure fair funding for Washington state’s ports:
- August 2013: Murray announces new legislation, the Maritime Goods Movement Act for the 21st Century, to completely overhaul the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) and Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) to get rid of the inequities and make the system work better for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Murray formally introduces the legislation in September.
- June 2014: Murray secures in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014 a provision called Section 2106 that—for the first time in history—begins to address the HMTF system’s inequities toward donor ports and cargo diversion by authorizing $25 million in discretionary funding for donor and energy transfer ports to use for port infrastructure improvements and rebates to importers in order to help even the playing field for the Ports of Seattle, Tacoma, and others. The legislation is signed into law by President Obama on June 10th.
- The Section 2106 change unlocks a combined $44,660,180for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma for the next nine fiscal years, FY16-FY24. See the chart further down for a full breakdown showing how much funding the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma have received each year thanks to Section 2106 since the change was first funded in Fiscal Year 2016.
- While this was a meaningful step forward, major inequities in the disbursement of HMTF dollars persisted.
- March 2016: Murray introduces the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Reform Act of 2016, new legislation to reform the HMTF by, among other things, making sure all of the money collected through the Harbor Maintenance Tax each year is returned directly to ports and establishing a set-aside for donor ports so that collected funds are allocated more equitably.
- July 2017: Murray reintroduces her Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Reform Act legislation to reform the HMTF.
- March 2020: The CARES Act of 2020 is passed into law; the legislation includes a provision that, for the first time, allows all of the money collected through the HMTF each year to be returned directly to ports to improve infrastructure and keep ports competitive. However, there was no set distribution of the funds, which threatened to continue to disadvantage Washington state ports from getting funding—something Senator Murray worked immediately with former Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL), port officials, the Army Corps, and other stakeholders to address in the WRDA reauthorization later that year.
- June 2020: Murray pushes to include an amendment to WRDA 2020 that would modify the HMTF to more equitably fund operation and maintenance projects at America’s ports. The amendment does not receive a vote but lays the groundwork for the final language enacted in WRDA 2020.
- KEY INFLECTION POINT – December 2020: Murray secures in the final WRDA 2020 long sought-after changes for HMTF distributions and secures 12 percent for donor and energy transfer ports, which contribute more to the HMTF than they can access—ensuring a more equitable distribution and an influx in annual funding for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. This funding is separate from the authorization and funding Murray has secured for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma through Section 2106 since 2014. The formula changes for donor and energy transfer ports for funding from the HMTF are set to take effect in Fiscal Year 2023.
- February 2023: Army Corps releases their Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2023; the plan fails to follow the enacted formula for HMTF distributions for donor and energy transfer ports.
- March 2023: Senator Murray, now Chair of the full Appropriations Committee, has a call with ASA Connor to make clear the Corps’ failure to implement that donor and energy transfer port set-aside was unacceptable and press on HMTF implementation in the next fiscal year.
- April 2023: Chair Murray presses ASA Connor at an Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Army Corps’ Fiscal Year 2024 budget about the steps being taken to ensure the Army Corps meets all targets for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.
- July 2023: Senator Murray secures language in the draft Senate Energy and Water Appropriations bill explicitly directing the Army Corps to fully implement the donor and energy transfer set-aside in Fiscal Year.
- July 2023-March 2024: Extensive engagement between Senator Murray’s office and the Army Corps on final appropriations language that would ensure the Corps fully implemented the donor and energy ports set-aside as Congress intended.
- March 2024: In the final Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2024, Chair Murray secures language explicitly directing the Army Corps to fully and correctly implement the provisions Murray secured in WRDA 2020 that required the Corps to provide additional HMTF funding to donor and energy transfer ports, including Seattle and Tacoma. Additionally, Chair Murray secures a historic $2.77 billion for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund overall and $58 million in Section 2106 funding for Donor and Energy Transfer ports—a $2 million increase over the Fiscal Year 2023 level.
- April 2024: Extensive engagement between Senator Murray’s office and the Army Corps to ensure the Corps’ work plan for Fiscal Year 2024 was done right.
- May 2024: The Army Corps Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2024 is released and includes, for the first time ever, the HMTF donor and energy transfer port set-aside Murray secured in WRDA 2020—providing a total of $368 million to all eligible donor and energy transfer ports. From this set-aside, the Port of Seattle will receive $22.15 million and the Port of Tacoma will receive $25.555 million this year alone—and the WRDA 2020 change in funding distribution of the HMTF applies every year moving forward. For perspective on how big the HMTF set-aside change is:
- The Port of Seattle received only $12,939,000 from the HMTF in the TEN years prior to the HMTF change compared to the $22.343 million it will receive in just year one of the Corps implementing the HMTF change. Additionally, the Port of Seattle is receiving $2,867,000 in Section 2106 funding this year—the Port has now received a combined total of $21,895,000 from Section 2106 in the nine years since its implementation. See the full funding breakdown below.
- The Port of Tacoma received only $2,014,000 from the HMTF in the TEN years prior to the HMTF change, compared to the $25.555 million it will receive in just year one of the Corps implementing the HMTF change. Additionally, the Port of Tacoma is receiving $3,308,000 in Section 2106 funding this year—the Port has now received a combined total of $22,764,280 from Section 2106 in the nine years since its implementation. See the full funding breakdown below.
| HMTF Funding PRIOR to Murray-enacted set-aside for Donor and Energy Ports | Port of Seattle | Port of Tacoma |
| FY 2014 | $184,000 | $1,894,000 |
| FY 2015 | $1,498,000 | $0 |
| FY 2016 | $565,000 | $0 |
| FY 2017 | $3,505,000 | $100,000 |
| FY 2018 | $389,000 | $5,000 |
| FY 2019 | $2,516,000 | $15,000 |
| FY 2020 | $0 | $0 |
| FY 2021 | $1,918,000 | $0 |
| FY 2022 | $378,000 | $0 |
| FY 2023 | $1,985,000 | $0 |
| TOTAL HMTF funding FY14-FY23, prior to set-aside | $12,939,000 | $2,014,000 |
| ***COMPARE TO*** | ||
| NEW HMTF Funding AFTER Murray-enacted set-aside for Donor and Energy Ports | Port of Seattle | Port of Tacoma |
| FY 2024 | $22,343,000 | $25,555,000 |
| ***COMPARE TO*** | ||
| Section 2106 Funding | Port of Seattle | Port of Tacoma |
| FY 2016 | $1,403,000 | $1,384,000 |
| FY 2017 | $1,558,000 | $1,537,000 |
| FY 2018 | $2,226,000 | $2,195,000 |
| FY 2019 | $2,782,000 | $2,744,000 |
| FY 2020 | $2,782,000 | $2,744,000 |
| FY 2021 | $2,782,000 | $2,744,000 |
| FY 2022 | $2,781,900 | $2,744,280 |
| FY 2023 | $2,714,000 | $3,364,000 |
| FY 2024 | $2,867,000 | $3,308,000 |
| Total Section 2106 Funding since FY16 | $21,895,900 | $22,764,280 |
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