President’s FY05-06 Budget Recommends $48 Million for Channel Deepening Efforts
Published: March, 2005
The Port of Oakland announced that it has received important presidential support for the continuation of its channel-deepening efforts. The President’s Fiscal Year 2005-2006 budget, released Monday, February 7, 2005, includes $48 million for the Oakland Harbor Navigation Improvement Project (the -50 Foot Project); this amount is the most ever included in a president’s budget for the project. Additionally, the -50 Foot Project was included as one of only nine Priority Projects nationwide for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lead federal agency in charge of the efforts.
“This is great news for the Port of Oakland and the Bay Area,” remarked Jerry Bridges, executive director of the Port of Oakland. “The -50 Foot Project is needed to accommodate the newer, larger container ships, and to ensure that the Port continues to serve as an economic engine for our region.” The project was authorized under the 1999 Federal Water Resources Development Act, with the Port responsible for contributing approximately half of the funds. Currently, the Oakland harbor is being dredged to -46 feet as an interim depth this year. Following completion to -46 feet, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will proceed with the harbor deepening project until it reaches -50 feet.
The -50 Foot Project also received strong support from the Schwarzenegger Administration, who weighed in with the White House on the importance of the channel-deepening efforts to the state of California economy and to relieving the congestion seen last Fall at Southern California ports. “These funds will help the Port of Oakland serve as a strong additional first port-of-call in California,” said Bridges, “making sure that California can continue to handle the ever-increasing volume of international trade and keeping our seaports globally competitive.” Bridges added, “The Port is grateful to Governor Schwarzenegger for his efforts in working with the Bush Administration to designate this level of funding in the president’s budget.”
Last year’s presidential budget contained $20 million for the -50 Foot Project, and local congressional leaders, including Representative Barbara Lee, Representative Ellen Tauscher, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and Senator Barbara Boxer, were instrumental in increasing this figure to $27.5 million and ensuring that the federal government continued its vital support of the Oakland harbor-deepening project. The Port will work with its congressional allies again this year to maintain support for the project through the yearly budget and appropriations process.
The Port of Oakland is the fourth largest container port in the nation and moves some $30 billion worth of goods annually through the maritime facilities. In conjunction with over $620 million in capacity improvements funded by the Port, the -50 Foot Project will further stimulate maritime business traffic, creating an estimated 9,000 additional jobs, close to a $2 billion increase in business revenue, and a $62.5 million increase in annual state and local taxes.
