§ 55601. Short sea transportation program
(a)
Establishment.—
The Secretary of Transportation shall establish a short sea transportation program and designate short sea transportation projects to be conducted under the program to mitigate landside congestion.
(b)
Program Elements.—
The program shall encourage the use of short sea transportation through the development and expansion of—
(c)
Short Sea Transportation Routes.—
The Secretary shall designate short sea transportation routes as extensions of the surface transportation system to focus public and private efforts to use the waterways to relieve landside congestion along coastal corridors. The Secretary may collect and disseminate data for the designation and delineation of short sea transportation routes.
(d)
Project Designation.—
The Secretary may designate a project to be a short sea transportation project if the Secretary determines that the project may—
(e)
Elements of Program.—
For a short sea transportation project designated under this section, the Secretary may—
(f)
Multistate, State and Regional Transportation Planning.—
The Secretary, in consultation with Federal entities and State and local governments, shall develop strategies to encourage the use of short sea transportation for transportation of passengers and cargo. The Secretary shall—
(1)
assess the extent to which States and local governments include short sea transportation and other marine transportation solutions in their transportation planning;
(g)
Grants.—
(1)
In general.—
The Secretary shall establish and implement a short sea transportation grant program to implement projects or components of a project designated under subsection (d).
(2)
Applications.—
In order to receive a grant under the program, an applicant shall—
(A)
submit an application to the Secretary, in such form and manner, at such time, and containing such information as the Secretary may require; and
(3)
Non-federal share.—
An applicant shall provide at least 20 percent of the project costs from non-Federal sources. In awarding grants under the program, the Secretary shall give a preference to those projects or components that present the most financially viable transportation services and require the lowest percentage Federal share of the costs.