HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 42
(By Delegates Caputo, Fleischauer and Manchin)
[Introduced February 14, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Rules.]
Requesting the United States Congress to enact and fully fund
navigation needs on our Nation's rivers.
Whereas, The upper reaches of the headwaters of many of our
nation's navigable rivers have suffered a decline in river
commerce, resulting in severe cutbacks in federal funding for
maintenance and operation of locks and dams on these rivers by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers (COE), including the hours
the locks are open for transit by river traffic; and
Whereas, This problem is especially severe within the
Pittsburgh District of COE, for the Monongahela River and Upper
Kanawha River in West Virginia and for the upper reaches of the
Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, thus causing great harm to
commercial and recreational users of these two rivers and to the
communities and businesses that rely on unhindered navigation of
these rivers; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Congress of the United States is requested to enact
and fully fund legislation requiring that the Army Corps of
Engineers base river navigation budgets not solely on the tonnage of commerce, but also on the value of the commerce and on the needs
of recreational users of the rivers and on the importance of all
such river uses to the economic well-being and development of
communities and regions bounding the river; and, be it
Further Resolved, That it is requested that the Pennsylvania
and West Virginia congressional delegations, especially those
members of the United States House of Representatives whose
districts include the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of
Engineers, seek appropriations for the federal Fiscal Year 2003
(which began the first day of October, two thousand two) and for
successive fiscal years that will enable the Pittsburgh District of
the Corps of Engineers to fully meet the navigation needs of all
river users and communities for the Upper Allegheny, Upper
Monongahela and Upper Kanawha rivers and support Congressman
Mollohan in his request for $5 million to research and demonstrate
the feasibility of automating lock operation, directly permitting
the remote operation of lock chambers for Upper Mon locks and
developing a national technology base for a future combination of
cost reductions with service improvements and seek congressional
authorization and funding for studies of how the federal government
might partnership with states and local communities on innovative
ways to fund and operate river navigation needs; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature of West Virginia
supports the Pittsburgh-based River Navigation Coalition in their extensive and effective efforts to keep the locks and dams
operational on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Kanawha rivers,
maximize the hours of operation of the locks for all users, promote
river recreational boating, promote commercial navigation by
maintaining the river channels and continued operation of the locks
and promote economic growth pertaining to recreational and
commercial navigation for the entire region; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature of West Virginia
supports the Upper Monongahela River Association Incorporated, a
West Virginia not-for-profit 501 (c) (4) corporation (successor to
the informal Upper Monongahela Committee for Better Boating formed
in February 2000) and a founding member of the River Navigation
Coalition, in UMRA's efforts to achieve all of the goals; and, be
it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates is
directed to furnish a copy of this resolution to the West Virginia
and Pennsylvania delegations to Congress.