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The article provides an overview of the evolving U.S. national security strategy in the MENA region (Middle East, North Africa). It highlights various challenges faced by the U.S., including multilateral impasses with Iran over its nuclear program, leadership transitions in Israel and Palestine, and geopolitical issues such as freedom of navigation in waterways. It outlines potential policies that the 118th Congress may consider, including proposals to fund and authorize U.S. programs.

The article offers information on the U.S. Coast Guard's Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) program which envisages procuring 30 replacements for the Coast Guard's 35 aging river buoy tenders (WLRs), inland construction tenders (WLICs), and inland buoy tenders (WLIs). It also mentions vessel designs have also led to crew safety concerns, maintenance cost increases, and non-compliance with environmental regulations.

The proposal also has approval of Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the U.S. Coast Guard's Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) program envisages procuring 30 replacements for the Coast Guard's 35 aging river buoy tenders (WLRs). It mentions WCCs perform three primary missions under the Coast Guard's statutory role of providing aids to navigation (ATON). It also mentions WCC missions include search and rescue (SAR), marine safety, marine environmental protection, and ports, waterways, and coastal security.

The article focuses on Coast Guard's Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) program envisages procuring 30 replacements for the Coast Guard's 35 aging river buoy tenders (WLRs), inland construction tenders (WLICs), and inland buoy tenders (WLIs). It mentions WCCs perform three primary missions under the Coast Guard's statutory role of providing aids to navigation (ATON). It also mentions WCCs are used for maintaining more than 28,200 marine aids to navigation on 12,000 miles of inland waterways.

This esteemed accolade by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, recognizes TCI's unwavering commitment to promote multimodal green logistics in India [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the federal freight policy in the U.S. Freight system in the nation consists of the National Truck Network, railroads, barge and ship lines, and air carriers. Information is also given on Inland Waterway Trust Fund, Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, as well as Marine Highways Initiative.

The article presents a report on the need to prioritize the construction of waterway lock projects in the U.S. Topics discussed include the decisions to be taken by the U.S. Congress regarding lock construction projects, its impact on traffic levels through waterway locks, and the current state of the inland waterway system.

Cargo movement on national waterways achieves an all-time high of 108.8 million tons during FY22, recording 30.1 per cent growth compared to the previous year. Based on the outcome of techno-economic feasibility and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), 26 National Waterways viable for cargo movement have been prioritized, out of which developmental activities have been initiated in the 14 most viable national waterways. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the involvement of some agencies in the U.S. government in the utilization of water resources. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was authorized by the Congress to facilitate water resources activities and to make changes in the policies of the agency. The Bureau of Reclamation gives attention to the transition of the agency from a water resources development and construction organization to a group that manages water resources.

The ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, in its budget expectations, has sought a 60 percent increase in budgetary allocation to expand ship recycling capacity at the Alang Ship Breaking Yard. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in the budget for 2021-22 announced that the government would double the ship recycling capacity at Alang to around 4.5 million light displacement tonnes (LDT) by 2024. [Extracted from the article]

Recent proposals to expand the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) -- a major transportation route for products moving to and from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin -- have met with significant controversy. Some of this controversy centers on the cumulative environmental effects of the current navigation system and the proposed expansion. The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) -- which includes the navigation channel and surrounding floodplain -- supports an unusually large number of species for a temperate river. The UMR-IWW navigation system alters UMRS habitat and contributes to a decline in the abundance of some species. For example, locks, dams, and other channel structures inhibit the movement of fish between and within river segments; fill side channels, backwaters, and wetlands with sediment; and suppress plant growth by reducing water clarity. In 2001, in response to criticism that draft navigation feasibility studies did not look at navigation's cumulative environmental effects, the Corps restructured its feasibility study to include an ecosystem restoration component. In late September 2004, the Corps released a final feasibility report recommending that Congress approve a 50-year framework for combined ecosystem restoration and navigation improvements. The ecosystem restoration component is aimed at maintaining and restoring a broad array of habitats and ecosystem processes at a total cost of $5.3 billion for the 50-year plan. Authorization of an initial set of both restoration projects at $1.58 billion and navigation projects at $2.03 billion has been proposed in the 109th Congress. (For a discussion of proposed legislation, see CRS Report RL32915, Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway Investments: Legislation in the 109th Congress, by Nicole T. Carter and Kyna Powers.) The federal responsibility (and more specifically the role of the Corps) for restoring ecosystems altered by federal projects is still being defined. Consequently, the scope of large-scale restoration efforts and the federal/non-federal cost-share are being developed largely on a case-by-case basis. The Corps' UMRS restoration plan recommends actions limited to the navigation system and its floodplain, with federal responsibility for more than 90% of the cost. The underlying question is whether, or in what form, Congress will authorize and appropriate funds for ecosystem restoration on the UMRS. If authorized, UMRS restoration would be the Corps' second large-scale restoration effort and the first large-scale restoration effort for a high-volume commercial waterway. This report explains what is meant by restoration and why the UMRS ecosystem is being considered for restoration, the Corps' restoration plan, and some of the issues in the debate over federal investment in this restoration. This report will be updated as events warrant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty-seven lock and dam sites and thousands of channel training structures create a 9-foot-deep, 1,200-mile-long navigation channel known as the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) System. The UMR-IWW makes commercial navigation possible between Minneapolis and St. Louis on the Mississippi River, and along the Illinois Waterway from Chicago to the Mississippi River, thus facilitating low-cost barge transport of agricultural and other products to and from upper midwestern states. Since the 1980s, the system has experienced increasing traffic delays, raising concerns about competitiveness of U.S. products in some international markets. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the agency responsible for the system, began studying the feasibility of navigation efficiency improvements in 1993. The study has been the subject of much controversy. In 2000, a Corps economist alleged that the agency manipulated analyses to support navigation investments, and a series of newspaper articles criticized the Corps' planning process for the UMR-IWW study and other Corps studies. In response, the Corps halted the study, and reinitiated it in 2001 with a reformulated economic analysis and an ecosystem restoration objective. Ecosystem restoration was included to respond to criticisms that the study was too limited in its environmental analysis. The study objective for restoration is to identify measures that address ecosystem decline, including the ongoing effects of navigation operation and maintenance; the goal is to benefit a broad array of species by reducing the loss of habitat, habitat quality, and habitat diversity. Under the reformulated study, in September 2004, the Corps produced a final feasibility report recommending (1) a 50-year plan for combined navigation improvements and ecosystem restoration, and (2) authorization of an initial set of measures, including seven new locks, and an initial 15-year increment of restoration measures. The Corps recommended that the investments in the 50-year plan be made within an adaptive implementation framework, which would provide checkpoints for the Administration and Congress as more information was gained and project milestones were reached. The continuing debate over the urgency, necessity, and national benefit of expanded UMR-IWW navigation capacity now revolves around those recommendations. Three pieces of legislation in the 108th Congress -- H.R. 4785, S. 2470, and S. 2773 (Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2004) -- would authorize combined investments in navigation ($1.73 billion) and ecosystem restoration ($1.46 billion). The final feasibility report and the bills differ from the standard Corps feasibility report and authorizing language. The bills authorize most of the initial set of activities recommended in the Corps' feasibility report; the authorization, however, is not contingent on a recommendation by the Chief of Engineers or a policy review by the Administration. A fourth bill -- H.R. 4686 -- proposes investing in UMR-IWW ecosystem restoration using an existing Environmental Management Program, without authorizing navigation improvements. This report compares the bills with each other and with the Corps' preferred plan. The report will be updated as warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five of the nationUs top agricultural production states Q Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin Q have traditionally relied on the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) navigation system as their principal conduit for export-bound agricultural products Q mostly bulk corn and soybeans. The low-cost, high-volume capability of barge transportation has long provided an important competitive advantage for U.S. agricultural products in international markets. Agricultural barge freight on the UMR-IWW grew rapidly for several decades in the post-WWII era, but has leveled off since the early 1980s. There is disagreement over the cause for this lack of growth in barge demand. Shipping and agricultural interests argue that stagnant UMR-IWW barge traffic is due to delays associated with aging infrastructure and limited lock capacity; that delays are increasingly forcing grain shippers to switch to alternate transportation modes to ensure timely arrival at down-river processing plants or Gulf ports; that the declining efficiency of the UMR-IWW is hurting both U.S. competitiveness in international markets and U.S. farm incomes at home; and that investment is needed to modernize and expand the capacity of the locks. Other interest groups contend that growth in domestic demand, as well as international market conditions, have changed substantially since the period of rapid growth in barge demand experienced during the 1960s and 1970s. Changes in the shape and origin of international demand and supply, an increasing number of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, and other factors have resulted in the emergence of new trade routes for agricultural commodities that have drawn exportable supplies of corn and soybeans away from the UMR-IWW system. Recent trade patterns, coupled with USDAUs long-run market outlook, suggest that U.S. corn and soybean exports may increasingly turn to overland trade routes to access growing Asian markets (via the Pacific Northwest), as well as to nearby markets in Mexico and Canada. In addition, expected strong competition from South American producers, particularly in global soybean and product markets, may lead to a refocusing of U.S. exports away from Atlantic-rim markets and toward Canadian, Mexican, and possibly Asian markets, where geography offers some competitive advantages. If these expectations are realized, then growth in future barge demand from the agricultural sector may be well below levels anticipated by proponents of large-scale investments in the UMR-IWW. This report provides background on the linkage between U.S. agriculture and the UMR-IWW navigation system. In addition, it explores several of the key issues and uncertainties behind evolving trade patterns and projections for future agricultural freight traffic on the UMR-IWW navigation system. This report will be updated as events warrant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese shares finished lower amid increased Sino-US tensions after a US warship again sailed through the sensitive waterway that separates Taiwan from China [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shipping is a global industry and its prospects are closely tied to the level of economic activity in the world. The Indian Shipping Industry supports transportation of national and international cargoes and also provides various other facilities such as ship building, ship repairing, lighthouse facilities, freight forwarding, etc. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents information on the status of navigable waterways in the U.S. as of January 2005. Waterways offer ways to move large volumes of bulk commodities over long distances. Both inland and intracoastal waterways operate as a system and they are operated by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. These waterways serve a number of purposes such as for commercial navigation, hydropower, flood protection and recreation.

Speculates on the effect of the expansion plans of the U.S. for the Panama Canal, according to a study conducted by economic consultancy firm Global Insight. Details of the plan; Reaction of public officials in Panama City to the study; Total cost of the expansion plan.

The article traces the history of the legal use of the term jurisdictional water in U.S. laws regulating waterways. Topics discussed include the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the phrase "navigable waters" as used in the U.S. Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899, the U.S. Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 marking the start of the U.S. Congress' use of a different phrase for jurisdiction waters and the expansion of the jurisdictional reach of water pollution laws.

The article discusses the asymmetric warfare capabilities of the armed forces in Iran. It mentions the lack of ability for Iranian armed forces to deploy across long distances or waterways, the ability of Iranian armed forces to protect military power, and the division of forces based on their functions and roles.

The article informs that new communication alternatives in maritime vessels have increased efficiencies and decreased operating costs. The maritime satellite communication market is exploring the world's oceans and waterways for increasing sales revenues, introducing new products and services with a sense of urgency.

The article summarizes the conditions and ratings regarding business risks in Panama including political risk, economic risk and business environment. The election contest scheduled for May 2009 is described as finely balanced. The Panama Canal Authority is reportedly seeking financing for 2008 to help fund the expansion plans of the waterway but a budget revision is forecasted. Panamanian President Martin Torrijos stated that he wants to begin talks with Canada over the possibility of a free trade agreement (FTA).

The article discusses the political, economic and business risks to Panama. A yes vote for the expansion of the Panama canal will pave way for the construction of a third waterway equipped with deeper locks and a no vote will constitute a setback for the government for revenue losses. Changes in the U.S. monetary policy will affect domestic borrowing rates in Panama. The government will be acquiring a loan from the Inter-American Development bank for repairs of highways.

The article reports that Indonesia is coming under renewed foreign pressure to accept outside assistance in policing the Malacca Straits, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. On June 5, 2005, Malaysia's deputy prime minister, Najib Razak, told a regional security conference in Singapore that Malaysia believes in the need for greater cooperation and wider support in enhancing security in the Straits of Malacca. Foreign governments are growing increasingly concerned by an upsurge of attacks in the Malacca Strait, a 900-kilometer waterway which carries about a quarter of global trade, including half the world's oil supplies.

Focuses on the importance of the Panama canal to the local economy of the country. Amount of revenues generated by the canal since December 1999; Expansion plans for the waterway; Gross domestic product of the country in 2003.

A chapter from the book "Clean the Rain, Clean the Lakes II: Mercury in Rain is Contaminating New England's Waterways," is presented. It deals with mercury levels in rain in Massachusetts. Mercury concentration in Massachusetts rain peaked at 43.4 ppt, more than 3 times the generic U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aquatic life and wildlife standard and over 24 times greater than the new more protective human health standard developed for the Great Lakes.

A chapter from the book "Clean the Rain, Clean the Lakes II: Mercury in Rain is Contaminating New England's Waterways" is presented. It deals with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) safe-level for mercury that apply to the New England states. Separate standards were set for people and aquatic life. The human health standard varies from 50 to 140 parts per trillion mercury in water. The aquatic life standard requires that lakes and streams contain no more than 12 parts per trillion mercury.

A chapter from the book "Clean the Rain, Clean the Lakes II: Mercury in Rain is Contaminating New England's Waterways" is presented. It deals with cleaning the rain in New England. Scientists from state and federal agencies and major universities have sampled rain and have discovered that New England's precipitation contains mercury in concentrations that exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) safe level for mercury in lakes and streams. Mercury can cause subtle but permanent harm to the brain in people and reproductive harm in wildlife.

This section offers information on several programs related to the elimination and reduction of mercury levels in waterways in New England, including the Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) and the New England Regional Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Program.