Bill Wanamaker, American Trucking Associations
Mark Griffin, Association of Metropolitan Planning Organization
Peter Peyton, International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Maggie Blum, Maritime Administration
Keith Lesnick, Maritime Administration
Richard Lolich, Maritime Administration
Ron Achelpohl, National Association of Regional Councils
Gary Magnuson, NOAA
Robert Dockendorff, Pacific Maritime Association
Bart Goedhard, The Propeller Club of the United States
Margie Hegy, U.S. Coast Guard

The meeting convened at 1:05 p.m. with Bob Dockendorff substituting for Joe Miniace as Chair. Bob conveyed Joe's apology for being unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts. This meeting was held as part of the MTSNAC Team breakout sessions to introduce new members to the various MTSNAC teams.

For the benefit of the first time Awareness Team meeting attendees, the team mission was discussed as well as how the Team operates, when it meets, commitments it makes, and how the team gets its work done. The Team's accomplishments were reviewed including the submission of two White Papers to the MTSNAC that were later forwarded to the Secretary of Transportation for review.

Discussion continued on the suggested changes to the Awareness resolution concerning TEA-21 that was on the agenda of the morning session of the MTSNAC meeting concerning approval of the council minutes of the New Orleans meeting. Agreement was reached on the rewording of certain sentences in the resolution as reflected in the minutes.

There was consensus that funding for improvements to intermodal corridors connecting major ports with the national highway system should be high priority in the reauthorization of TEA-21. Interstate 710 in Long Beach is of particular concern to participants from the region in which this meeting was being held and was mentioned as a critical corridor concern by the Mayor of Long Beach during the Luncheon address. The team agreed to work toward developing a further resolution regarding funding of intermodal corridors to send to the MTSNAC.

As demonstrated in Awareness Team White Papers, international waterborne trade will double or even triple in the next 20 years. This adds a great sense of urgency for the need to improve the capacity of the intermodal corridors for waterborne freight as well as passengers. This is critical to enhancing security, developing more U.S. jobs, and continued economic expansion.

The discussion turned to the development of the MTS Regional Councils. The team agreed that the successful future of the MTSNAC will be closely tied to the successful implementation of the regional MTS councils. The regional councils should have a good handle on MTS concerns on the regional level. These concerns may then be funneled to the National Council for consideration for reporting to the Secretary of Transportation.

Awareness of the strategic value of the Regional MTS Councils and the value in developing a funding base to insure there ongoing viability was discussed at length. Several members of the Team volunteered to pursue how the Awareness Team might assist in developing support for insuring the long-term viability of the MTS Regional Councils. It was agreed that this should be a continuing agenda item.

Public Comment Period

All attendees participated throughout the meeting. There was no additional public comment.

The date and location of the next meeting is open. The meeting was adjourned at 2:10 p.m.

These are minutes of the Awareness Team. The opinions, recommendations, or positions expressed herein do not constitute the opinions, recommendation, or positions of the MTSNAC unless they are expressly ratified after review, discussion, and vote of the full MTSNAC.