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.

Attendees:

Name       Representing

Joseph Miniace-----Pacific Maritime Association
Craig Epperson-----Pacific Maritime Association
Keith Lesnick-----Maritime Administration
Jean Godwin-----American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)
Richard Schwabacher-----National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Bob Dockendorff-----Pacific Maritime Association
Lindsay McLaughlin-----International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Margie Hegy-----U.S. Coast Guard
Don O'Hare-----World Shipping Council
Robyn Boerstling-----Maritime Administration
Susan Lee-----Maritime Administration

The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Joe Miniace, at 10:05 a.m. Keith Lesnick, representing the sponsor, MARAD, welcomed members to the Department of Transportation Headquarters.

A corrected set of minutes for the Team Meeting held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach, CA on August 14, 2002 will be sent to Team members by e-mail for approval. The copy of the minutes distributed electronically with the agenda for this meeting was incomplete.

ICMTS Awareness Briefing

National Maritime Day is scheduled for May 22, 2003. It was suggested that members of MTSNAC use the celebration of National Maritime Day as an opportunity to visit their Congressional representatives to reinforce the importance of the Marine Transportation System. A copy of the MTS video has already been sent to members of Congress in conjunction with National Maritime Day. A question was asked regarding press coverage for the event and it was agreed that broad press coverage would be beneficial.

SEA-21 Initiative Overview

Mr. Lesnick pointed out that Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta has made it clear that he wants SEA-21 to stand as his legacy. He asked that MTSNAC members schedule meetings with the Secretary to express their interest in and support for a SEA-21 legislative initiative. A brief review of the SEA-21 Working Group Report followed. This report (initially distributed at the New Orleans MTSNAC meeting) presents a general outline for the initiative. Bob Dockendorff reminded everyone of the Awareness team's important connection to this report because the Team's White Paper, Challenges and Opportunities, served as a primary source document for the report. There was further discussion of what could be done to move the initiative forward.

It was agreed that the focus must be on continuing to refine the needs of the MTS and to identify further issues that may not have been covered in the comprehensive working group report on SEA-21. Jean Godwin questioned how a SEA-21 initiative will be funded and didn't believe that additional taxes or user fees should be used. Again, it was pointed out that the Working Group Paper had addressed funding and identified possible funding solutions but that further research and feasibility studies may be prudent. It was noted that many of the MTS needs identified in the paper are of national interest from the standpoint of security, economic sustainability and economic growth. The question of where money will come from to fund the initiative is a separate issue from the importance of developing a national MTS SEA-21 legislative initiative around which the needs of the MTS and the nation are formulated.

Joe Miniace noted that a SEA-21 legislative initiative would significantly raise the level of recognition of water transportation. The MTS would be seen as having the backing of a federal mandate. Keith Lesneck noted that SEA-21 would be an appropriate topic for discussion during visits to the Hill on National Maritime Day. MARAD expects to have a one-page point paper before May 22 that will cover 4 or 5 main talking points about SEA-21. There is a compelling case to be made for SEA-21 with regard to the national economy and national security.

Awareness Lessons Learned

Jean Godwin asked Joe Miniace and Lindsay McLaughlin what lessons they thought had been learned from the West Coast Port shutdown in October. The short answer was that it was a "wake-up call" to almost everyone as to the importance of ports and the degree of impact that water transportation has on everyone's lives. Many people saw, for the first time, the great importance that ports play in the U.S. economy as the cascading impact of the shutdown moved swiftly from West Coast ports through the rest of the country. Jean Godwin suggested that, in light of the increased media attention to maritime issues resulting from coverage of the West Coast situation, it would be possible to take advantage of that interest and have PMA and ILWU go back to the media contacts that had been developed during the negotiations and educate them about importance of the MTS and its needs. Joe Miniace noted that he and Jim Spinosa had already appeared together at several events and that they were both being honored at the California Maritime Day celebration at the California State capital.

It was agreed that we must all work to get the water transportation story out going forward. Legislative leaders and opinion makers must be made aware of the importance of the water transportation system and how it works for them and the public.

TEA-21 and MPO representation follow-up DOT personnel provided background information on the funding of critical intermodal freight corridors that connect strategic port areas to the interstate highway system. There have been ongoing perceived corridor funding deficiencies in strategic port regions on both coasts. These funding deficiencies will continue until the local or regional MPO's are convinced by water and freight interests that these corridors are sufficiently important to justify full funding. The freight community must be cognizant that there are many interests pursuing transportation dollars and it is most often the best represented that get the money.

The players representing waterside access will only be able to begin to level the playing field through better representation on MPOs. MTS representatives have to let the Secretary of Transportation know their concern about corridor and intermodal connector funding through TEA-21. Timing and awareness are critical. It was pointed out that the funding of freight corridors between the interstate highway system and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and Elizabeth NJ are of national concern. More than half of all U.S. dry cargo imports move through these port regions.

It was suggested that other water and freight stakeholders organizations with interests related to the Marine Transportation System be asked to contact MPOs to support and encourage the adequate funding of intermodal connectors and critical freight corridors as part of TEA-21 reauthorization legislation. A listing of DOT identified high priority freight corridors and intermodal connectors will be forwarded to Team members by MARAD.

The number of bills either pending or passed that impacts the MTS, particularly the cargo sector, continues to increase. One member noted that if we don't solve our problems, others will and we may not like the results. Continuing legislation revolves around relieving congestion, minimizing environmental impacts, improving efficiencies, addressing the cargo movement impact on highways and streets, and improving security. All stakeholders need to be involved in tackling these problems.

On the national level, port security and Operation Safe Commerce funding continue to attract attention but not enough dollars to resolve the problems.

MTS Website

It was reported that the DOT/MTS website, previously maintained by the Coast Guard, will be maintained by NOAA. A question was asked regarding the number of "hits" or amount of documented usage for the MTSNAC website. MARAD does not currently have these statistics, but will try to obtain them.

National Transportation Week

National Transportation Week will run from May 11 through 17. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta will be making a 22 state tour in 8 days. The theme for the tour is," transportation: safer, simpler, and smarter." If a Team member is aware of a scheduled event during the May 11-17 timeframe that the Secretary might be able to attend please check with MARAD. Also, note that the next MTSNAC meeting is scheduled during National Transportation Week.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.