Council Members and Alternates Present
| AFL-CIO Marine Trades Department | Mr. Frances Pecquex---- Member |
| American Association of State Hwy. & Trans. Officials | Mr. James Weinstein--- Member |
| American Association of Port Authorities | Mr. Bernard Groseclose--- Member |
| American Great Lakes Port Association | Mr. Steve Pfeiffer--- Member |
| American Pilot’s Association | Capt. Michael Watson--- Member |
| American Waterways Operators | Ms. Jennifer Kelly--- Alternate |
| Association of American Railroads | Mr. Paul C. Oakley---Alternate |
| Boat Owners Assoc. of the U.S. (Boat US) | Mr. Robert Nelson--- Member |
| Center for Marine Conservation | Mr. David Hoskins--- Alternate |
| Chamber of Shipping of America | Mr. Charles Kurz--- Member |
| Conf. of Minority Transportation Officials | Dr. Gwendolyn Harris-Gale Member |
| Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals, Inc. | Mr. James R. McCarville--- Member |
| Intermodal Association of North America | Mr. Richard C. Coleman--- Alternate |
| International Longshore and Warehouse Union | Ms. Terri Mast--- Member |
| INTERTANKO | Mr. Jonathan Benner--- Alternate |
| MIT Center for Transportation Studies | Prof. Henry Marcus--- Member |
| National Association of Counties | Ms. Rene Mansho--- Member |
| National Association of Regional Councils | Mr. Ron Achelpohl--- Member |
| National Association Waterfront Employers | Mr. Chuck Carroll--- Alternate |
| National Fisheries Institute | Mr. Neal Forde--- Member |
| National Mining Institute | Mr. Ronald Stovash--- Alternate |
| North American Export Grain Assoc. Inc. | Mr. Frank Sims--- Member |
| Organization of Women in Int’l Trade | Ms. Mary Lou Egan--- Alternate |
| Pacific Maritime Association | Mr. Joseph Miniace--- Member |
| Passenger Vessel Association | Mr. Roger Murphy--- Alternate |
| The National Industrial Transportation League | Mr. Looman Stingo--- Member |
| U.S. Chamber of Commerce | Mr. Don Tieken--- Member |
| United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. | Mr. Chuck Raymond--- Member |
John Graykowski, Acting Administrator
Margaret Blum, Associate Administrator for Port, Intermodal and Environmental Activities
Richard Walker, Director, Office of Intermodal Development
Jody George, Chief Counsel’s Office (acting FACA representative)
Chairman, Chuck Raymond opened the meeting at 9:15 a.m. and asked Council members to introduce themselves. In addition, the Chair expressed the Council’s gratitude to Jim McCarville of the Port of Pittsburgh and the United States Maritime Alliance Limited for sponsoring the welcoming reception and cocktail party held the previous evening.
The Chair stated that the plan of the meeting was to keep to the program as set forth in the agenda previously distributed. As such, the Council would have a variety of issues to address. The first order of business was the Chair’s Report on the resolutions from the May 24, 2000 meeting.
It was resolved that six liaisons would be designated to interface with the respective Interagency Committee on the MTS (ICMTS) subcommittees.
Chair’s Report: Most of the designated liaisons had made contact with their respective ICMTS subcommittees and have made written or verbal reports.
It was resolved that an Awareness interest group be initiated. Joe Miniace was designated to head this interest group.
Chair’s Report: Joe Miniace has begun work on this broad issue and will provide an introductory presentation at this meeting.
It was resolved that members would familiarize themselves with the DOT Report entitled "An Assessment of the U.S. Marine Transportation System, A Report to Congress" and provide their comments with regards to short and long term priorities for the MTSNAC.
Chair’s Report: These reports were received and analyzed and included in each Council member’s package. The results of this analysis will form the basis of the Council’s discussion of its organizational structure.
The MTSNAC should have its own webpage with intranet access for committee communications.
Chair’s Report: A webpage with the technical capabilities required for intra-council communications has been formally requested. MARAD has outsourced this task to a web designer and the webpage should be operational shortly.
Members attending regional dialog sessions should report on the sessions to the Chair.
Chair’s Report: These reports, verbal and written, were received and incorporated with the Council’s submissions into a plan for the structure of the Council to be discussed at this meeting.
The date of the next meeting will be established at a later date.
Chair’s Report: The next Council meeting date and location will be established at the end of the meeting.
John Graykowski,Acting Maritime Administrator Addresses the Council Mr. Graykowski welcomed the group and made general remarks concerning MARAD’s commitment to the MTSNAC. The Acting Administrator noted that the MTSNAC is necessary because it would be driven by the people that use the system. He highlighted some of the milestones that MARAD has achieved in building a partnership with industry which include improved communications and the creation of the MTSNAC itself. The importance of continuing this mission for the MTS into the next Administration and beyond was stressed as vital to the interests of the entire country. Chuck Raymond thanked the Acting Administrator for his remarks and noted the contributions of MARAD in making the MTSNAC a reality. He expressed the appreciation of the Council for the support provided by the staff at MARAD in general and thanked Maggie Blum, Richard Walker, and Kathleen Dunn in particular.
The MTSNAC presented a plaque for Secretary of Transportation, Rodney E. Slater. John Graykowski accepted the plaque on behalf of the Secretary. The dedication on the plaque read as follows:
In special recognition of and with deep appreciation to Rodney E. Slater Secretary of Transportation for his commitment to the United States Marine Transportation System (MTS) and for advancing that dedication into action by including all MTS stakeholders in the process that will ultimately answer the challenge to ensure that the MTS will be the world’s most technologically advanced, safe, secure, efficient, effective, accessible, globally competitive, dynamic and environmentally responsible system for moving goods and people.
Presented by The MTS National Advisory Council
Chuck Raymond---Chair Frank Sims---Vice Chair
September 6, 2000
In thanking the MTSNAC on behalf of the Secretary, the Acting Administrator commented on the Secretary’s role as an advocate for the MTS.
As an introduction to Action Items on the agenda, the Chair discussed the recurrent themes that were apparent in the council member submissions concerning priorities for the MTSNAC. Council members were informed that further comments concerning priorities would be welcome. The Chair noted that the analysis of the submissions were consistent with the reports from the MTS regional dialog sessions. A few key areas emerged as recurrent themes in the responses.
Those areas were:
Joe Miniace’s Report on Awareness
The Chair noted that awareness is the issue that can drive action on the other priorities. As such, it is of paramount importance to the Council. Joe Miniace of the Pacific Maritime Association and designated MTSNAC Awareness Team Leader gave a presentation concerning the awareness problem facing the MTS. In preparing the presentation, he enlisted the support of the California Maritime Academy for assistance with compiling the relevant data that will ultimately support a council piece aimed at awareness. The presentation made many interesting observations concerning the history of the domestic shipping industry and how containerization facilitated the growth of the global economy. He noted that the system’s strength lies in its reliability. However, he further noted that this reliability can be threatened by the compromise of even one link in the chain. The example of the complicated journey of a breakfast table banana was utilized to drive home the point about the significance of bringing the public’s attention to the importance of the MTS. The conclusion suggested specific action that could be taken immediately to begin to foster public awareness of the MTS. Those suggestions included increased stakeholder awareness, an expanded website that would provide the public information about how the system works, and a people-friendly MTS logo that would increase public recognition.
The comment period that ensued indicated that the presentation was well received by the Council. The presentation also sparked a lively discussion among Council members.
The overall response was that Joe Miniace did a marvelous job in addressing areas that require the Council’s attention.
Hank Marcus stated that there are several organizations capable of assisting the Council with this awareness issue including the Society of Naval Architects, the Volpe Center and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Jennifer Kelly asked about the potential audience for an MTSNAC awareness program. Joe Miniace responded that MTS awareness would require a three-prong approach that included stakeholder, government, and public components.
Jim McCarville stated that government policy makers must be informed that with the growth in traffic and decreasing government spending, the system is facing a major crisis that requires planning now. He noted that the position of the Council itself is precarious given the certainty of a change in Administration. He further commented on the fact that there were no governmental hearings scheduled on the MTS Report to Congress. The Chair acknowledged these remarks and stated that the MTSNAC awareness team was already assigned the task of preparing briefing materials for the transition team.
Gwen Harris noted that even transportation officials are unaware of the critical issues that face the system. She advanced the idea that the Council place relevant articles in various transportation industry publications. In addition, she suggested that televised public service announcements utilizing the breakfast table scenario might be effective.
Looman Stingo also indicated that getting the message into the schools might be the best long-term method of creating public awareness. As a follow-up to these remarks, Donald Tieken mentioned that the Ports themselves should have some of these programs already in place.
Ron Achelpohl suggested that perhaps metropolitan transportation committees might be enlisted to help with this issue and that the Council should monitor current surface transportation legislation. He suggested that the following language be incorporated into Joe’s presentation:
Every local Metropolitan Planning Organization funded by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21) should develop appropriate mechanisms to identify and actively engage the multi-mode MTS community in the metropolitan planning process.
The Chair commented that there are generally three key communications issues concerning public awareness. Those issues involve informing the public: 1) that something is happening; 2) why they should care about what is happening; and 3) what they can do about it. The Chair noted that we have the data to know that the system is in crisis and stated that it is the Council’s challenge to rally support for this cause. Robert Nelson echoed this sentiment and noted that we must instill a sense of urgency on the part of the public because we are competing with highway and air.
Terri Mast suggested that labor should be brought to the table on this issue. Rene Mansho indicated that in her experience with elected officials, maritime issues are rarely raised. She remarked that the maritime people should present a unified message.
John Graykowski made an interesting observation about the fact that the United States is an island nation that originally developed as a maritime nation. He noted that while 95% of the goods in this country come in by water, the public is unaware of this. In addition, the Acting Administrator noted that stressing the military issues when discussing the MTS will have an impact on the public and Congress.
Chuck Carroll indicated that while Joe’s presentation hit the high points of the problem, we need to prepare a statistical abstract on the national, state and local levels that can used in future presentations. Steve Pfeiffer stated that many local ports already have this information that can be used for this type of analysis.
The Awareness Team was directed to continue its work and to prepare an MTSNAC Awareness Paper for presentation to the Transition Team.
The Council reconvened and the Chair noted that at the May meeting the Council indicated the need to connect with Secretary Slater in response to his mandate for the MTS and the Council. The Chair read the text of a draft letter to the Secretary that was generally well received. Certain suggestions were made which will be included into the final version of the letter.
During discussion about the letter to the Secretary, a side issue was raised concerning the funding for the Council. Several Council members were disturbed by the lack of funding for the committee within the budget. It was agreed that Jim McCarville, Jonathan Benner and Chuck Carroll draft a letter seeking funding for the Council.
While a debate ensued concerning possible strategies for the committee, it was generally agreed that the Council should not prematurely get embroiled in issues until we are ready for action and certain Council procedures are established. It was noted that the Council’s credibility is very important and that positions should not be adopted without the benefit of thorough analysis.
The Chair presented a proposed council organizational chart consisting of teams created around the priority areas identified by the Council and during the regional dialog sessions. He noted that the theme of competitiveness runs through all the other issues identified. After considerable discussion of the organization of the Council the following teams and team leaders were agreed upon: Awareness– Joe Miniace /PMA Infrastructure– Chuck Carroll /NAWE Safety & Environment– Charles Kurz /Chamber of Shipping Information Technology and R & D– Bernie Groseclose /AAPA and Hank Marcus /MIT Human Resources– Michael Watson /American Pilots’ Association Security– Chuck Raymond /USMX A revised organization chart including suggested sub-teams will be sent with the minutes as well as a form on which Council members can indicate the team they would like to become a part of. Non-council members can be recruited for these teams as well.
The Chair introduced Russ Wertenberg, an engineer with NASA and Program Leader for the President’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Transportation R&D. Mr. Wertenberg made a presentation to the Council entitled The Vision for the Transportation System After Next. As a threshold matter, he made the point that transportation is not on anyone’s watch at the White House and that unless your issue is on the President’s notepad it will not get any attention. Therefore, he suggested that MTS stakeholders work with the government to increase visibility for this issue.
Mr. Wertenberg informed the Council that a white paper prepared by the NSTC will be available shortly that should provide that group’s analysis of transportation trends and problems. In addition, the paper will also identify solutions and can be a resource for information for groups like the MTSNAC.
The presentation provoked discussion among the Council and the obvious areas of overlap in interest of the Council was apparent. Mr. Wertenberg suggested that the groups maintain communication. He also mentioned that the Subcommittee on Transportation R&D is looking for private sector input and cordially extended an invitation to council members to attend a Transportation Vision 2050 Futurist Workshop to be held on September 26-27,2000 in Seattle, Washington. Maggie Blum indicated that five council member have been asked to interface with the NSTC– Hank Marcus, Bernie Groseclose, Looman Stingo, Richard duMoulin, and Gwen Harris.
The Chair thanked Mr. Wertenberg for his interesting and provocative presentation.
Joseph E. Lema, Vice President–Manufacturers and Services Division of the National Mining Association, commented on the Council’s awareness initiative and strategic focus. He stressed the need for: 1) greater public awareness of the economic and social benefits of a modern marine transportation system; 2) expanded emphasis on transportation infrastructure improvements; and 3) establishing that the commercially navigable inland waterways system represents a strategically important national transportation asset.
Joedy Cambridge of the National Transportation Research Board (TRB) indicated that her organization worked closely with the MTS initiative and wants to work closely with the MTSNAC. She also encouraged Council members to attend the TRB annual meeting in January.
Ed Welch of the Passenger Vessel Association stated that his organization was pleased to be working with other parts of the industry for the good of the MTS. Members of the public were invited to volunteer for council teams and were instructed to contact Maggie Blum at maggie.blum@marad.dot.gov.
The Council was fortunate to have both RADM Robert C. North and Jeffrey High, Director of Waterways Management from the Coast Guard in attendance at the meeting. Jeffrey High addressed the Council and noted that there was a triangular relationship created between the Secretary, the ICMTS and the MTSNAC. He suggested that the Chairmen of the ICMTS and MTSNAC meet to settle issues about how the committees should interact and about how private sector needs should be considered by the ICMTS. RADM North addressed the Council as well and remarked on the parallel interests of the two groups.
Roger Murphy, Council member representing the Passenger Vessel Association, solicited the Council’s support for two resolutions. While the resolutions appeared to be worthy, the Council, in conformity with its agreement in the morning session, determined that it would be inappropriate to endorse the resolution without proper Council consideration within an acknowledged Council procedure. As such, the resolutions were forward to Chuck Carroll, the Infrastructure team leader for appropriate processing.
Charles Kurz mentioned that he attended the ICMTS Safety Committee and that the committee noted a real problem with fatigue. He also attempted to introduce a resolution concerning venturing with the Coast Guard R&D Center. Consistent with agreed to procedure, the Chair assigned this issue to the Safety & Environment team(which Charles Kurz is the leader of) for consideration and appropriate report to the Council.
The Chair recommended that the next meeting take place in the Charleston area in the latter part of January. Council members will be informed of the exact date and place as soon as possible.
THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED.