Federal Agencies » Department of Transportation (DOT)
Primary administration spokesman on maritime policy issues, DOT has the overall lead in all maritime issues, subject to coordination with other agencies having specific areas of responsibilities.
Maritime Administration (MarAd)
An agency within the Department of Transportation, the Maritime Administration has as its primary function the administration of laws enacted for the promotion and maintenance of a merchant marine for defense and commerce. The Maritime Administrator, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, heads MarAd. The spectrum of MarAd's functions include:
- Administer the Maritime Security Program (MSP).
- Provide financing guarantees (Title XI) for the construction, reconstruction, and reconditioning of ships.
- Enter into Capital Construction Fund agreements with vessel operators that provide tax deferrals on money to be used for the acquisition, construction, or reconstruction of ships.
- Oversee enforcement of cargo-reservation statutes.
- Conduct research and development activities.
- Under emergency conditions, charter government-owned ships under the Ready Reserve Force program to U.S. operators, requisition or procure ships to U.S. operators, requisition or procure ships owned by U.S. citizens, and allocate them to meet defense needs. In conjunction with the U.S. Navy, develop definition of shipyard mobilization base and sealift requirements.
- Maintain a National Defense Reserve Fleet of government-owned ships.
- Administers the Marine Highway Initiative
- Operate the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and administer federal assistance to state maritime academies.
- Develop maritime policy analysis under guidance of the Office of the Secretary of Transportation.
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
An agency headed by an administrator appointed by the President, the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation is a wholly owned government corporation, created in 1954 to construct, operate, and maintain that part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway between the Port of Montreal and Lake Erie, within the territorial limits of the United States. The Seaway is a binational waterway. The Corporation coordinates its activities with its Canadian counterpart, the Saint Lawrence Seaway Authority of Canada, particularly with regard to rules and regulations, tolls, traffic control, navigation aids, safety, channel maintenance, operating dates, and related programs designed to fully develop the "fourth seacoast" of the United States. The mission of the Corporation is to provide a safe, efficient, competitive, and reliable waterway for the movement of goods to and from the Great Lakes region of North America and overseas markets.
Surface Transportation Board (STB)
The ICC Termination Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-80) consolidated jurisdiction over port-to-port operations in the U.S. noncontiguous trades to the Surface Transportation Board, an independent regulatory agency within the Department of Transportation. A board of three presidentially appointed commissioners governs the agency. The Intercoastal Shipping Act of 1933 and the Shipping Act of 1916 guide regulatory policy for the offshore domestic trades. Regulation of domestic water carriage is addressed through tariff filing and determination of the reasonableness of freight rates.