House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Hearing
Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. |
Mr. Chairman, members of the Subcommittee, I'm
The importance of federal Aids to Navigation (ATON) is well established. The federal government has historically played an important role providing this service, beginning with the lighthouse service and its evolution into the
Having been born and raised in
This is just one example of the transfer of ownership and responsibility for service and maintenance of a fixed ATON by the
The reliance on Federal ATON's by mariners and recreational boaters has steadily changed with expanded capabilities and the ease of use of modern Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) systems built upon GPS,
This has directly contributed to the drawdown on the number of physical aids the USCG maintains, some will say this has reached a critically low number of ATON's.
In the near term, small changes such as the
Just as GPS forever changed the use of the compass and the electronic chart forever changed the use of the paper chart, the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV's and their many derivatives) may forever change the ATON.
The last Light Ship was replaced by a Large Navigational Buoy (LNB) in the mid 1980's. The coming wave of new AUV's will soon forever change LNB as we know it. The LNB of the future will not require a 3 ton mushroom anchor and 'black hull' vessel to service and reposition it.
The AUV's evolution is taking place at an amazing rate of change. At the recent Coast Guard NAVSAC meeting in
These autonomous systems will become the Light Ships (ATONs) of our future, replacing or certainly reducing the number of LNB's the
This calls attention to the importance of the services provided by NOAA's
The NOS services related navigation, observations and positioning are crucial to the future development and deployment of the AUVs and future ATON systems. Such NOS programs as GRAV-D and Coastal LIDAR that provide baseline foundation data are critically important. These activities must be funded at least at the President's requested level, if not at a higher level.
As a result, it is important that
Enactment of H.R. 1382 and H.R. 1399 separately or as a merged bill will go a long way toward a coordinated and comprehensive national mapping effort for coastal, state and territorial waters of
The
We would emphasize the need to better coordinate the geospatial activities among these various agencies and numerous programs and applications. As the
MAPPS strongly supported a provision enacted in the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (PL 112-141) to develop a funding strategy to leverage and coordinate budgets and expenditures, and to maintain or establish joint funding and other agreement mechanisms between federal agencies and with units of state and local government to share in the collection and utilization of geospatial data among all governmental users. Specifically, section 100220 (42
(A) contains an interagency budget crosscut report that displays relevant sections of the budget proposed for each of the Federal agencies working on flood risk determination data and digital elevation models, including any planned interagency or intra-agency transfers; and (B) describes how the efforts aligned with such sections complement one another."
This provision provides that agencies "work together to ensure that flood risk determination data and geospatial data are shared among Federal agencies in order to coordinate the efforts of the Nation to reduce its vulnerability to flooding hazards."
We recommend a similar legislative provision with regard to geospatial data related to charting, navigation, and ATON, involving the
Hydrographic survey data supports a variety of maritime functions, such as port and harbor maintenance and dredging that facilitates the 98 percent of our international trade that moves through U.S. ports, coastal engineering, coastal zone management, and offshore resource development.
There is an enormous capacity and capability in the private sector to provide NOAA, the
Federal agencies should maintain an "intellectual" core capability in surveying and mapping, versus a large dollar of capital capability. Congressional appropriations and authorizations should be directed toward commercial contracting for data collection requirements, rather than capital equipment.
Creating a pathway to greater utilization of the private sector and forming public-private partnerships will result in cost savings to the tax payer, improve the economy, enhance navigation, reduce duplication, and make programs more efficient.
We commend
In summary, the ATON of the future can and should be smaller, lighter, more agile and more self-sustaining than the current LNB's we know today. A new public-private partnership is the key to such success.
Read this original document at: http://transportation.house.gov/UploadedFiles/2014-02-04-Perkins.pdf
Copyright: | (c) 2010 Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. |
Wordcount: | 1804 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News