WASHINGTON - The Obama administration has requested $42 million for the Savannah Harbor expansion project, a milestone commitment to deepening the river but a long way from the $440 million in federal money Georgia seeks.
The Army Corps of Engineers budget request for the 2016 fiscal year -- a vital marker because Congress no longer can add earmarks -- includes $21.05 million for the Savannah Harbor Expansion. The money finally is dedicated to "construction" after years of study.
Additionally, at a news conference Monday afternoon, Assistant Secretary for the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said there will be an additional $21 million dedicated to the Savannah project in the Corps' budget for this year.
An $8.66 million line item to dispose of the dredging waste in Georgia and South Carolina is considered regular spending by the Georgia Ports Authority and does not apply to the project's $706 million price tag.
The five-year project is officially under way, as salvage crews started work last week to raise a Confederate warship from the bottom of the Savannah River. First approved by Congress in 1999, the expansion has been held up by environmental reviews and interagency red tape.
Deepening the river from 42 feet to 47 feet will allow larger container ships into the port coming through a newly expanded Panama Canal, which is expected to be finished in 2016.
Political leaders from both parties are behind the project, and Gov. Nathan Deal and state legislators already have put up $266 million for it. They are expecting the rest from the federal government, though Deal has floated other financing ideas.
A year ago, Georgia's political and business leaders were stunned by the Obama budget not designating Savannah as an ongoing construction project – despite a congressional directive to do so. The administration maintained that Congress still had to reauthorize the deepening in a water resources bill before it could give the final go-ahead and the funds.
Obama signed the water bill in June. In October, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Georgia Ports Authority signed a long-awaited project partnership agreement to start the dredging.
Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson said he was pleased with Monday's federal commitment. His statement:
"After the shock and disappointment we felt last year when SHEP was omitted from the president's budget, the inclusion of funding today for our state's number one economic development project in the president's budget is welcome but long overdue. This victory for SHEP and our state is the result of many years of work and partnership between many people, including Governor Deal, former Senator Saxby Chambliss and former Congressman Jack Kingston. The expansion and deepening of the Port of Savannah has been a top priority of mine since coming to the Senate in 2005 and I am so pleased to see this critical project get underway."
This post has been updated to reflect the additional money in fiscal 2015 for the project.
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