46 U.S.C. § 55603 — Multistate, State, Tribal, and regional transportation planning

(a) In General. The Secretary of Transportation, working with federal agencies, state^* and local governments, Tribal governments, and appropriate private companies, may create strategies to encourage using marine highway transportation^* for moving passengers and cargo.

(b) Strategies. If the Secretary creates such strategies, the Secretary may: (1) check how much states, local governments, and Tribal governments already include marine highway transportation and other water transportation options in their planning; (2) encourage state and Tribal transportation departments to build marine highways, ferries, and other water options into their plans for moving freight and passengers across regions and states; and (3) encourage groups of states, Tribal governments, and multi-state transportation organizations to figure out how marine highways can help solve congestion, bottlenecks, and other cross-state transportation problems.