49 U.S.C. § 303a — Development of water transportation

(a) Policy — Congress's policy is: (1) to promote, encourage, and develop water transportation, service, and facilities for U.S. commerce; and (2) to foster and preserve both rail and water transportation together.

(b) Definition — In this section, "inland waterway" includes the Great Lakes.

(c) Requirements — The Secretary of Transportation must: (1) study which kinds of vessels work best for different kinds of inland waterways, to help develop inland waterway transportation; (2) study water terminals — for both inland waterway traffic and combined water-and-rail traffic — including their docks, warehouses, equipment, and connecting railroad spurs and switches, to find the best designs for moving passengers and goods between water and rail carriers efficiently and economically; (3) talk with communities, cities, and towns about where to place water terminals, and help them plan terminal facilities; (4) study how much U.S. inland waterways are currently being used, to learn (A) whether they're being used to capacity and meeting demand, and (B) whether water carriers on those waterways are exchanging traffic with rail carriers; (5) study other ways to promote and encourage inland water transportation; and (6) gather, publish, and share information about inland waterway transportation that the Secretary thinks would help U.S. commercial interests.