OCR Text |
Show 124 Also, jurisdiction has been conferred upon the Interstate Commerce Commission, with specified exceptions, over water carriers engaged in transportation in interstate or foreign com- merce, extending to their rates, service, intercarrier rela- tions, and ancillary matters. Noteworthy is the exemption, among others, for the transportation of commodities in bulk. In general, the regulatory scheme for water carriers is similar to that provided for rail and motor carriers. A national trans- portation policy adopted by Congress in 1940 governs admin- istration of the Interstate Commerce Act as it applies to all carriers. After almost a century of federal navigation improvements, the Federal Government in 1918 began a limited commercial operation of boats and facilities by the Inland Waterways Cor- poration on the Mississippi, Warrior, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers. Improvement.-Since 1824, the Federal Government has de- voted increasing attention to navigation improvements. This work has always been prosecuted by the Army Engineers. In preparing for projects, examinations and surveys are under- taken only upon express congressional authorization. Under an important general authorization in 1927-the basis for the "308 Reports"-there have been completed surveys of almost 200 waterways for the purpose of developing general plans of improvement of navigation in combination with the develop- ment of water power, control of floods, and needs of irriga- tion. Many laws specify the data to be included in examina- tion and survey reports. Others provide for cooperation with other agencies and with the states in preparing for projects. Provision has been made for review of all reports by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors. Like examinations and surveys, projects may be undertaken only when authorized by Congress, but a number of laws in the nature of continuing authorizations provide for various types of work. A number of these also enable some discretion in the use of funds. General congressional practice is to appro- priate annually lump sums for the prosecution of authorized projects. While the Federal Government bears the bulk of |