Harbor funds in budget

Fresh on the heels of news that there's $2.5 million in federal funding this year to study plans to deepen the Charleston Harbor, President Barack Obama's proposed budget for 2013 calls for another $3.5 million.

Not bad for a port project that had just $150,000 in federal money last year.

While the budget unveiled Monday is expected to get a cool reception in Congress, and certainly in the Republican-dominated House, the fact that money is included for the harbor study should make it easier for lawmakers to include the funding in any final budget deal.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that although the budget might be dead on arrival in the Senate, the inclusion of the $3.5 million item means that Graham, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, can pursue that money without it being considered an earmark.

"This is progress and we need to celebrate progress," said Graham, who credited Charleston Mayor Joe Riley for talking with Obama directly about the harbor, as well as U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.

In Charleston, State Ports Authority officials and the mayor cheered the news of the proposed funding.

The SPA said the budget item shows that "leaders at the highest levels of government recognize the project as one critical to the nation's economic future."

The funding would have to survive months of wrangling in Congress and make it into a final spending plan for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, in order to turn into real money.

"We welcome any future opportunity to show the administration that their investment in Charleston is the nation's best buy in harbor projects, with a payoff in new jobs and economic growth across the region," said Bill Stern, chairman of the SPA board of directors.

Riley, who discussed the funding issue with Obama last month at the White House, said, "A deepened harbor translates into jobs in our community and throughout South Carolina and is a great benefit to businesses in this part of our country."

The harbor study, with an estimated price tag of $20 million, is the first multiyear step toward deepening the Charleston Harbor to 50 feet to accommodate larger container ships. The Army Corps of Engineers has said the entire process of getting the harbor deepened could take a dozen years or more, which local officials have said is an unacceptably long time.

The shipping channel currently has a maintained depth of 45 feet. There's nearly $16 million in the president's budget for Charleston Harbor maintenance, according to the Corps.

The total cost of the deepening project is estimated at $300 million.