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'HuH ii» National Waterways Conference Annual Meeting September 21-23, New Orleans, La. "Waterway Policies in Flux: Managing the Dynamics of Change" is the theme of the National Water- ways Conference's (NWC) 1994 an- nual meeting, to be held at the Inter-Continental Hotel in New Orleans. Some 400 business, civic and waterways leaders are expected to attend. The annual meeting will explore changes, or proposed changes, in national policies governing freight transportation, inland navigation projects, waterwayuser taxes, flood- plain management and environ- mental regulations. Even the NWC's annual meeting program has not escaped change. For the first time in the organization's 34-year history, a railway industry official will be one of the featured speakers. The Speakers Edwin L. Harper of Washing- ton, D.C., president and CEO of the Assn. of American Railroads, will address the opening luncheon meet- ing. Born in Illinois, he comes from a family which was involved in river transportation and in railroading. In his remarks, he will stress the growing interest in the shipping com- munity in intermodalism. Mr. Harper plans to discuss com- bination rail-water routes in serving new markets, particularly in Mexico and Central America, and other ways in which rail, water and other modes can work more closely in the future. Mr. Harper will be introduced by J. Ron Brinson, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. Speaking at the closing luncheon will be Jerry E. Van Der Kamp of West Des Moines, la., president and CEO of AGRI Industries, a regional grain marketing cooperative owned by 225 local cooperative elevators in Iowa and Minnesota. AGRI, in turn, owns three river terminals and op- erates 500 rail cars and several barges. In a recent paper, he criticized the Administration's 1993 proposal to increase inland waterway fuel taxes by $1 a gallon, which Congress later rejected. Mr. Van Der Kamp charged that such a tax would cause the U.S. to lose market share and result in grain producers receiving lower market prices for their grain. Some 25 others will participate in six panel discussions at the water- ways convention. They will include: • Maj. Gen. Stanley G. Genega of Washington, D.C., director of civil works for the Army Corps of Engi- neers, who will report on the status of the agency's port and waterway program. Such presentations are a regular feature of NWC annual meetings. • M. J. Fiocco, freight transporta- tion specialist in the U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation's Office of Intermodalism. Ms. Fiocco formerly worked for the National Industrial Transpor- tation League. • Dr. Robert M. Engler of Vicksburg, Miss., manager of the environmental effects of dredging programs at the U.S. Army Engi- neer Waterways Experiment Sta- tion. Dr. Engler was recently named international chairman of Perma- nent Environment Commission of the Brussels-based Permanent In- ternational Assn. of Navigation Con- gresses (PIANC). • James D. Pugh of Memphis, president of Americas Marine Ex- press, which recently began offer- ing ship service between Memphis and Central America, utilizing a combination river-ocean vessel. • Harry N. Cook of Washington, D.C., president of the National Wa- terways Conference, Inc., who will present his annual report on the "state of the waterways." Several other waterway organi- zations plan meetings to coincide with the NWC convention. They include the Arkansas Wa- terways Commission, Domestic Water Transportation Committee of the National Industrial Transpor- tation League, Inland Rivers Ports & Terminals, Inc., Standing Com- mittee on Water Transportation of the American Assn. of State High- way and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the U.S. Section of PIANC. 32 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
