MarAd Charters MTS Advisory Council

The Maritime Administration has chartered the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council (MTSNAC), an outgrowth of Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater's 1999 report to Congress, "An Assessment of the U.S. Marine Transportation System." The council will provide advice to the Secretary of Transportation, via the Maritime Administrator, on the current and future needs of the marine transportation system (MTS) and recommended strategies, policies, and goals for meeting them. The council will consist of no more than 30 representatives from non-federal organizations representing a broad cross-section of MTS stakeholders, including: vessel owners and operators; port and terminal interests; shippers; shipyards; maritime labor unions; recreational boaters; environmental interests; state and local government officials; metropolitan planning organizations; and academia. Organizations represented on the council will serve rotating terms, and non-members of the council may be appointed to MTSNAC subcommittees. The MTSNAC's federal counterpart is the Interagency Committee on the Marine Transportation System (ICMTS), comprising representatives from federal agencies whose portfolios impact the MTS. The Coast Guard serves as lead agency for the ICMTS, while the Maritime Administration will administer the MTSNAC. Maritime Administrator Clyde Hart will formally solicit organizations to be represented on the MTSNAC in the near future.