Whether the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 permits localities to charge fees for incomplete and unusable increments of a harbor navigation project

QUESTION PRESENTED The Tonnage Clause states that “[nlo State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage.” U.S. Const. art. I, § 10, cl. 3. The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 provides limited congressional consent for local authorities to impose “tonnage duties or fees” on vessels using the Nation’s ports and harbors to finance harbor navigation projects, but “only” if those fees are “levied * * * in conjunction with a harbor navigation project whose construction is complete (including a usable increment of the project).” 33 U.S.C. § 2236(a)(1). The question presented is whether the Act permits localities to charge fees for incomplete and unusable increments of a harbor navigation project. (i)