PLAN TO BRING CUSTOMS INSPECTORS TO AUBURN INTERMODAL FACILITY CLEARS ANOTHER HURDLE, SENATOR COLLINS ANNOUNCES

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maine will be one step closer to gaining a U.S. Customs Service presence at the Auburn Intermodal facility when the required 60-day comment period noticed in the Federal Register on January 10th elapses today, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) announced. Two months ago, at Senator Collins's request, the United States Customs Service published notice in the Federal Register of a plan to expand the port limits of Portland to include the city of Auburn, thereby allowing federal customs inspections at the Auburn Intermodal Facility.

"This is great news for the City of Auburn and the entire state," said Senator Collins. "The Auburn Intermodal Facility already has shown us a glimpse of its tremendous potential to facilitate trade in and out of Maine. But its potential could not be reached without a Customs Service presence on site. The now that the plan has been announced in the Federal Register and the 60-day comment period has elapsed, the path is clear for the facility to become a powerful generator of economic development in the region."

Senator Collins has been working closely withe the Customs Service, the city of Auburn, and the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Company (SL&A) for months in order to secure a Customs presence at the facility. When the 60-day comment period elapses this evening, Customs will begin reviewing any comments elicited by the notice. Customs is expected to publish a final notice regarding the Auburn facility in the Federal Register following this review period. There is a subsequent 30-day period before the decision takes effect.

In 1992, the city of Auburn, joined with SL &A, now a subsidiary of Genesee& Wyoming Company, to form a public/private partnership to construct a rail/truck intermodal facility designed to serve as a gateway to the global marketplace for Maine products. The Auburn Intermodal Facility, which opened for business in October 1994, has assumed an important role in the economies of Auburn and the entire region. The Facility provides cost savings options to businesses through the operation of the only high-cube, double stack intermodal terminal in northern New England, and is critical to capitalizing on a wide range of economic development opportunities.

The Facility currently processes approximately 1,400 40-foot international containers of imported cargo each year. However, SL &A has identified potential customers that could result in a volume of 35,000 more containers or more per year. The increased volume cannot be handled without federal customs inspections of the containers at the Facility.

"Bringing the U.S. Customs Service directly to this location is the single most important factor in helping the Auburn Intermodal Facility reach its potential," Senator Collins said.

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