House Transportation Committee Passes Water Resources Bill
May 26th, 2016 | By: Whitford Remer
The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee advanced a $5.5 billion Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) this week. A path forward for H.R. 5303 will require support from the full chamber, a commitment by House leadership to give the bill floor time, and ultimately a compromise with the much more expansive Senate bill that advanced out of the Environment and Public Works Committee several weeks ago. It was expected the House would introduce a much smaller “pamphlet” sized bill that would be limited primarily to Army Corps projects studies and authorizations. The base text of the bill includes 28 Corps project authorizations, but also several policy reforms, including one to continue to improve funding of the nation’s harbors. Currently, ports will collect fees from shippers for harbor maintenance, but those funds first go to the Treasury where Congress has made a habit of using the money for unrelated activities. The WRDA bill would set target levels Congress would have to follow to ensure the funds are used for harbor maintenance. The bill would establish a new pilot program to beneficially use sediment dredged from navigation channels to restore shorelines, beaches, and wetlands. The Senate WRDA bill (S.2848) also included a provision on beneficial use of dredged material (section 2017). During the House WRDA markup 21 amendments were offered, most of which were ultimately withdrawn after Chairman Shuster (R-PA) agreed to work with members to resolve their issues separately. Several amendments did pass including one that would allow wetland mitigation banks for Gulf Coast restoration, a new comprehensive study at the Corps South Atlantic Division and a manager’s amendment that includes a study of nature based solutions for water resources projects. The Senate will likely make the next move and work to get their version of the WRDA bill floor time in late June. Timing on the House side is less clear. There remains significant differences in the two bills, including the major clean water/ drinking water titles in the Senate bill that weren’t included in the House bill. Even if each full chamber passes their respective versions, working details out in conference will likely prove to be challenging.Water Resources Bill Passes Senate Committee
May 5th, 2016 | By: Whitford Remer
On April 28 the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) advanced a new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) by a vote of 19-1. The $9 billion bill authorizes new projects and studies at the Army Corps of Engineers, adds a dam rehabilitation component to the National Dam Safety Program, establishes a new Water Infrastructure Trust Fund and provides $220 million in aid for Flint, Michigan. The last WRDA bill passed Congress in 2014. Water resource bills were once viewed as so important that Congressional leaders tried to pass one every two years. The legislation is the main mechanism for authorizing new projects at the Army Corps of Engineers—the nation’s largest manager of flood control, navigation and ecosystem restoration projects. But with partisanship, fiscal constraints and a self-imposed a ban on earmarks, getting these important projects approved and funded has become more and more difficult. WRDA bills also can provide policy changes to existing programs across the federal government on issues such as drinking water and wastewater, which have become increasingly important in the wake of the Flint, Michigan lead crises. The legislation approved last week will address western drought issues, increase federal drinking water and clean water infrastructure funding, strengthen the nation’s levees, and make changes to the nation’s dredge material policy, making it easier to use for ecosystem restoration projects. These issues were important to several members of the Committee from western states, coastal states and states with older water infrastructure systems. Important to the civil engineering profession was that both the dam rehabilitation program and drinking water revolving fund program will be subject to Qualifications Based Selection (QBS)/Brooks Act requirements—another priority of ASCE. The strong vote for the bill is a rarity in Congress and committee staff are optimistic the bill will advance to the Senate floor at the beginning of summer. The House is expected to introduce their version of the bill in late May.Dam Rehab Bill Introduced in Senate
April 26th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
Late last week, Senators Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) and Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced S. 2835, a bill that, if enacted, would provide funding assistance to rehabilitate, repair, or remove nonfederal high hazard deficient dams. This is a promising step in the effort to improve the nation’s aging dams, which received a “D” grade in the 2013 Report Card. Dams are a vital part of the nation’s aging infrastructure, providing enormous benefits to the majority of Americans including drinking water, flood protection, renewable hydroelectric power, navigation, irrigation and recreation. Yet there are more than 4,000 dams that are determined to be unsafe or deficient. Through a grant program, the bipartisan bill proposes $600 million over 10 years to go toward dam rehab. It will help local communities that lack funding to rehabilitate, repair, or remove a high hazard dam before it breaches. As Sen. Reed said in a press release issued by ASCE “By assisting in the repair or removal of high hazard dams before they fail, the bill makes an investment in future cost savings, not to mention lives and property saved.” This bill would allow communities to make the preemptive investment into aging infrastructure, and in the process make the communities below a dam safer. The legislation was referred to the Senate’s Environment & Public Works Committee. Since the bill’s introduction, the Senate’s Water Resources Development Act 0f 2016 section by section summary was released. The bill includes a very similar program, named in Section 3004 as the Rehabilitation of High Hazard Potential Dams. Send a letter to your Senators asking them to support S. 2835, which will address aging dams that protect our communities and provide benefits to our economy.Water Week Highlights Diverse Needs Across the Country
April 13th, 2016 | By: Whitford Remer
Over 100 water and wastewater utility managers, operators and engineers visited Washington, D.C. this week to advocate for more federal investment in water infrastructure. Lead by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and several other sponsoring organizations, including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) the week provided an opportunity for water industries to join together with a single voice and stress the importance of providing clean water services to the public and the role of the federal government. On Tuesday, water experts took to Capitol Hill to discuss federal water issues, including responding to the Flint, Michigan water crises, the need to increase federal water infrastructure appropriations and educate lawmakers on newly authorized but stalled financing programs such as the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). Water infrastructure has become a hot topic on Capitol Hill over the last several months as the story of Flint, Michigan shot into the national spotlight after that city was found to have exceptionally high levels of lead in its drinking water. Lead exposure is extremely dangerous to children. The crises ignited a national conversation about water infrastructure systems and the role of local and federal government in ensuring the systems are safe and well maintained. Other water issues from around the country discussed this week included alleviating drought in the west, managing combined sewer overflows and storm water management in mid-sized, sprawling cities. To alleviate drought, many experts have argued for investments in desalination, water reuse and adding storage capacity in western reservoirs. To combat combined sewer overflows, which the EPA recently estimated will cost nearly $50 billion to fix, some cities are investing in green infrastructure projects. Green infrastructure can help reduce both CSO and stormwater issues by mitigating the amount of stormwater entering a combined system, by letting the water naturally infiltrate where it falls with the use of bioswales and natural retention areas. Water week is timely this year not only because the need to shine a light on the crisis in Flint, but also because Congress is considering a range of options to address water infrastructure issues in the upcoming Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), slated to be marked up by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) at the end of the month.Senate Takes Turn Preparing for New Water Resources Bill
February 11th, 2016 | By: Whitford Remer
Just a week after the House held a discussion on what a new Water Resources Develop Act (WRDA) should look like, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing Wednesday to kick off that chambers work on the legislation. Opting for a more formal setting than the House roundtable approach, the Senate held a full Committee hearing, giving stakeholders an opportunity to express requests for the bill on the record. Norma Jean Mattei, President-Elect of the American Society of Civil Engineers provided testimony on the state of the nation’s water infrastructure, using the 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Representatives from the Port of Tusla, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Nucor Corporation, and North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters also testified. Dr. Mattei testified that the Report Card grades for water resources were so bad that failing to address problem could cost 800,000 American jobs by 2020. The grades (Inland Waters Ways D-, Dams D, Levees D-, and Ports C) were so bad that Senator Barbra Boxer (D-CA) asked to enter the entire report card into the Congressional record. Nearly every Senator on the Committee referenced the Report Card grades, with Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) even noting her state’s own report card, Report Card for New York’s Infrastructure, released in 2015 didn’t fare much better. Airing out the poor grades teed up a more serious conversation on how to address the nation’s aging infrastructure. Nothing was left off the table: aging locks causing multimillion dollar delays at ports, the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and high hazard deficient dams across the country were all brought up as possible issues to address in the new bill. Lawmakers have promised to get a bill through this Congress, retuning the legislation to its previous two year cycle. All the witnesses agreed that a two-year cycle provides certainty to project sponsors, keeps the price of the bill manageable and helps reduce the backlog of Army Corps projects. Keeping the bill bipartisan and getting enough momentum in an election year will be the challenge moving forward. The Committee will be on a tight deadline to mark-up and pass a bill with dwindling Congressional calendar work days.House Committee Convenes Roundtable Discussion on Next Federal Water Resources Bill
February 4th, 2016 | By: Whitford Remer
The House Subcommittee on Water Resources held a round table this week as Congress gears up to pass a new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) in 2016. Back in November the committee held a similar discussion in New Orleans. During each roundtable – a less formal setting than a traditional hearing – committee members heard from industry stakeholders on policy matters to consider for the primary legislation that controls the nation’s ports, harbors, levees, dams and flood control structures. In the past, WRDA bills were completed every two years, but congressional gridlock and the ban on earmarks posed significant problems for the bill in the last decade.
ASCE President- Elect, Norma Jean Mattei discusses the next WRDA bill with Derek Brockbank, Executive Director of The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association.
Congress Takes First Step to Develop New Water Resources Bill
November 23rd, 2015 | By: Whitford Remer
Several members of Congress from the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee gathered in New Orleans earlier this month to listen to stakeholders offer their wishes for a new water resources bill the Committee has pledged to introduce in 2016. Spearheaded by freshman Congressman Garrett Graves (R-LA), T&I Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Water Resources Subcommittee Chairman Bob Gibbs (R-OH) joined a roundtable discussion focused mainly on flood control and dredging projects sponsored by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Committee’s goal is get the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) back on a two-year authorization cycle, after letting the legislation lie fallow for seven years before finally passing a bill in 2014. Stakeholders representing the ports and inland waterways industries focused heavily on Section 7001 of WRDA. That section requires the Corps to submit an annual report to Congress identifying feasibility reports, proposed feasibility studies and proposed modifications to projects or studies. Section 7001 is the way projects get “named” in the absence of earmarks. Panelists noted that in the Corps 2015 report to Congress of the 114 proposals submitted by non-federal sponsors around the country, only 19 were deemed to have satisfied the criteria in Section 7001. Moreover, they continued, all 19 were proposed feasibility studies, meaning that no proposals for project authorizations or project modifications were sent to Congress. The outstanding question is whether the “federal standard” to recommend a project or study is too strict or if there are larger issues with how the standard is being interpreted. Either way, new project authorizations are hard to come by in Congress and the Administration’s budget, slowing necessary infrastructure development down across the country. Another hot topic of discussion was the beneficial use of dredge material. Several stakeholders from Louisiana urged greater flexibility in the use of dredge material. The material is valuable for wetland restoration projects in Southern Louisiana, but current policy often prohibits pumping the material for use in restoration projects and instead contractors are often required to dump it downriver or off the continental shelf. Changes in Corps policy and cost-benefit analyses could help alleviate the problem. Moving forward the Committee will likely hold a hearing in early 2016 on the next WRDA bill. That pace, while welcomed by many, does face practical obstacles considering the Corps has only implemented about 50% of guidance required under the 2014 law. It’s important that the Corps continue to issue guidance and that Congress provides the agency necessary resources in both the operational and construction budgets. No word yet on a Senate timeline.House Agrees to Conference
November 18th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The House agreed by unanimous consent to go to conference with the Senate on the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (HR 3080) last Thursday. Shortly after agreeing to go to conference Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) introduced a motion to instruct conferees on the National Dam Safety Program reauthorization. The motion to instruct conferees asks, but cannot require, House conferees to take a certain negotiating position during the WRDA conference. In this case, the motion to instruct conferees would cede to the Senate’s authorization of the dam safety program in S. 601, which provides at $9.2 million in grants, $500,000 for the National Dam Inventory, $1 million for public awareness, and $1.45 million for research. ASCE strongly supports incorporating the Senate dam safety language and worked closely with Congressman Maloney’s office to garner support for the measure. The motion received praise from both sides of the aisle during debate and the final vote for the motion was 347 – 76. The House also selected 28 conferees for the WRDA conference that will now begin. The House appointed 16 Republicans and 12 Democrats from both the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Natural Resources Committee. The conferees are: Bill Shuster (R-PA) John Duncan (R-TN) Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) Sam Graves (R-MO) Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) Candice Miller (R-MI) Duncan Hunter (R-CA) Larry Bucshon (R-IN) Bob Gibbs (R-OH) Richard Hanna (R-NY) Daniel Webster (R-FL) Tom Rice (R-SC) Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) Rodney Davis (R-IL) Doc Hastings (R-WA) Rob Bishop (R-UT) Nick Rahall (D-WV) Peter DeFazio (D-OR) Corrine Brown (D-FL) Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) Tim Bishop (D-NY) Donna Edwards (D-MD) John Garamendi (D-CA) Janice Hahn (D-CA) Rick Nolan (D-MN) Lois Frankel (D-FL) Cheri Bustos (D-IL) Grace Napolitano (D-CA) The Senate agreed by unanimous consent on Oct. 31 to launch conference negotiations. The bills would authorize navigation, flood control and wetland restoration projects. Both versions were passed with bipartisan support in their respective chambers. ASCE urges Congress to conference the Water Resources Development Act quickly. Additionally, ASCE hopes to see a final package that expedites the regulatory and environmental review process, creates a national levee safety program, increases money spent out of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, and reauthorizes the National Dam Safety Program. At this time the biggest difference between the House and Senate bills are on how to select Army Corps of Engineers projects that will be authorized for funding as well as the creation of a national levee safety program, which the Senate bill would create, while the House bill would not.Tags: house of representatives, senate, Water Resources, WRDA
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