House committee passes WRDA bill

The Water Resources Development Act of 2016 puts reauthorization for water infrastructure projects back on a regular two-year cycle, if the full House and Senate vote on it.    The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday voted to reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which sets the table for annual appropriations for maintaining and upgrading harbors, inland waterways, dams, flood protection systems and environmental restoration initiatives.
   In April, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved a WRDA reauthorization bill that includes modernization of the cost-share formula for harbor deepening projects, extension of funding authorization for donor and energy-transfer ports, and new language to improve the approach of appropriating annual Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) revenues until full use of the funds is achieved in 2025.
   If Congress passes WRDA 2016, it would put the reauthorization process back on a two-year cycle after a seven-year hiatus that ended in 2014, which would reduce project backlogs and save money because projects are done before inflation rises too much. The gap in action put many projects on hold at a time when ports were under pressure to expand capacity to accommodate larger cargo ships being deployed by international fleets. The 2014 legislation included new reforms related to funding, studying and delivering dredging projects.
   “Ensuring the viability and effectiveness of our nation’s deep-draft navigation infrastructure is fundamental to a sound economy,” Kurt Nagle, president of the American Association of Port Authorities, said in a statement. “WRDA 2016 helps do that by getting Congress back to the business of regularly addressing the needs of our ports and other waterway infrastructure.”
   The House WRDA bill authorizes 28 Army Corps of Engineers “Chief’s Reports” submitted to Congress since the enactment of the previous measure, including those for deepening Port Everglades and the Port of Charleston. Chief’s Reports are the final recommendation to Congress for water resources infrastructure priorities. The bill encourages the Army Corps to expedite certain Chiefs Reports and continue onto preconstruction engineering and design. Once authorized, federal funds for project construction can be sought through annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bills.
   The House legislation authorizes about $5 billion in federal funding for Corps activities, offset by $5 billion in deauthorizations of previously authorized projects that never got off the ground. The measure also sunsets new authorizations to prevent future project backlogs.