Senate committee approves Army Corps of Engineers funding bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the FY2018 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, which allocates $6.2 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers, up $190 million from FY2017 and $1.2 billion from the president’s budget request.    The Senate Committee on Appropriations approved the FY2018 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill (S.1609), in a near-unanimous 30-1 vote on Thursday.
   The bill includes funding for U.S. Department of Energy programs, infrastructure projects administered by the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, and related agencies.
   Overall, the bill allocates $38.4 billion in funding, $629 million above the FY 2017 enacted level and $4.1 billion above President Donald Trump’s request, the committee said.
   A total of $6.2 billion is allocated towards the Army Corps of Engineers, $190 million above the FY2017 enacted level and $1.2 billion above the president’s budget request.
   The bill provides $700 million above the president’s budget request for construction of river and harbor, flood storm damage protection, shore protection, aquatic ecosystem restoration, and related projects authorized by law.
   It also meets the spending targets in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 for appropriations from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for the Corps of Engineers.
   In addition, the bill provides full use of the estimated annual revenues from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.
   “Restoring the 17 percent cut to the Corps’ FY 18 budget as proposed by the administration in its budget request, and proposing full-use of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund annual revenues benefits American consumers and workers – farmers, steel producers, manufacturers and transporters,” said WaterWays Council, Inc. President Michael Toohey.
   Although the bill provides strong funding for the Army Corps of Engineers, the bulk of the bill’s funding is allocated towards the Department of Energy. The bill allocates $31.46 billion for the Department of Energy, $718 million above the FY2017 enacted level and $3.6 billion above the president’s request.
   The bill will now move to the Senate floor for approval. “We hope this bill can be one of the first appropriations bills considered by the full Senate this year,” Energy and Water Development Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said.
   If approved by the Senate, the bill will then move to the House, and if the House approves the exact language of the bill, thus passing both chambers, it can then go to the president’s desk to be signed into law. However, if the House adds an amendment, the bill would then be sent back to the Senate for another round of voting.