House passes bill with $7.28 billion for Civil Works

The Energy and Water Development Appropriations legislation makes use of revenues from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.    The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed the fiscal year 2019 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill by a vote of 235-179.
   The bill calls for $44.7 billion in funding, $1.5 billion above the amount appropriated in fiscal year 2018, and $8.17 billion above the budget request.
   Title I of the bill provides $7.28 billion for the Civil Works programs of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and represents an increase of $451 million from FY 18-appropriated funding.
   Total funding for activities eligible for reimbursement from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is estimated at $1.6 billion, and the bill makes use of all estimated annual revenues from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF).
   “For the fifth-consecutive fiscal year, the House has provided extremely strong, and in some cases, record-level funding for the Corps’ Civil Works mission, well above what the administration has proposed,” Waterways Council Inc. President and CEO Mike Toohey said. “Full use of IWTF revenues will allow for the continuation of the top-priority navigation projects with exact amounts to be determined by the Corps’ FY 19 work plan.”
   Meanwhile, Title II of the bill provides $1.55 billion for the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation; Title III calls for $35.94 billion for the Department of Energy; and Title IV provides $423.76 million for several independent agencies.
   The bill now moves to the Senate floor for action.