Waterways bill faces veto threat

Waterways bill faces veto threat The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed by a vote of 381-40 the conference report for the Water Resources Development Act, but the legislation will have to navigate around a threatened veto threat.
   H.R. 1495, known as WRDA, authorizes about $21 billion for water resources studies and construction projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
   “There is urgent, pent-up demand to address the nation’s water resources needs, including restoring wetlands in coastal Louisiana and improving hurricane protection in New Orleans,” said Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
   The conference report reconciles the different versions of WRDA that were passed by the House on April 19 and the Senate on May 16. Once the Senate approves the conference report, it will go to the president for his signature.
   But Oberstar said the Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Army have expressed the Bush administration’s opposition to the conference report’s authorization levels and certain provisions contained in the legislation.
   “We are disappointed that the administration chose to issue a veto threat for this vitally important, long-overdue legislation,” Oberstar said.
   Aaron Ellis, a spokesman for the Association of American Port Authorities, noted, however, that heavy support in both the House and the Senate — where a perceived 98-2 majority is believed to support the bill — might make it possible to overturn any veto.
   He said the bill may not be sent to the president until after a Congressional recess to prevent a “pocket veto,” and that senators are reportedly trying to work with the White House to avoid the veto and what some might see as the embarrassment of an override.
   Dave Sanford, director of navigation policy and legislation at AAPA, said the WRDA would authorize a number of high priority projects including deepening of Miami and Corpus Christi channels to 50 feet.
   The bill would also authorize expansion of sites for dredge material disposal including Poplar Island, used by the Port of Baltimore; Craney Island used by port at Hampton Roads; and a site used by the Port of Green Bay, Wis., on Lake Michigan.
   Another industry group, the Waterways Council, which supports improvements and maintenance to ports and inland waterways, praised the action, highlighting what it said were “critically important projects on the inland waterways including the modernization of seven locks along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, and projects on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at Bayou Sorrel and Matagorda Bay.'
   “Modern and efficient locks and dams on our nation’s inland waterways support the transport of critical commodities such as grain for export, coal for electric power generation, petroleum and chemical products and aggregates,” said R. Barry Palmer, president of the council. “Simply put, our country cannot compete without a modern navigation system.”
   Oberstar said that while “the administration claims that the cost of the conference report is too high, this is not just one WRDA bill. Instead, the conference report represents a backlog of seven years of project requests. Because of the failure of the 107th, 108th and 109th Congresses to pass WRDA legislation, the 110th Congress needed to roll three WRDA bills into one.
   “Divide the cost by the number of years that have passed since we last passed this critical legislation, and the cost is understandable,” he added.
   Sanford of AAPA noted that the WRDA is an authorization bill, and does not actually appropriate funds for projects. And he said it looks unlikely that an energy and water appropriation bill will be passed by the Senate this year. That means that projects will have to rely on a continuing resolution for funding at the same level as the prior two fiscal years.
   That could make it difficult for new projects like the Miami and Corpus Christi projects to get funding, unless funds are specifically designated within an omnibus appropriations bill.
   Sanford notes that the lack of energy and water appropriation bills and reliance for the past two years on continuing resolutions present problems for the dredging industry. When continuing resolutions are not in effect — either between the end of the fiscal year and when they are passed or in the midst of a fiscal year, dredging comes to a halt.
   And since dredging already is restricted by factors such as weather and the need not to interfere with migrating animals such as fish, turtles, and manatees, this reduces the time window in which dredging work can be done.