House bill boosts Army Corps’ infrastructure budget

E&WD will increase the Corps’ Civil Works fiscal 2016 budget to $5.597 billion, adding $864.75 million to the Obama administration’s request.    The U.S. House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved by voice vote the fiscal year 2016 Energy & Water Development (E&WD) and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which greatly increases funds to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works program.
   The Civil Works program oversees the nation’s dredging of harbor channels and waterways. 
   E&WD, which also covers funding for the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile and other Energy Department programs, will increase the Corps’ Civil Works program budget to $5.597 billion, adding $864.75 million to the Obama administration’s request and increasing the fiscal year 2015 appropriated amount for the agency by $142.25 million.
   Within the construction account of the Civil Works budget, $340 million is made available for Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) priority navigation projects, an amount the House committee’s report said makes use of all estimated trust fund annual revenues. This has been a key objective of the Waterways Council’s lobbying efforts in past years, particularly with last year’s 9-cent increase in the barge diesel fuel tax rate. The council represents the interests of U.S. inland waterways users, including barge carriers, port operators and shippers.
   Michael J. Toohey, Waterways Council president, called the bill’s full use of the IWTF a “huge win toward modernization of our nation’s inland navigation system.”
   From the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), the bill’s fiscal year 2016 appropriation of $1.178 billion is a record at $73 million higher than last year’s $1.1 billion, and is $263 million above the $915 million that the administration requested from the HMTF. 
   “This is a responsible bill that prioritizes national security needs and improving our nation’s infrastructure within tight budget caps,” said House Energy and Water Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, in statement.