U.S. Senate EPW Committee unanimously passes WRDA 2024, legislation awaits further action
Key Takeaways
On May 22, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) passed the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 (S. 4367) in a bipartisan 19-0 vote. WRDA 2024 now awaits consideration by the full Senate.
WRDA legislation is the authorizing legislation for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). WRDA allows the Corps to conduct studies, construct projects and research activities to improve U.S. waterways. Since 2014, WRDA legislation has passed in a biennial cycle.
WRDA 2024 authorizes $3 billion for 81 feasibility studies and 8 new or modified construction projects. The WRDA 2024 legislation differs from previous WRDAs as the primary focus is to implement ongoing projects from previous WRDAs rather than creating new Army Corps policy.
WRDA 2024 contains many provisions that are beneficial to counties including:
- Directing the Corps to develop and execute a plan to fully implement projects in previous WRDAs
- Directing the Corps to educate non-federal sponsors such as counties, about operations, maintenance, repair, replacement and rehabilitation responsibilities
- Improving the Corps’ online permit finder resource to provide up to date information on the status of project permits
- Increasing federal cost share for inland waterway projects from 65 percent to 75 percent of the costs
- Increasing the maximum amount of funds the Corps may contribute under the existing Continuing Authorities Program (CAP)
What’s next for WRDA?
The Senate WRDA bill is eligible to be heard by the full Senate. However, the timeline remains unclear as there are a limited number of legislative days remaining during this election year.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) is developing its WRDA legislation and is slated to release the text and hold a markup in June. NACo will update this blog as further information becomes available.
Additional information
Resource
Support Authorization of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA)
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