Legislation critical to funding for ports, a tribal partnership program and flood control in Alaska has emerged from the House, while still in committee in the Senate.
Passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 was hailed on Wednesday, July 29, for bipartisan support, which authorizes critical U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects, by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR, chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
The bill “will strengthen our coastal communities help keep us competitive in the global economy, restore our coastal environment, and create and sustain thousands of good paying American jobs,” DeFazio said. “This bill also transforms the Corps’ planning process to ensure that future water resources development projects are ore resilient, fully evaluate ecological and societal benefits, and are accessible to all communities, including rural and economically disadvantaged communities whose needs are often overlooked.”
The legislation also drew praise from Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who secured provisions in the House bill to provide $491 million for Port of Nome improvements, $35 million for dredging at the port of Dutch Harbor and language to include the authorization for St George’s navigation
Improvements project.
Also included in the House version of the bill are increases on the per-project federal cost-share cap for the Tribal Partnership Program, which provides authority for the Corps to perform water-related planning activities, and repair of the Lowell Creek Flood Diversion System in Seward, which has been damaged over the last 15 years because of frequent flooding.
A copy of the House legislation is online at https://transportation.house.gov/committee-activity/issue/water-resources-development-act-of-2020
