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House Passes WRDA Bill
USAgNet - 09/29/2016

The U.S. House has approved the $90 billion water resources bill Wednesday after their Senate counterparts did the same a week earlier. The measure would authorize projects to be carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers to address navigation, flood protection and ecosystem improvement.

The legislation would also create a water infrastructure fund and provide financial assistance for drinking water and waste water systems. With regard to the Flint, MI crisis, the bill would direct $220 million to assist Flint and other communities in upgrading drinking water technologies and infrastructure.

In addition, the bill would authorize $125 million for USACE to immediately address coastal levees that are disintegrating and would require the Environmental Protection Agency to pay for the response costs of the Gold King Mine spill within 90 days of passage.

Another provision in the bill funds the replacement of three aging locks that keep barge traffic moving on the Upper Ohio River. That project is expected to cost $2.6 billion over about 20 years, with half the cost being funded through a 29-cent-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel that barge operators pay. The rest would come from federal taxpayers.

The House and the Senate now need to meet to reconcile the differences between the two bills.


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