NE Missouri News

The Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA), H.R. 8812, was overwhelmingly approved this week by the U.S. House of Representatives, with a vote of 359 to 13. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), along with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA), Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman David Rouzer (R-NC), and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Grace Napolitano (D-CA) introduced H.R. 8812 last month.

WRDA authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Civil Works Program for projects aimed at improving the nation’s ports and harbors, inland waterway navigation, flood and storm protection, among other aspects of water resources infrastructure. These locally-driven projects deliver regional and national benefits by strengthening global competitiveness, enhancing supply chains, growing the economy, moving goods throughout the country, protecting communities from flooding, and more.

“WRDA delivers critical water resource infrastructure improvements for communities across America – from ports to levees to navigation channels, and more. The bill also makes policy and programmatic reforms to streamline processes, reduce cumbersome red tape, and get projects done faster,” said Chairman Graves. “I’m particularly proud that this bill charts a new path forward for systemic flood control on the Upper Mississippi River, takes significant steps towards ensuring flood control and navigation are the top priorities on the Missouri River, helps shore up the PL 84-99 program to better help states and local communities after floods, and provides long-overdue reforms to move rural projects forward.”

North Missouri priorities included in WRDA 2024 include:

- Expanding protections for levee districts and navigators on the Missouri River to ensure fish and wildlife experiments don’t interfere with flood control and navigation.

- Authorizing an Upper Mississippi River Flood Risk and Resiliency Study to improve flood protection for communities along the Upper Mississippi River.

- Reforming the Army Corps of Engineers’ policy for permitting broadband projects on Corps’ property, making it easier to deploy broadband to communities where the Corps owns land, like Smithville, MO.

- Directing the Corps to work more closely with levee districts and others to find beneficial uses for dredged material so sand is used for strengthening levees, building roadbeds, among other productive uses rather than being dumped back in the river.

- Improving the permitting process at the Corps to help projects get done ahead of schedule and under budget.

WRDA 2024 authorizes 161 new feasibility studies for locally proposed projects as well as 12 projects that have been thoroughly reviewed by the Corps culminating in a final report to Congress with approval by either the Chief of Engineers or Director of Civil Works.

The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has developed WRDA legislation on a bipartisan biennial basis since 2014. WRDA 2024 maintains regular consideration of this important infrastructure legislation while providing Congress with opportunities for input into projects undertaken by the Corps.

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