The closest thing to a good old fashion bi-partisan infrastructure bill is about to go to the president. The bill, H.R. 5303, the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA), contains an inventory of Corps of Engineers projects and the continuation of an effort to the prioritizing harbor and inland waterway projects on the basis of a matrix introduced in the Water Resource Reform and Development Act of 2014.

According to the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, the bill revises or authorizes various U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water resources development projects, feasibility studies, and relationships with nonfederal project sponsors. It sets forth a process to de-authorize projects with an aggregate estimated federal cost to complete of at least $5 billion.

The bill establishes conditions to release nonfederal interests from obligations to operate and maintain the nonstructural and non-mechanical components of projects for environmental protection and restoration or aquatic ecosystem restoration.

The Corps of Engineers’ authority to accept funds to expedite permits is:

• expanded to railroad carriers, and
• made permanent for public utilities or natural gas companies

The Corps must designate a principal approving official to coordinate development of unmanned aircraft systems to support civil works and emergency response missions.

The bill authorizes various navigation, flood risk management, hurricane and storm damage, ecosystem restoration, recreation, or river shoreline projects in Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The American Journal of Transportation, on September 30^th, wrote: “WRDA 2016 contains no earmarks, maintains the strong bipartisan reforms included in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, and adheres to the new transparent process established in that law for congressional review of proposed Corps of Engineers water resources development activities.”

Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-OH), chairman of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee and cosponsor of H.R. 5303 observed, “Water infrastructure is a key component to our nation’s transportation and logistics network. A reliable port and inland waterway system ensures goods can move quickly and affordably to facilitate trade and benefit American consumers. This bill utilizes the reforms from WRRDA 2014, using a transparent process driven by local stakeholders and promoting fiscal responsibility by fully offsetting costs with de-authorization of outdated projects.”

The bill now goes to a House/Senate conference, and lawmakers could vote on a final WRDA bill soon after returning to Washington in November.

Earlier last week the Administration issued a policy statement on the legislation cautioning that, “the bill impedes administration efforts to both enhance resilience and increase public-private collaboration and private investment in environmental restoration by establishing a confusing and duplicative mitigation bank program overseen by the RESTORE Council, which includes governors from only the five states along the Gulf Coast.”

Nonetheless, the administration is not expected to veto the bill when it reaches the president’s desk.

Particularly for those ports and for communities along the nation’s inland waterways addressed in the legislation, WRDA provides the promise of continued federal support for their critical infrastructure projects.

Overall, this measure represents the continued effort by congress to avoid investing more federal dollars in the renovation and expansion of the nation’s infrastructure, while magically hoping the private sector will step forward to fill the gap.

Stay tuned to see what the conference committee ultimately settles on and what the president signs into law.