Senate Committee Favorably Reports Out WRDA 2024
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works favorably reported out the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 (S. 4367) on a recorded vote of 19-0. Historically, Congress passes WRDA on biannual basis and the legislation primarily focuses on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) water infrastructure and quality projects. S. 4367 follows the tradition and includes project authorizations, environmental infrastructure projects that support habitat restoration and flood management, and reports of studies into hazardous substances used in project materials and impacts to USACE operations. One notable section in WRDA 2024 is the authorization of an emergency drought operations pilot program established by USACE to prioritize water supply operations during drought emergency at certain projects in California, as well as Arizona.

S.4367 is particularly special because it is the last WRDA package overseen by the current Chairman, Tom Carper (D-DE). To recognize the retiring Chair, the committee adopted an amendment offered by Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) to rename the bill to the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act.

S.4367 currently awaits debate and a vote on the Senate floor. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is still finalizing their WRDA legislation and expected to hold its markup of bill in the coming weeks. Ultimately, the House and Senate will have to compromise the two pieces of legislation later this year.

 

EPA Publishes Clean Watershed Needs Survey
This month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the 2022 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey (CWNS) and transmitted the report to Congress. The CWNS outlines the nation’s clean water infrastructure investment needs to ensure clean water quality protections of the nation’s water bodies are upheld. Technically, EPA is supposed to complete CWNS every four years. However, prior to this recently released report, the last time the Agency published CWNS was in 2012.

Overall, the 2022 report finds that over the next twenty-years, a total of $630 billion is required to address the nation’s clean water infrastructure needs. Congress will use the 2022 report to help determine where future federal investments should be targeted to support resilient clean water sector. Within the $630 billion total need, the report identifies the investment needs per clean water infrastructure category.

  • Wastewater infrastructure requires $345.7 billion, representing 55% of the total. Specifically, investments are needed to install new or repair existing pipes and pump stations.
  • Stormwater infrastructure requires $115.3 billion, representing 18% of the total.
  • Nonpoint Source Control infrastructure requires $94.4 billion, representing 15% of the total.
  • Decentralized systems infrastructure requires $74.4 billion, representing 12% of the total.