Key House and Senate committees are moving ahead with plans to draft a new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) to authorize billions of dollars for Army Corps of Engineers flood protection, river locks and dams, port dredging, environmental restoration and other civil works projects.
随着他们在未来几个月的立法工作，立法者的目标是在年底之前通过一项法案，并在每隔一年举行批准2014年的惯例，并继续进行2014年。传统上授权项目名单是通过国会推动WRDA新利18备用网址账单的发动机。
Based on testimony from top Army officials at House and Senate hearings on Jan. 12, new projects already are getting in line to be included in a 2022 water resources bill.
[View Webcast of House hearinghereand of Senate hearinghere。]
斯科特·斯科特（Scott Splicmmon），陆军工程师和兵团指挥将军，告诉房屋水资源和环境小组委员会，自上次WRDA于2020年12月颁布以来，他签署了“酋长报告”推荐批准14个新利18备用网址项目。
By far the largest of the 14 is the Coastal Texas Protection and Restoration plan, a multi-part effort that includes a $26.1-billion storm surge barrier system on Galveston Bay. The federal share of that project element is an estimated $16.1 billion.
Spellmon还表示，他希望通过5月份签署七个项目的报告，并在此之后额外举行七个。新利18备用网址
The 2020 WRDA, which was part of a bigger, omnibus spending package, authorized $9.9 billion in federal funds for 46 new Corps projects. The 2018 and 2016 WRDAs each authorized 30 projects. Before authorized projects actually receive funding, however, they still require annual appropriations.
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who chairs the full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said, “The Corps has been really pathetically underfunded for decades.”
参议院环境和公共工程委员会主席汤姆·Carper (D-Del.) said the Corps backlog of authorized but not appropriated projects exceeds $110 billion.
随着项目，WRDA措施也是水资新利18备用网址源政策变化的车辆。
Michael Connor, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, told the Senate and the House panels that the Biden administration also wants to see water resources projects reflect administration priorities, such as focusing on increased resilience against storms and other impacts of climate change.
其他priorities, Connor said, include a focus on projects that advance environmental justice in economically disadvantaged areas and improving the freight transportation supply chain.
WRDA讨论处于早期阶段。他们是在欧洲军团收到大规模注入联邦基金的时候来的，这是拨款的大部分。
The largest recent injection was the $17.1 billion the Corps was allotted in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law on Nov. 15. Another sizable addition was $5.7 billion in fiscal year 2022 disaster relief supplemental spending bill.
飙升的军团预算
Spellmon指出，近年来，由于IIJA，补充支出措施和其他立法，军团的年度预算在过去五年中飙升。
He told the Senate committee that the Corps is structured, organized and staffed for what has been an overall program of $20 billion to $22 billion. But he added, "Our current program is $84 billion—and it's growing."
法国民事工程部门已经看到了最快的增长，阐明了过去五年的增加，超过480亿美元，从70亿美元起。
Spellmon said, “This funding provides the Corps with a once-in-a-generation window of opportunity to deliver water resources infrastructure programs and projects that will positively impact the lives of communities across this great nation.”
He also said the Corps is seeking to improve its decision-making processes to help deliver projects on time and on budget. It also is speeding up recruitment and taking other steps to attract and retain top talent.
Moreover, Spellmon said, the organization is "combining traditional and alternative-delivery concepts" to deliver additional contracting "tools."
Mike Strachn, a senior adviser with water resources consulting firm Dawson and Associates, noted that the Corps has been receiving substantial funding. "On the other hand," Strachn says, "the Corps now has to execute."
前军团国会联络官斯特拉肯说，“兵团确实有执行问题。康诺和spellmon都承认他们需要在能够执行程序方面加强游戏。”
罕见的双峰
Based on the tenor of the House and Senate hearings and the large number of committee members from both sides of the aisle who participated, there is bipartisan interest in producing a new WRDA measure this year, industry officials say.
约翰•多伊尔特别法律顾问委员会法律和游说firm JonesWalker LLP, said in an interview, "The list of pieces of legislation that can be characterized that way can be counted probably on two or three fingers."
Strachn也是一个顶级房屋交通委员会助理，注意到2022年是一个选举年，这将是最近记忆中最具争议的。然而，他说，“一个人必须守卫乐观乐观的WRDA 2022的前景。”
