WASHINGTON, DC, JUNE 11, 2018 -- The House has overwhelmingly approved the Water Resources Development Act of 2018 (H.R. 8), which authorizes improvements to the nation's ports, inland waterways, locks, dams, flood protection, ecosystem restoration and other water resources infrastructure.
The House on Wednesday passed the bipartisan bill, titled the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2018. The bill passed the lower chamber on a 408-2 vote, and authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to sustain the nation's water infrastructure.
"Construction, dredging and repairs to our vital marine transportation system will help ensure the reliability of the most affordable, energy efficient and environmentally sustainable mode of transporting agricultural products," American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a letter to House members urging them to vote in favor of WRDA.
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The Hill reports: The reauthorization, which Congress has recently taken up every two years, specifically calls for an analysis of the effects of moving the Corps's civil work out of the Pentagon and into another agency or to a completely new entity.
It also offsets the cost of newly authorized water infrastructure efforts by deauthorizing idle projects.
The Senate is expected to take up its version of the legislation this summer. The upper chamber's Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously approved the bill last month.
