The Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee this week released a draft two-year Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) reauthorization bill, scheduled for mark-up on April 28.  Following an overdue comprehensive act in 2014, Congress is attempting to return to the regular order of reauthorizing the WRDA every two years.

The 2016 WRDA released by the EPW Committee authorizes 25 critical Army Corps projects. These projects, which have completed reports of the Chief of Engineers, will strengthen infrastructure, maintain navigation routes for waterways commerce and restore ecosystems.

The bill also provides investment in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, including funds to respond to the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich. and other similar communities across the country facing drinking water contamination.

Of particular interest to the soybean industry, is the authorization of projects to improve ports and inland waterways. The bill builds on the reforms in the 2014 WRRDA to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) by clarifying the targets for increased HMTF funding.

The bill authorizes critical flood control and coastal protection projects across the country, including system-wide flood protection in the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, rebuilding levees in Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas and providing hurricane protection in Louisiana.

The bill does not adjust the threshold for major rehabilitation as recommended by the Capital Development Plan and the Waterways Council.