Shuster urges swift passage of water infrastructure bill to help U.S. stay competitive

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) recently said that final passage of a far-reaching water resources infrastructure bill is crucial to the nation’s economy, and that he is “reasonably confident” that a compromise can be reached with the Senate before year’s end.

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), H.R. 5303, is a two year authorization of Army Corps of Engineers’ projects that strengthen the nation’s water transportation networks to promote competitiveness and economic growth.

“It’s really important to exporting and importing and getting our goods out of the country to the world’s markets, and making sure the items coming into our ports get to our stores and our facilities in an efficient and cost-effective way,” Shuster said in a recent interview with the Ripon Advance.

The projects would address improvements in rivers and harbors for better navigation, protect communities from floods and storm damage, and restore freshwater and coastal ecosystems.

Congress passed the last water resources reauthorization bill in 2014 after a seven year hiatus. Shuster said that approving it again this year is important to maintain an appropriate two year cycle and prevent essential projects from getting delayed.

The urgency of passing the WRDA is underscored by the recent opening of new and expanded locks for the Panama Canal, which will impact global commerce for years to come. Deepening harbors and ensuring that large ships can be serviced by the East and West Coast and Gulf ports is key to the United States remaining competitive, Shuster said.

The bill includes 31 projects totaling approximately $9 billion that were approved by the Army Corps of Engineers chief of engineers. The new projects were offset by $10 billion of deauthorized outdated projects to ensure that the bill was fiscally responsible, Shuster said.

One of the more vital projects on the list are long-awaited navigation improvements to the lock and dam system on the Upper Ohio River. Three locks and dams that need structural repairs and greater capacity are essential to the operations at the Port of Pittsburgh. One of the nation’s busiest inland ports, the Port of Pittsburgh handles 35 million tons of cargo each year.

“We have three locks and dams that are about 80 years old and past their prime,” Shuster said. “They need to be replaced. That’s incredibly important to commerce in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, West Virginia, through Kentucky and to the Mississippi.”

High-priority projects are also authorized for the Port of Charleston in South Carolina, one of the nation’s key open water ports, and Port Everglades in Florida.

The bill would increase flexibility and remove barriers for state, local and private interests to invest in infrastructure, helping to keep projects moving forward even if federal funding comes more slowly.

WRDA drew strong bipartisan support, passing the House by a vote of 399-25. The Senate’s version of the bill was approved 95-3.

Given the importance of the water projects across the country, Shuster said that there is great will among lawmakers in both chambers of Congress to agree on a final bill before the end of the year.

“I want to make sure there is a balance between protecting the environment and protecting towns from flooding and expanding our ports and our inner waterways to improve commerce,” Shuster said. “There will be some discussions there and it may slow us up a bit, but I think we can work those out.”

Shuster will also continue working on a solution to reduce a backlog of critical Army Corps of Engineers water resources projects due to lack of funding.

One area Shuster cited where reforms are needed is the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. Approximately $1.6 billion a year in user fees for ports and harbors is collected for the fund to cover costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the nation’s waterways.

Hundreds of millions of dollars a year of those user fees, however, are not dedicated to harbor maintenance but are instead used for unrelated government spending.

While the House bill ultimately did not contain those reforms, Shuster said that he is committed to working with U.S. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to fix the problem.

“If we spent $1.6 billion a year over the next 10 years, we would handle much, if not all, the backlog in the projects with the ports and harbors and dredging that need to take place,” Shuster said.

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