The drive to put the first new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) on the books in more than five years picked up some steam on Sept. 11, when House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster introduced a measure to authorize new Corps of Engineers projects and mandate policy changes aimed at expediting project approvals.
The Pennsylvania Republican said at a press conference that his bill would authorize about $8 billion in new Corps projects, plus $2 billion in modifications to existing projects. But he added that those funds would be more than offset by de-authorizing $12 billion worth of pre-2007 projects, including those on which construction has not yet started.