A $35.4-billion bill that is making its way through Congress to fund energy and water programs for fiscal year 2016 includes provisions construction-industry groups support. But some officials are disappointed that the measure, which a House appropriations subcommittee cleared on April 15, doesn't have money for some programs that 2014's Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) authorized.
The energy-water bill, one of the first to emerge in the 2016 appropriations round, would boost spending for Army Corps of Engineers civil-works operation and maintenance (O&M) by 5% from its enacted 2015 level. It also directs spending all of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund's estimated annual revenue on infrastructure improvement projects. On the downside, the legislation nicks the Corps construction account by $8 million.