House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.), describes the bills as “common sense” measures that “will strengthen our infrastructure in a number of ways.” 

Among the legislative measures is the American Water Stewardship Act, which reauthorizes key EPA regional programs under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to support protection, restoration and management of critical U.S. water ecosystems. These include the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 (H.R. 284) and the BEACH Act (H.R. 583), both introduced by Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio); the ESTUARIES Act (H.R. 3962), introduced by Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.); H.R. 1382, introduced by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) to reauthorize the San Francisco Bay restoration program; the Columbia River Clean-Up Act (H.R. 4675), introduced by Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.); and the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 288), introduced by Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.).

Also included in the package is the Airport Regulatory Relief Act, which allows smaller airports considered “non-primary” to use less-stringent state highway construction standards rather than federal aviation standards for airfield pavement projects. The legislation seeks to preserve safety by requiring the U.S. Transportation Secretary to determine that use of the highway standards would not compromise safe practices. According to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the bill would lower construction costs by easing regulatory burdens while still maintaining safety.    

The Expanding Appalachia’s Broadband Access Act calls for a Government Accountability Office study to assess the region’s ability to use satellite technology to assist in the development of broadband projects. The Smart Space Act directs the U.S. General Services Administration to hold meetings with real estate experts to identify alternative financing solutions for public building projects that reduce costs to the federal government.

Meeting Water and Resilience Needs 

Several of the individual bills that fall under the umbrella of the American Water Stewardship Act were set to expire after fiscal 2026. The package enables the programs to continue, several with a boost in funding. The Great Lakes Restoration initiative, first established in 2010 and been funded at $368 million annually since fiscal 2024, was authorized to receive a funding boost to $500 million through fiscal 2031. Actual funding levels are determined during the appropriations process and do not always match levels that are authorized. 

According to EPA, the initiative program is a success story, having funded more than 8,100 projects at a cost of more than $4 billion, with outcomes that included delisting seven environmentally degraded areas from those the agency considers “areas of concern” and restoring or protecting about 557,000 acres of coastal wetland, nearshore and other habitats. 

The initiative "is proof that you can protect the environment and grow the economy. An independent economic study found that every [iniative] dollar spent produces an additional $3.35 of economic activity,” an EPA spokesperson said in an email. 

A Drop in the Bucket

But water infrastructure needs continue to far exceed federal dollars appropriated each year. For fiscal 2026, the administration’s budget request decimated funding for the clean and drinking water state revolving fund loan programs, although federal appropriators restored the funding to more typical levels exceeding $1 billion for each. 

President Donald Trump also called for elimination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which invests in projects to reduce risks associated with natural disasters before they occur. 

Several states challenged the administration’s decision to end the program, and on March 6, a federal judge in New Jersey ordered the agency to make funding for fiscal 2024 and 2025 projects available, following a December court order reinstating the program. 

On March 25, FEMA announced availability of up to $1 billion for resilience projects under the program. 

John Sabo, executive director of the Bywater Institute for Climate Adaptation and a professor in the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering, notes that $1 billion is substantial, but not sufficient to address needs. The Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System in southeast Louisiana, an extensive system of levees, floodwalls and gated outlets over 350 miles across five state parishes, worked as it should have during Hurricane Ida, he told ENR, but it also cost $14 billion and still did not prevent about $75 billion in damages. Damage after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 exceeded $185 billion. 

The $1-billion made available through the FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program could be stretched farther if used “strategically” in several smaller projects using nature-based solutions rather than in one large project, Sabo said. For every dollar invested in pre-disaster preparedness, $13 is saved on the back end, he added.

 “One of the best justifications for proactive disaster preparedness, rather than disaster management … is the more we invest, the more we save over the long haul.” Sabo stressed.