Focus on Partnership and Improving Infrastructure at the 2019 Legislative Summit

2019 Legislative Summit – March 4 – March 6

Final Legislative Summit Agenda (142KB)

More than 100 NWC members gathered in Washington during the week of March 5^th for the 2019 Legislative Summit and meetings on Capitol Hill.

NWC’s conference program opened with a keynote address by The Honorable R.D. James, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), who outlined Administration priorities to move dirt and improve the nation’s water resources infrastructure. Alex Herrgott, Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, described the Administration’s objectives to reform the regulatory review process, with better coordination across government.

Honing in on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Major General Scott A. Spellmon, Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations, and Mr. Edward Belk, Chief, Program Integration Division, provided an overview of the Civil Works program and funding priorities. Mr. Thomas P. Smith, Director of Operations and Regulatory, discussed the Corps’ efforts to streamline the regulatory process, as well as ongoing pilot programs working with their civil works stakeholders.

The Honorable Sam Graves, the newly-minted Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, described committee efforts to move an infrastructure bill this year, as well as their plans to gear up for a WRDA in 2020 this fall. A bipartisan panel of Capitol Hill experts, Brian Clifford, Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and his counterpart John Kane, along with Ryan Seiger, Staff Director and Senior Counsel of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, and his counterpart Ian Bennitt, also pledged their commitment to move a WRDA in 2020, and discussed working across the aisle and the Hill to achieve success.

Addressing the ongoing effort to ensure adequate funding, Aimee Andres of the trade association Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals offered options on additional funding for inland waterways projects.

Download speaker presentations.

Aimee Andres, Executive Director, Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals, Inc. IRPT (580KB)

Edward E. Belk, Jr. PE, Chief, Programs Integration Division, Directorate of Civil Works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers USACE Civil Works Program Update (5,996KB)

Thomas P. Smith, Director of Operations and Regulatory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Thomas P. Smith, PE, SES (3,675KB)

MG Scott Spellmon, Deputy Commanding General for Civil And Emergency Operations MG Scott Spellmon (15,321 KB)

Thank You to our 2019 Legislative Summit Sponsors!

Platinum – Tarrant Regional Water District

Gold – Alabama State Port Authority, CDM Smith, Trinity River Authority of Texas

Silver – Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, Halff Associates, Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel Company, Port of Memphis, Red River Waterway Commission

Bronze – Freese and Nichols, Inc., QRI