NWC Federal Spotlight
January 7, 2022, Edition
Happy New Year NWC members!
We hope your holidays and new year was everything you had hoped and filled with joy, love and thankfulness. Below are a few updates about what is going on in DC and within NWC.
Congress returned this week for the 2022 session. The Senate was back this week to work on nominations, although they started a day late due to the east coast snowstorm. Next week the House returns as well. Congress has a lot on their plate, including several issues that were punted from last year. But they have a limited amount of time to do it since it is an election year (the election is in a little over 300 days). According to Congressional calendars, the Senate is expected to be in 171 days in 2022, including 146 before election day, over the course of 36 weeks. The House, on the other hand, has 21 voting weeks scheduled, with a total of 112 days in session. In the short-term, Congress may revisit President Biden’s Build Back Better package which stalled before the holidays, address voting rights and potentially filibuster reform and finish FY 2022 appropriations. Additionally, Congressional leaders are hard at work on the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Both the House and Senate kick off hearings on WRDA next week (more on that below).
On the federal agency front, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a new memo yesterday on how USACE and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) evaluate the effects that existing structures have on endangered species. While originally crafted for the Puget Sound region, the memo may have far-reaching implications for water and waterways infrastructure nationally. NWC is forming a small work group to dig into the potential implications of this memo—if you are interested in serving on this group, please let Julie Ufner know.
A bit of gossip on USACE’s work plan for the November 2021 passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58) is expected to be released on January 18. IIJA contained $17.1 billion in emergency appropriations to several USACE programs, including 68 percent for construction, 23 percent for operation and maintenance and five percent for Mississippi River and Tributaries.
On the status of NWC’s 2022 Legislative Summit, we are still working on assessing the best path forward and have tentatively blocked off the week of April 25. There is still a lot of uncertainty in our nation’s capital about the state of meetings. For those of you planning to do earlier trips to visit with your members of Congress, please be aware that the official physician of the Capitol urged members earlier in the week to reduce in-person activities “to the maximum extent possible,” which includes staff telework. While the physician indicated that most covid-19 cases are mild, the office is taking this stance out of concern due to long-term COVID cases. Additionally, most of the Capitol complex is still restricted due to the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Moreover, while many federal agencies had indicated plans to bring employees back in early January, these plans have been delayed for at least a month or more.
Finally, please note that NWC has several NWC caucus meetings coming up in January, including one with a speaker from MARAD. Please refer below for more information.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Best,
Julie Ufner
NWC President and CEO
BUILD BACK BETTER. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had intended to pass President Biden’s $1.7 trillion Build Back Better plan, before the holidays but ran into a roadblock after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV.) said he would vote against it as written. As a result, the bill has been temporarily delayed as Senate Democrats and the White House negotiate with Manchin. Since Congress is using the reconciliation process to pass BBB, they only need a simple majority. However, since the Senate is currently split 50-50, every vote is important. One of the outstanding sticking points is the child tax credit. One of the options is to scale back the bill or break the bill into pieces to move them individually.
FY2022 APPROPRIATIONS. Last year, Congress couldn’t come to agreement on their FY2022 appropriations package, so they passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government until Feb. 18 to give members time to come up with compromise language. These talks are still ongoing with no agreement. In the water and waterways space there are areas of contention for both the Interior and Energy and Water appropriations packages. On Interior, which funds EPA programs, Democrats want to block implementation of several Trump-era environmental provisions. On the Energy and Water language, there is disagreement on how Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund monies should be used. If Congressional leaders do not come to agreement by next month, there is already talk of another CR. This is problematic since federal agencies would be required to operate at FY2021 spending levels for the however long the CR lasts. Additionally, and concurrently, Congress will need to start conversations on FY2023 which will start on October 1, 2022.
2022 WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT. Focus on the next WRDA is heating up on Capitol Hill with two hearings scheduled in both the House and Senate next week. The hearings will feature Mr. Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works of the Department of the Army and Lieutenant General Scott A. Spellmon, the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Connor and Spellman will focus on administration WRDA 2022 priorities, as well as WRDA oversight for projects, policies and procedures. Since last fall, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has been collecting “legislative text, agency technical assistance or requested report language” from Senators. This process closed in mid-December. The House is expected to open their member-only portal early this year. Both chambers would like to have bills done by this summer with a potential compromise bill by the fall. NWC, through our Legislative Policy Committee, has been hard at work on developing WRDA 2022 asks. More information on the hearings is below.
NWC is working with their Legislative Policy Committee to develop a list of WRDA 2022 priorities for Senate and House consideration.
Upcoming Capitol Hill hearings of interest:
- HEARING. Hearing to examine the opportunities and challenges for maintaining existing hydropower capacity, expanding hydropower at non-powered dams, and increasing pumped storage hydropower (Tuesday, January 11 at 10am ET) before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. For more information, click here.
- HEARING. Proposals for a Water Resources Development Act of 2022: Administration Priorities (Wednesday, January 12 at 10am ET) before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. For more information, click here.
- HEARING. An Oversight Hearing to Examine the Water Resources Development Act, Focusing on USACE Implementation of Water Infrastructure Projects, Programs, and Priorities (Wednesday, January 12 at 3pm ET) before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. For more information, click here.
USACE/FEMA. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL LEVEE SAFETY PROGRAM (Comments due March 31, 2022). On December 28, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the Phase 1 launch of the National Levee Safety Program. In Phase 1, USACE and FEMA will collect input on the purpose and scope of four priority areas within the program on National Levee Safety Guidelines; Integrated Levee Management; National Levee Database and Data Collection; and Implementation Support. As part of this process, the agencies will undertake stakeholder engagement to 1) understand the needs of the stakeholders this program is intended to support; 2). Provide opportunities for meaningful input to shape decisions and outcomes on program design, components, and products; and 3) ensure that the unique challenges related to levees faced by disadvantage communities and tribes are well understood and incorporated into solutions. Comments are due March 31, 2022 and can be submitted either through regulations.gov or via email to hq-leveesafety@usace.army.mil include the docket number, COE-2021-0007, in the subject line of the message. NWC will work with NWC’s Flood Control Caucus, as well as NWC’s Legislative Policy Committee, to craft comments.
EPA/USACE. PROPOSED RULE TO RE-ESTABLISH PRE-2015 WOTUS RULE (Comments due February 7, 2022). On November 18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) announced a pre-proposal of a 290-page proposed rule to re-establish the pre-2015 definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS), which are the 1986 WOTUS regulations (with amendments). Once the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, the agencies will accept public comments for 60 days. WOTUS is a term used in the Clean Water Act to differentiate between which waters are regulated under state vs federal law and there is only one WOTUS definition used across a host of CWA programs. This rule would put back into place the pre-1986 WOTUS rule, of which led to three supreme court decisions, because of how the rule was being interpreted by the agencies. While the administration says they plan to write a new WOTUS definition (once the pre-2015 definition is in place), this will be a longer-term process. NWC’s Flood Control and Water Supply Caucuses are examining this proposed rule for potential comments.
FEMA. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM’S FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT STANDARDS FOR LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE, AND AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PROGRAM’S IMPACT ON THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES AND THEIR HABITATS (Comments due January 27, 2022). On October 12, the Federal Emergency Management Agency published a request for information on potential changes to the National Flood Insurance Program, including incorporation of endangered species considerations into NFIP decisions. In the request, FEMA asks for comments on if, and how, NFIP should be changed, and examples on how they could include endangered species and habitat into NFIP plans and programs. NWC has convened a small working group to formulate comments. If your organization has submitted comments, please share with Julie Ufner, NWC President.
NWC Legislative Policy Committee and caucuses have been hard at work. All of NWC’s caucuses have been tasked with developing and vetting proposed provisions for WRDA2022. LPC did their initial vet last Thursday during their December call. Additionally, NWC is working with a small work group to develop comments for FEMA’s request for information on changes to the National Flood Insurance Program—these comments are due on January 27, 2022. If you would like to serve on this work group, please let Julie Ufner know.
NWC CAUCUS MEETING. NWC NAVIGATION CAUCUS MEETING: (Tuesday, January 11 at 2pm ET). We have a special quest for our Jan. 11, 2022, virtual meeting. Mrs. Branden Leay Villalona from the Maritime Administration will join us to discuss MARAD’s focus in 2022. The Navigation Caucus focuses on opportunities and challenges to keep inland and deep draft navigation channels open and usable, as well as issues that may impact those entities that depend on these waterways. Primary federal agencies of interest include but are not limited to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Maritime Administration. Caucus membership is open to all NWC members. If interested in serving, please reach out to Julie Ufner, NWC President.
NWC CAUCUS MEETING. NWC FLOOD CONTROL CAUCUS MEETING (Friday, January 21 at 12:30pm ET). At this meeting, the Flood Control Caucus will delve deeper into potential comments on WOTUS. The Flood Control and Management Caucus is charged with examining issues tied to flood management, risk and flood control for waterways and levees nationally. Primary federal agencies of interest include but are not limited to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
NWC CAUCUS MEETING. NWC WATER SUPPLY CAUCUS MEETING (Friday, January 21 at 2pm ET). Like the Flood Control Caucus, NWC’s Water Supply Caucus will discuss potential impacts of the proposed WOTUS rule, along with other water supply-related issues. The Water Supply/Reuse Caucus is tasked with studying issues that pertain to water supply storage and reuse issues. Primary federal agencies of interest include but are not limited to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Bureau of Reclamation.
NWC POLICY MEETING. NWC LEGISLATIVE POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING (Thursday, February 3 at 4pm ET). NWC’s Legislative Policy Committee (LPC) serves as the primary advisor on NWC federal policy positions and decisions. Comprised of a broad scope of NWC membership, LPC is a consensus-based committee that is tasked with studying issues, recommending new federal policy positions, and drafting and signing off on NWC letters. LPC meets face-to-face twice a year at NWC’s Legislative Summit and Annual Meeting and holds monthly video calls on the first Thursday of the month. LPC is open to all interested NWC members. If interested in serving on LPC, please reach out to Julie Ufner, NWC President.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you again for your support of NWC!
Best,
Julie Ufner, NWC