NWC NEWS ALERT (July 13, 2023)

Good afternoon NWC members,

Big news on the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) authorization in 2024 NWC members!

On the Senate side, which typically starts their WRDA process earlier, the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) has announced they are kicking off their WRDA process with a two-pronged approach.

First, they have opened their process to accept study, project, and policy proposals for the yet-to-be-drafted bill. All proposals must go directly through your Senators—the committee will not be taking stakeholder recommendations directly. It is recommended that you contact your Senator(s) to find out their internal process for accepting WRDA 2024 related study, project and policy recommendations. Per a Dear Colleague sent out to Senators earlier this week, EPW will accept Senator requests until Friday, October 6, and lays out further parameters of the submissions.

Second, EPW has scheduled a WRDA 2024 hearing for next Thursday. The July 20 hearing, The Water Resources Development Act of 2024: Non-Federal Stakeholder Views, kicks off at 9:30am ET and features non-Federal speakers from the Port of Los Angeles, Metro Flood Diversion Authority, Bay Beach Association and Cooper Consolidated.

The House of Representatives expects to start their WRDA 2024 process later this year.

WRDA is a biennial bill that authorizes studies, projects, and policies for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works program. It is only step one of a two step process to get studies and projects moving forward. Step two is getting the projects funded through the annual appropriations process in the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bill.

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