NWC News Alert (March 9, 2022, edition)

Dear NWC members,

After months of will they, won’t they, Congress has released the text of a $1.5 trillion FY2022 omnibus appropriations package (H.R. 2471). This bill contains funding for all 12 FY2022 appropriations bills and supplemental funding on COVID-19 efforts and to support Ukraine. While Congressional leaders hope to pass H.R. 2471 by Friday, which is when the current continuing resolution (CR) will run out, concurrently they will also vote on another CR to keep the federal government funded until March 15. NWC is currently reading and hopes to have a high-level analysis available soon.

According to a committee summary which was released in the wee hours of the morning, the Army Corps of Engineers would receive a total of $8.3 billion for FY2022. This is an increase of $548 million above the fiscal year 2021 level and an increase of $1.6 billion above the budget request.

  • Investigations – The bill provides $143 million, an increase of $37.2 million above the request.
  • Construction – The bill provides $2.49 billion, an increase of $700 million above the request.
  • Operation and Maintenance – The bill provides $4.57 billion, an increase of $720 million above the fiscal year 2021 level and $2.07 billion above the request.
  • Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund projects receive an estimated $2.05 billion, an increase of $370 million above fiscal year 2021 and $424.1 million above the request. The bill provides these funds in accordance with the budgetary adjustments made by the CARES Act and the Water Resources Development Act of 2020.
  • Funds the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program to provide $500 million in loans for non-federal water infrastructure.
  • Mississippi River and Tributaries account receives $370 million.

Resources:

  • To read the legislative text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, click here.
  • To read the joint explanatory summaries, click here.
  • A full summary of the 12 appropriations bills is here.
  • To view a fact sheet on the Energy-Water portion of the bill, click here.