U.S. Sen. David Vitter, the lead Senate Republican negotiator for the Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA), yesterday announced that it passed 91-7.
“ This is a huge win for Louisiana that will provide significant coastal restoration, hurricane and flood protection, reforms to the Corps, accelerated projects, and of course, jobs, ” Vitter said. “It’s easily one of the most important bills for Louisiana we’ll pass this year, and we got it done with a strong bipartisan and open process.”
Last week, Vitter and the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee released highlights of the bipartisan, bicameral agreement that was reached on the WRRDA conference report. WRRDA provides critical hurricane and flood protection for communities across the country.
The final bill has several provisions that directly benefit Louisiana including the following:
– Authorization for Morganza to the Gulf;
– Modification to the deepening authorization for the Port of Iberia;
– Coastal and ecosystem restoration through the authorization of six Louisiana Coastal Area projects;
– Critical reforms to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that expedite project delivery and penalize the Corps for missing deadlines;
– Authorization for the Corps to perform future levee lifts for the hurricane protection system;
– Increase in Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund expenditures, prioritization for funding for high-and medium-use ports, and an increase in the threshold for 100% Corps operations and management responsibility from 45-ft to 50-ft.
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Press Release, May 23, 2014