Senate Committee Approves Water Resources Development Act of 2016

In April, the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA) by a strong, bipartisan vote of 19-1.

The main purpose of the bill is to authorize a variety of public works, navigation and environmental restoration projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers while making relatively modest reforms to Corps’ policies and programs. Committee leaders had earlier pledged to use the bill to advance several other proposals to shore up the nation’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and followed through by adding a water infrastructure title largely made up of proposals that were first offered on Capitol Hill in response to the Flint water crisis.