Press Releases

Today the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), legislation to improve the nation’s ports and harbors, inland waterway navigation, flood and storm protection, and other aspects of the nation’s water resources infrastructure.  

The measure approved today is the House Amendment to S. 4367, the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, which is the bipartisan, bicameral product of several months of negotiations between House and Senate leaders after each chamber passed its own version of WRDA legislation earlier this summer. 

In the House, WRDA was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA), Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman David Rouzer (R-NC), and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Grace Napolitano (D-CA). 

The measure approved in the House today by a vote of 399 to 18 now goes to the Senate for final approval before being sent to the President to be signed into law.

“This WRDA delivers critical water resource infrastructure improvements for communities across America – from ports to levees to navigation channels, and more. The bill alo makes reforms at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to streamline processes, reduce cumbersome red tape, and get projects done faster.  This legislation also keeps Congress on the schedule of regularly passing WRDA improvements and reforms every two years,” said Chairman Graves. “This measure also includes important provisions to reauthorize and modernize federal economic development programs, make us better stewards of federally-owned office space and the taxpayers’ money, and repurpose unobligated TIFIA balances to help our states better address their surface transportation infrastructure needs. I want to thank Ranking Member Rick Larsen, Subcommittee Chairman David Rouzer, Subcommittee Ranking Member Grace Napolitano, as well as Chairman Carper and Ranking Member Capito in the Senate, for their hard work in developing and negotiating this final measure.”

“After months of negotiations, this bill represents a carefully crafted agreement across both chambers and parties,” said Chairman Rouzer. “This bipartisan legislation enhances the efficiency of our ports, harbors, and inland navigation systems, bolsters both domestic and international commerce, and strengthens our resilience during natural disasters.  I am grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who helped craft this commonsense legislation, which will have a lasting impact from coast to coast.”

The legislation also has the support of over 200 stakeholders. Click here for statements of support.

WRDA Summary

WRDA authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to undertake locally-driven infrastructure and water resources projects that also deliver regional and national benefits to strengthen the nation’s global competitiveness and supply chain, grow the economy, move goods throughout the country, protect communities from flooding, and more.

Congress has passed WRDA legislation on a bipartisan and biennial basis since 2014.  WRDA 2024 maintains the regular consideration of this important infrastructure legislation, and it provides Congress the opportunity for input into the projects undertaken by the Corps. 

WRDA authorizes over 200 new feasibility studies for locally proposed projects and 22 projects that have been thoroughly reviewed by the Corps and have culminated in a final report to Congress with approval by the Chief of Engineers or the Director of Civil Works.

WRDA also makes commonsense Corps reforms that empower the non-federal project sponsors, increase project transparency, and improve project delivery.  Provisions in WRDA will strengthen existing alternative delivery processes and create similar alternative delivery methods within the continuing authorities program (CAP) for smaller projects.  In addition, the legislation creates a new initiative to assist non-federal interests in accessing resources at the Corps to get new projects studied and constructed.

Click here for more information on WRDA.

Additional Improvements in WRDA

The legislation approved today also reauthorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) National Dam Safety Program through 2028 and makes changes to strengthen the High Hazard Potential Dam program, including requiring that rehabilitated dams be maintained and appropriate floodplain management plans are in place.

The measure includes provisions to increase the efficient use of federally-owned office space, including setting occupancy standards, ensuring federal workers return to the office, strengthening congressional oversight and public accountability of federal real estate projects, selling certain unused federal properties, and saving money for the taxpayers.

The legislation includes provisions to address concerns raised over the past several years by state departments of transportation by redistributing unobligated balances under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program to the states through the existing Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program.

Finally, the agreement reauthorizes and modernizes the Economic Development Administration and other regional commissions whose mission is to spur economic development in distressed communities across the country.

In addition to passing the House Amendment to S. 4367, the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, the House approved the following bills in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s jurisdiction:

• H.R. 8689 – “To require Amtrak to publicly disclose certain bonus compensation paid to Amtrak executives”
• S. 1478 – “To designate United States Route 20 in the States of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts as the "National Medal of Honor Highway"”
• S. 3475 – “To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow the Secretary of Transportation to designate an authorized operator of the commercial driver's license information system”
• S. 50 – “To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to give priority consideration to selecting Pensacola and Perdido Bays as an estuary of national significance”
• S. 3613 – “To require Facility Security Committees to respond to security recommendations issued by the Federal Protective Service relating to facility security”
• S. 310 – “To establish an advisory group to encourage and foster collaborative efforts among individuals and entities engaged in disaster recovery relating to debris removal”
• H.R. 2892 – “To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the effectiveness of local alerting systems”
• H.R. 2672 – “To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide for the authority to reimburse local governments or electric cooperatives for interest expenses”
• H.R. 7671 – “To amend section 324 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to incentivize States, Indian Tribes, and Territories to close disaster recovery projects by authorizing the use of excess funds for management costs for other disaster recovery projects”
• H.R. 9541 – “To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize Federal agencies to provide certain essential assistance for hazard mitigation for electric utilities”