Washington, D.C. – Today the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) approved the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016, which includes provisions that will promote improvements to our drinking water infrastructure and support U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in Rhode Island championed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The bill now moves to the full Senate.
Whitehouse is a member of EPW and helped draft the bill in Committee. He also joined Senator Jack Reed in making a number of Rhode Island-specific requests to address major water resources needs in the state, like the provision to expand the Army Corps’ authority to clean up pilings and other marine debris from Rhode Island waterways.
“In Rhode Island, we need clean and safe waterways to help draw visitors to our tourism industry and commerce to our ports. And from Flint to Providence, we need to do more to ensure that our water infrastructure is safe for American families. That’s why supporting Army Corps projects and investing in our water infrastructure is so important to our state,” said Whitehouse.
Starting in 1974, Congress has enacted a number of WRDA bills, which establish and improve water-related programs and authorize the Army Corps to assist with flood protection, ecosystem restoration, and navigation to facilitate the flow of commerce in U.S. waterways.
In the WRDA bill that passed the Committee today, Whitehouse succeeded in including a provision to expand the Army Corps’ authority to remove marine debris and other obstructions from areas adjacent to navigable federal channels, such as sections of the Providence River that are littered with wooden pilings and an area near the East Providence Yacht Club containing remnants of a now defunct Army Corps bridge. The provision would increase the funding authorization for the Corps’ marine debris clean-up program from $1 million to $5 million.
In addition, the bill includes key provisions to help reduce lead in drinking water and provide assistance to communities experiencing drinking water emergencies, provide financial assistance for small and disadvantaged communities, and promote the use of green infrastructure and other innovations for our water infrastructure.
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