The Senate began floor consideration of the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (WRDA) on Monday, May 6th. WRDA authorizes new projects for flood protection, port improvements and upgrades to the nation’s aging locks and dams. Senate sponsors of WRDA (S. 601), Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and David Vitter (R-LA), introduced a manager's amendment to substitute for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public passed bill with some contested elements pruned out. The bill inched forward May 8th with the adoption of the manager's amendment as agreed to on the previous day.
Two noncontroversial amendments were added to the manager's amendment, and while dozens of amendments have been proposed, and more are expected by week’s end, only a handful are likely to be voted on. The Senate approved an amendment by Rep. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to authorize establishment of a National Endowment for the Oceans. The endowment, if eventually funded by other legislation, would provide grants for research, restoration, and conservation efforts for U.S. marine environments and the Great Lakes. The other adopted amendment, by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), would appoint the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the lead agency to coordinate interagency efforts to halt the spread of the voraciously invasive Asian carp.
The leadership of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the committee with primary jurisdiction over WRDA in the House, has indicated that they are not in a rush to take up the Senate WRDA bill. The House expects to hold additional hearings and “listening sessions” on the bill and remains dissatisfied with the way the Senate handled the issue of authorizing projects to move from the study phase to construction. With the House and Senate observing no-earmark policies, the question of how to authorize projects without naming them has challenged the two public works committees. The Senate bill, according to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Bill Shuster, cedes too much authority to the executive branch as to which projects can move to construction. Chairman Shuster has not, however, released an alternative plan for moving projects to construction in light of the current prohibition on earmarks, which applies to authorizing bills as well as appropriations bills.
Work by the full Senate on WRDA can be expected to spill over into the week of May 13th, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said as he urged his colleagues to hasten the pace on the much-needed legislation. According to many observers, formal consideration of WRDA by the House committee will likely occur no earlier than mid-summer.
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