Congress Moves Forward with WRDA 2024
June 27, 2024
This week, the House of Representatives took a big step towards passing its biennial water resources infrastructure bill. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 (H.R. 8812) was formally introduced on Tuesday, and was marked up by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday. The bill authorizes 12 new U.S. Army Corps of......
ASCE: household, family savings from infrastructure investments
May 13, 2024
New ASCE economic study shows that American families and businesses save money if Congress, states, and the private sector continue recent investments....
January 25, 2024
In 1996, Congress authorized the creation of the National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) to support dam safety programs at the state level nationwide. Since it was first established, the NDSP has become the primary source of federal funding for state dam safety programs, supporting activities such as dam inspection and monitoring, emergency preparedness, and staffing......
New Report Shows Rising Cost of Repairing the Nation’s Dams
April 20, 2023
On April 14, 2023, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) announced the release of a new report detailing the current cost of repairing and rehabilitating the nation’s non-federal dams. According to the report titled The Cost of Rehabilitating Dams in the U.S.: A Methodology and Estimate shows that the current cost of rehabilitating......
Lame-Duck Look Ahead: Water Resources Development Act
November 03, 2022
With the midterm elections less than a week away, pressure continues to mount on Congress to pass several critical year-end pieces of legislation. Included in this slate will be the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). WRDA, the biennial legislation which authorizes water resources projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and makes......
Senate EPW Committee Advances the 2022 WRDA Bill
May 05, 2022
Last Friday, the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee released S. 4137, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) for 2022. The committee held a brief but collegial hearing on Wednesday where the bill was unanimously reported favorably to the Senate floor. The full Senate is expected to take up WRDA by early June, with......
Congress Begins 2022 WRDA Process with Key Hearings
January 13, 2022
This week, Congress officially opened its public process for the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) for 2022. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Public Works Michael Connor and Chief of Engineers Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers appeared before House Transportation & Infrastructure Water Resources Subcommittee and the Senate Environment......
Congressional Committees Meet to Discuss Hurricane Ida Response
October 07, 2021
As Congress continues to negotiate passage of President Biden’s agenda, multiple committees met this week to discuss the administration’s response to Hurricane Ida, which caused nearly 100 deaths and resulted in billions of dollars in damage from Louisiana up into the northeast. On September 30, Congress passed a continuing resolution to extend government funded, but......
South Carolina Civil Engineers Give the State’s Infrastructure a “D+” Grade
September 08, 2021
On Wednesday, September 8, the South Carolina Section of ASCE unveiled the 2021 Report Card for South Carolina’s Infrastructure, the first report card ever issues by the South Carolina Section. The report assigned the state’s systems a cumulative grade of “D+” which is below the national grade of “C-.” The report analyzed eight categories of......
Now is the Time for Strong Infrastructure Investment
March 08, 2021
Guest Post by John Barton, PE, Senior Vice President, HNTB We can do better Infrastructure investment is needed now. Clearly the last 15 months have taught us the urgency of why now is the time. The lack of spending on infrastructure has been devasting. Blackouts in Texas. Wildfires in California, Oregon and Colorado. The alphabetical......