House Committee Advances WRDA 2026 Legislation
This week, Congress moved another step closer to passing its biennial water resources infrastructure legislation on time for the seventh consecutive cycle. On Tuesday July 14, the House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee unanimously approved H.R. 9497, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2026. The committee had originally scheduled to mark up its WRDA bill on Wednesday, July 1st, shortly after it had been introduced. However, the markup was delayed when the House went into recess following infighting on the House floor, preventing business from being completed. H.R. 9497 authorizes 131 new project feasibility studies and 10 new water resources infrastructure projects. It includes policy provisions supporting infrastructure resilience, flood control programs, and improvements to project delivery.
ASCE Priorities Included in the House WRDA Bill
The House bill included several of ASCE’s 2026 WRDA legislative priorities. This most notably includes a 5-year reauthorization of the High Hazard Potential Dam Rehabilitation Grant Program, as well as an adjustment to the National Dam Safety Program’s State Assistance Grant allocation formula removing low-head dams from the calculation used by FEMA, ensuring states to not receive less grant money because they do not have the capacity or mandate to accurately count low-head dams. The bill also supports efforts to improve maintenance dredging by supporting greater coordination with state, local and other non-federal stakeholders. Finally, the House bill takes steps to help address the Corps’ water resources project backlog, which has grown to over $100 billion. The bill would expedite completion of several water resources projects authorized under previous WRDA bills and would also accelerate completion of inland waterways projects in areas where a federal emergency has been declared. H.R. 9497 passed out of committee unanimously and now awaits consideration by the full House.
Senate WRDA Bill Adds Water Infrastructure Reauthorizations
On Wednesday, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW) held a markup for its own WRDA bill, S. 4949, which was introduced this past Monday, July 13th. Like its companion in the House, the committee advanced the bill unanimously to the full Senate. This year’s Senate WRDA bill would authorize 15 new water resources projects for the Corps, as well as 61 project feasibility studies. The bill also includes provisions supporting flood control and project delivery, including establishment of new categorical exceptions from environmental review process for projects authorized under continuing authority programs, environmental infrastructure projects, and projects where the Federal cost share does not exceed $50,000.
Like the House’s WRDA bill, S. 4949 also includes multiple ASCE WRDA priorities, such as a reauthorization of the High Hazard Program, the adjustment of the National Dam Safety Program State Assistance Grant formula, and requirements for greater cooperation on maintenance dredging activities. Unlike the House bill, the Senate bill does include an extension of the National Levee Safety Program through 2031, as requested by ASCE. This will ensure that the program will be able to continue its development uninterrupted for the next 5 years.
Key SRF and WIFIA Provisions in the Senate Package
Due to its expanded jurisdiction over Environmental Protection Agency programs, the Senate EPW Committee was also able to include the reauthorization of critical water infrastructure funding and financing programs in its WRDA bill. The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), support low-interest loans for water infrastructure improvements. It reauthorizes the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, which supports loans for high-cost water infrastructure projects exceeding $20 million. The SRF programs and WIFIA each received a 4-year reauthorization. These programs were last reauthorized in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Each program received an increase in its authorized funding level. The DWSRF is authorized to receive funding up to $3.75 billion in FY 27, with an increase of $250 million each year until 2030, when the authorized level would be $4.5 billion. The CWSRF and WIFIA programs received authorized funding of $3.5 billion and $65 million per year through 2030 respectively. While these represent annual authorization increases for these critical programs, IIJA reauthorized these programs for 5 years, while S. 4949 provides only a 4-year reauthorization. The committee did not include any provisions limiting use of SRF appropriations for community funded projects, or earmarks. Without efforts to address this, appropriators can continue to take funding off the top of SRF appropriations and fund water infrastructure projects that do not go through regular SRF review processes and allow for loans to be paid back into the fund, which makes the programs revolving funds.
Lead Service Lines, PFAS, and Water Workforce Provisions
However, the Senate bill did make projects to address lead service line removal and addressing emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) eligible to receive SRF loans, which will help support efforts which were funded under IIJA to address these challenges. It would also reauthorize a program to support efforts to address sewer overflow and stormwater reuse challenges. Finally, it supports efforts to improve the water workforce by reauthorizing the Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Program and allows these grants to be used to train water sector employees in cybersecurity measures.
Next Steps for WRDA 2026 in Congress
ASCE is excited to see Congress’s WRDA process move into what will hopefully be its final stages for 2026. After the House and Senate pass their respective bills, House T&I and Senate EPW are expected to meet over the remainder of this summer and into fall to iron out differences between the two bills. Once they have produced a final agreement, it is expected to pass into law by the end of this year, marking the 7th consecutive time WRDA will have been signed into law on its every 2-year schedule. ASCE will continue to monitor developments surrounding the House and Senate WRDA bills and will continue to advocate for its priorities throughout the remainder of the process. This includes the inclusion of Senate language related to EPA programs and the Senate’s reauthorization of the National Levee Safety Program in a final, conferenced, bill.