Published: Saturday, July 28, 2007
Congress finalizes $20B bill to develop water resources
Katrina-damaged Louisiana will get about $3.5 billion.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate and House negotiators reached agreement Friday on a bill authorizing Congress to spend about $20 billion for restoring the Louisiana coast and Florida's Everglades, upgrading navigation on the upper Mississippi River and improving flood control efforts nationally.
The Water Resources Development Act, which also would ensure that Army Corps of Engineers' water projects are based in economics and science, won strong backing in the Senate and House earlier this year. It has had trouble passing in recent years because of criticism of Corps operations and projects that some view as pork-barrel spending.
Final votes by both chambers to approve the compromise agreement are expected next week.
Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the long overdue bill would improve the nation's water resources "in a fiscally responsible manner." Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who heads that panel, was unavailable for comment while traveling to Greenland to assess climate change.
Where the money's going
The Senate authorized a $14 billion bill; the House version came to $15 billion. Congressional staff said the final authorization probably would top out closer to $20 billion, with most of the extra authorization money going toward drinking water and wastewater treatment plant projects.
About one-fourth of the authorized money, some $3.5 billion, would go to Katrina-damaged Louisiana. The upper Mississippi and Illinois River area would get $1.95 billion for seven new locks and $1.7 billion for ecosystem restoration.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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