Review - HR 8812 Introduced – Water Resources Development

Last week, Rep Graves (R,MO) introduced HR 8812, the Water Resources Development Act of 2024. This is the annual authorization bill for the conservation and development of water and related resources. This year’s bill does include cyberphysical security requirements for the remote operations of Corps facilities. The bill would include increases in the amounts authorized for each of the following activities:

• Emergency Streambank and Shoreline Protection ($25 million increased to $50 million),

• Storm And Hurricane Restoration and Impact Minimization Program ($37.5 million increased to $62.5 million),

• Small River and Harbor Improvement Projects ($10 million increased to $12.5 million),

• Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration ($10 million increased to $15 million), and

• Removal Of Obstructions; Clearing Channels ($0.5 million to $1 million).

Moving Forward

Graves is the Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. The bill will be considered in committee, and it will be passed. The only question is how much bipartisan support it will receive. I suspect that it will be substantial.

Commentary

While the Republicans in the House are genetically opposed to spending increases, this bill does increase spending for water projects. To be fair the amounts included in this bill are relatively small as far as federal projects go. More importantly congresscritters like to see the big red and white CoE signs that accompany their projects, those signs remind voters of how federal money is coming back into the local economy through the diligent work of their congressional delegation.

 

For more information on the cybersecurity provision in the bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-8812-introduced - subscription required.