House Passes HR 8812 – Water Resources Development Act

Yesterday, the House took up HR 8812 [removed from paywall], the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, under the suspension of the rules process. After almost 30 minutes of debate a vote was demanded in lieu of a voice vote on the bill. Subsequently, the House voted 359 to 13 (with 59 members not voting) to pass the bill. Twelve Republicans (no points for guessing who) voted against the bill.

Only one member spoke in opposition to the bill during the debate, Rep Cole (R,OK). Cole noted that (H4705):

“Creating self-funded agencies also removes them from the top-line spending caps on appropriations, thereby increasing total spending and taking another piece of total spending outside of fiscal controls. Finally, it is the Appropriations Committee’s exclusive jurisdiction to determine how much funding each Federal agency must work with, by carefully balancing the needs of the entire Federal Government. Putting certain agencies or activities outside of appropriations makes comprehensive budgeting more difficult, as agencies evade congressional controls.”

Cole voted to pass the bill.

There is one cybersecurity provision in the bill (Section 136). It provides restrictions on the Army Corps of Engineers new employment of remote operations of at a navigation or hydroelectric power generating facility without first notifying Congress that certain actions have been taken. Those action would include specific activities to address “cyber and physical security risks”.

Review - Congressional Hearings – Week of 7-21-24

This week, with both the House and Senate back in Washington (and looking forward to their August Recess). In addition to some high-profile hearings (not covered here) on the attempted Trump assassination, there is a full slate of hearings in both bodies. Spending bills are being teed up in the House with a Rules Committee hearing. There are two transportation related hearings in the House. There is one cybersecurity regulatory panel scheduled.

Spending Bills

The House Rules Committee will meet today to formulate the rule for the consideration of four spending bills (FinServices, IER, EWR, and ARD).

The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday to mark up four spending bill; CJS, IER, State, and Thud.

Transportation Hearings

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on “Examining the State of Rail Safety in the Aftermath of the Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio”.

On Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on “Examining the Department of Transportation’s Regulatory and Administrative Agenda”.

will not be a DOT spokesperson on the panel.

Cybersecurity

On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will hold a hearing on “Enhancing Cybersecurity by Eliminating Inconsistent Regulations”.

Markup Hearings

On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting. The bills of interest here include:

S 4630, Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act,

S 4697, Healthcare Cybersecurity Act of 2024, and

S 4715, Federal Cyber Workforce Training Act of 2024

On the Floor

In addition to the two spending bills described above, The House will be taking up 20 bills under the suspension of the rules process, including the following bill of interest here: HR 8812, Water Resources Development Act. That will be considered today, though a final vote (if needed) may not happen until later this week.

 

For more details about these hearings, including witness lists, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/congressional-hearings-week-of-7 - subscription required.

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.

Bills Introduced – 6-25-24

Yesterday, with just the House in Washington and the Senate meeting in pro forma session, there were 33 bills introduced. Two of those bills may receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 8812 Water Resources Development Act of 2024 Graves, Sam [Rep.-R-MO-6] 

HR 8816 American Medical Innovation and Investment Act of 2024 Buchanan, Vern [Rep.-R-FL-16]

I will be watching both bills for the inclusion of definitions or language that would include cybersecurity requirements, or in the case of HR 8816, chemical safety or security issues.