U.S. House Passes Port Dredging, Improvement Bill
The U.S. House on Oct. 23 passed the Water Resources Reform Development Act, authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with dredging and other improvements at ports that would allow massive cargo ships coming through a widened Panama Canal to dock.
Known as WRRDA, the water transportation and infrastructure bill authorizes the work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The bill was approved on a 417-3 vote.
The 23 projects named in the bill would cost $8.2 billion, but in order to pay for the work Congress would have to pass separate funding legislation.
WRRDA now goes to House and Senate conferees in order to work out differences with the Senate’s water reauthorization bill passed in May.
In addition to authorizing flood control and other river projects, the bill allows the Army Corps to proceed with dredging at ports including Savannah, Ga.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Freeport, Texas.
Once the widened Panama Canal is opened in 2015, large cargo ships dubbed “Panamax” can navigate the waterway but will require deeper harbors to dock, which has Gulf Coast and East Coast ports scrambling for dredging funds.
