The House of Representatives on September 28 approved H.R. 5303, its own version of the “Water Resources Development Act,” after lawmakers reached a deal on a placeholder amendment to authorize $170 million worth of infrastructure assistance to Flint, Michigan through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The agreement came after the House Rules Committee rejected an earlier amendment to deliver water infrastructure funding through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) – two EPA programs that were ruled not germane to the House legislation.
Unlike the version of WRDA approved by the Senate earlier in September (S. 2848), the House’s bill narrowly focused on authorizing Army Corps projects and studies and did not include broader drinking water infrastructure provisions. This meant that funding to help Flint recover from its water crisis was left out of the original House bill, though influential Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill had pledged to support the Senate-approved funding – including $100 million for Flint through the DWSRF and $70 million in credit subsidy for water projects nationwide through WIFIA – when a conference committee meets later this year to negotiate the final legislation.
Regardless of the Republicans’ pledge, Democrats loudly objected to the exclusion of Flint funding from the original House bill, and threatened to vote en masse not only against H.R. 5303, but also a stopgap government funding bill that was necessary to avoid a government shutdown at midnight on September 30. These objections only grew when the House Rules Committee rejected an amendment from Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) that would have added the Senate’s DWSRF and WIFIA funds to the House bill. The Republican-controlled committee determined the amendment would violate House rules because the underlying legislation did not already include provisions affecting EPA programs.
Facing increasing pressure to reach a deal, lawmakers eventually agreed to add a different amendment from Rep. Kildee to H.R. 5303. The new amendment would not use EPA programs like the DWSRF or WIFIA to deliver any water infrastructure funds, but instead would authorize the Army Corps to provide up to $170 million in infrastructure assistance to Flint and other communities facing public health emergencies due to drinking water contamination. By authorizing funds through the Army Corps the amendment stayed germane to the remainder of the House bill, thereby keeping consistent with House rules. And while this amendment does not actually guarantee funding like the Senate bill would, indications are that it is intended to function as a placeholder to demonstrate the House’s support for some degree of Flint assistance when conference negotiations on a final WRDA bill get underway. When the final bill is written, it appears much more likely that lawmakers will use the Senate-approved DWSRF and WIFIA language as a basis to deliver water infrastructure assistance to Flint and other communities across the country.
Should conference negotiations proceed smoothly, Congress could vote on a final WRDA bill soon after lawmakers return to Washington in November.