House subcommittee marks up FY2011 energy & water appropriations bill
Today, the House Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee marked up their FY2011 funding bill for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Department of Energy.
Spreadsheets that identify project funding levels were made available by the subcommittee this afternoon. They are arranged by business line for the Corps of Engineers (Construction, General Investigations, O&M, etc.). These tables reflect the projects that were included in the President's budget, and also specify whether a member of the House of Representatives has sent a message to the Appropriations Committee indicating support for a particular project. The House project tables note that the following PNWA-supported projects are recommended for funding increases for FY2011:
Columbia River at the Mouth (MCR) O&M - $12,850,000 in President's budget, $14,850,000 in House bill (requested by Rep. Brian Baird, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Rep. David Wu, and Rep. Jay Inslee)
Tillamook Bay & Bar (Port of Garibaldi) O&M - zero in President's budget, $90,000 in House bill (requested by Rep. Kurt Schrader)
Elliott Bay Seawall study - zero in President's budget, $1,400,000 in House bill (requested by Rep. Norm Dicks and Rep. Jim McDermott)
Puyallup River flood damage reduction study - zero in President's budget, $450,000 in House bill (requested by Rep. Norm Dicks and Rep. Adam Smith)
Skagit River flood control study - zero in President's budget, $1,137,000 in House bill (requested by Rep. Rick Larsen)
The funding tables also reflected an FY2011 recommended spending level of $11,075,000 for the Columbia Basin Project, through the Bureau of Reclamation.
The $2M increase that was included for the "Columbia River at the Mouth/MCR" is targeted for work at the Columbia River jetties. Please see PNWA's fact sheet for more information on this project.
Though there were relatively few project increases in the House tables when compared to the President's budget, it is important to note that spending levels for all PNWA-supported projects were maintained in the House bill. This includes the following projects, which received critical support from the Northwest Congressional delegation:
$4,700,000 for Lower Columbia River ecosystem restoration (supported by Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. Brian Baird)
$800,000 for Mt. St. Helens sediment control (supported by Rep. Brian Baird)
$24,868,000 for Columbia & Lower Willamette below Vancouver & Portland (C&LW) O&M (supported by Rep. Brian Baird)
$4,697,000 for Coos Bay O&M (supported by Rep. Peter DeFazio)
$708,000 for Siuslaw River O&M (supported by Rep. Peter DeFazio)
$62,000 for Swinomish Channel O&M (supported by Rep. Rick Larsen)
$800,000 for Umpqua River O&M (supported by Rep. Peter DeFazio)
$1,786,000 for Yaquina Bay & Harbor (Port of Newport) O&M (supported by Rep. Kurt Schrader)
Also, the following notable projects are part of the funding that was provided in the President's budget:
$137M for Columbia and Willamette River fish mitigation efforts, to comply with the FCRPS BiOp
$4.6M to help fund the upcoming gate replacement at The Dalles
$3.5M for the Programmatic Sediment Management Plan (PSMP) dispersed over the four Snake River projects
$2.4M for large scale concrete repair for the navlock walls at Lower Monumental
$1M for clean-up at the U.S. Moorings federal dredge berths in Portland
$750K for a modeling of a cap for the north and south jetties of the Columbia River, and environmental clearances
PNWA's updated FY2011 navigation funding document will be posted to www.pnwa.net shortly. Please note that PNWA's document will continue to be updated when the Senate creates its bill, as well as any changes provided by regional Corps officials regarding navigation-oriented capabilities at projects our members support.
We look forward to another successful year of partnership with the Northwest Congressional delegation in working to achieve the highest funding levels possible for these projects. Please contact us with any questions you may have.
PNWA staff contact: Kristin Meira |
