A final agreement has been reached on the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA) following negotiations over recent months to reconcile U.S. House- and U.S. Senate-passed versions of the legislation, according to U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).

“This bill will move our country forward by bolstering our infrastructure and strengthening our economy,” Sen. Capito said. “I’m proud of the agreement that we reached with our House colleagues and I look forward to voting for this bill in the following weeks.”

“This agreement includes additional reforms advanced by our committee this Congress that will improve the utilization of public building office space, reduce the amount of taxpayer dollars wasted on empty federal buildings, and get federal workers back in the office,” Rep. Graves, chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, said on Tuesday.

The congressman, along with T&I Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) and U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) and EPW Ranking Member Sen. Capito reconciled S. 4367, which Sens. Capito and Carper introduced on May 20 to provide for both improvements to the rivers and harbors of the United States, and the conservation and development of water and related resources, according to the bill’s text. 

The WRDA is biennial legislation that authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program to carry out projects to improve the nation’s ports and harbors, inland waterway navigation, flood and storm protection, and other aspects of the nation’s water resources infrastructure. 

“WRDA regularly delivers critical water resources infrastructure improvements for communities across America,” Rep. Graves said. “This bill will lead to improved ports, levees, navigation channels, flood protection, and more. WRDA also makes policy and programmatic reforms to streamline Corps processes, reduce cumbersome red tape, and get projects done faster.”

The WRDA legislative agreement includes provisions to increase the efficient use of federally owned office space, including setting occupancy standards, strengthening congressional oversight and public accountability of federal real estate projects, and selling certain unused federal properties, according to a summary of the agreement.

Other provisions in the agreement would redistribute unobligated balances under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program to states through the existing Surface Transportation Block Grant program.

Finally, the agreement also would reauthorize and modernize the Economic Development Administration and other regional commissions that work to spur economic development in distressed communities across the country.

“WRDA is the result of bipartisan cooperation and our shared desire to address the water resource challenges that our nation faces,” Sen. Capito said. “It provides the tools that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to further enable their work across the country and supports vital projects in West Virginia’s communities.”

Originally approved by the Senate on Aug. 1 and sent to the House, the revamped S. 4367 now awaits action by the House.