Your Outreach Needed for FY '15 River Locks Funding
Waterways Council Release
11 March 2014
WCI has developed an urgent Action Alert for its members and
stakeholders to send letters to Members of the House and Senate as
they formulate the FY ’15 Energy & Water Development
Appropriations bill. The President's FY 2015 budget request
cut -- by 32% -- construction of inland river navigation projects
below the enacted FY 2014 level. Unless changed by Congress,
this will have big implications for funding availability for
inland river projects and the system's operation &
maintenance. Please send your Representatives and
Senators a note requesting action in submitting FY 2015
programmatic and bill language requests to the House Energy and
Water Appropriations Subcommittee in support of the following
three priority Corps of Engineers issues:
FY 2015 Bill language under the Corps’ Construction account
section of the FY 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill
restricting any funds appropriated in FY 2015 for the completion
of Olmsted Dam from being derived from the Inland Waterways Trust
Fund (IWTF);
Appropriating $380 million in Corps’ construction funding to
ensure that the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) funds for the
inland waterway modernization projects are maintained at the
highest level that can be supported by the inland waterway diesel
tax revenues expected to be received for FY 2015 by Treasury for
the IWTF. The Administration's FY 2015 Corps of Engineers
Construction request of $1,125,000,000 represents a 32 % reduction
below the enacted FY 2014 level of $1,656,000,000. Within the
Administration's requested total, only $169,000,000 is proposed
for the construction, replacement, rehabilitation, and expansion
of Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) funded lock and dam
projects; and,
For FY 2015, continue to appropriate and, if possible, increase
the Corps’ O&M account funding level of $2.861 billion that
was provided in FY 2014 for the operation and maintenance
activities of the Corps affecting inland and coastal navigation
throughout the nation. The FY 2015 budget request of $2.6 billion
is 9% lower than the FY 2014 enacted level of funding.
The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee deadline
for Members to submit FY 2015 programmatic and bill/report
language requests is by close of business April 2, 2014.
Thank you for your consideration in taking action on this critical
matter.
Access the Alert here:
http://capwiz.com/wci/issues/alert/?alertid=63135921&PROCESS=Take+Action