House of Representatives Passes Water Bill, Next up for the Senate The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) was pleased to see the House of Representatives pass H.R. 8, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) on Tuesday, June 6. Biennial water resources legislation is important to the nation to keep federal water resources infrastructure…
ASBPA submits Testimony on Army Corps – Civil Works Budget to House Appropriations Committee. As Congress takes up FY19 appropriations legislation, ASBPA submitted “Outside Witness Testimony for the Record” to the House Energy & Water Appropriations sub-committee with a focus on three areas of the Army Corps of Engineers-Civil Works budget: Shore Protection, construction –…
On Friday, March 23rd, the President signed the FY18 omnibus budget bill, funding the government through September. Coastal agencies finally have predictable funding for the remainder of the year after four short-term continuing resolutions in the past six months prevented them from planning or fully spending out their budgets. ASBPA had weighed in on a…
As Congress begins the process of drafting a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2018, ASBPA is working to improve the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) budgeting and planning process for coastal projects. ASBPA has been working with the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works and House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, to…
Congress passes a $89 billion disaster response bill with funding for coastal restoration and research. Disaster Response Bill Early in the morning of February 9th, Congress passed HR 1892, legislation that set two year spending limits (“budget cap”), lifted the debt ceiling, and allowed for a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government for six…
ASBPA’s 2017 Government Affairs agenda continued to focus on three main areas: Federal Funding, including advocating for funding for coastal projects and coastal research; and changing policies to allow coastal projects to include their full range of benefits in benefit-cost-ratios and thereby compete better for federal funding. Improved permitting and regulatory, including expediting Endangered Species…
Coastal Summit 2018 awards nominations open Nominations are now open for the ASBPA Congressional awards, Congressional Staffer award and Corps award, to be presented on March 21st at the ASBPA awards reception held during the Coastal Summit in Washington, DC, on March 20-22. The deadline is Jan. 19, 2018. Congressional awards include “Coastal Advocate” —…
In the midst of last week’s National Coastal Conference in Fort Lauderdale, ASBPA Executive Director, Derek Brockbank, was able to join the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee’s Roundtable in Miami to launch the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2018. The Roundtable had nine members of Congress including T&I Committee chair, Bill Shuster, and the…
As the United States weathers our worst hurricane season in years, and communities in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Island and the Atlantic seaboard try to recover, ASBPA is working to ensure that beaches, dunes, wetlands and coastal resilience are included in whatever emergency funding bill Congress develops. Most of the destruction from Hurricanes…
As Congress heads out of DC for its August recess/district work period[1], here’s an update of where coastal FY18 appropriations stand. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) coastal appropriations. The full House of Representatives passed the Energy & Water Appropriations Bill on July 27th as part of a “mini-omnibus” that included Defense, Veterans Affairs, and…