COUNTDOWNS:
NFIP Expiration (9 days)
Government Shutdown (16 days)
The Work Plan is OUT!!! Click Here to view it. Here are this year’s totals:
|
FY2019 Work Plan Totals |
|
| Investigations | $125,000,000 |
| Construction | $2,351,396,840 |
| Operation & Maintenance | $3,739,500,000 |
| FUSRAP | $150,000,000 |
| Mississippi River & Tributaries | $368,000,000 |
| Grand Total | $6,733,896,840 |
Click Here for our table of beach funding for 2019. There is an extra few million added to the Investigations and Construction accounts that were not expected. There are 6 new starts but no coastal new starts. We’ll have more to report after the holiday when Corps employees are back at their desks.
The National Wildlife Federation National Coastal Resilience Fund has announced its grantees. Click here to view the Grant Slate. Many of the projects nationwide include living shorelines and habitat restoration, which will be funded through $28.9 million provided by the Fund and $38.3 million matched by grantees for total impact of $67.2 million.
New Coastal Bills
S 3630 Great Lakes Water Protection Act
The bill, introduced last week, prohibits sewage dumping in the Great Lakes from wastewater facilities and established a cleanup fund in which States pay up to 50% of the costs of programs and activities, which are authorized to be appropriated up to $250,000,000 per year from 2020-2024. No committee report has been issued yet.
HR 3133 Streamlining Environmental Approvals Act of 2017
This bill’s purpose is to streamline unnecessary permitting delays related to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 by amending procedures to increase economic development and support coastal restoration programs. The bill reported favorably, but HR 3133 would reduce critical protections for marine mammals and provide a easy ticket for oil and gas companies to disrupt aquatic ecosystems through seismic and acoustic testing, which has been proven to be disruptive to such species. The Ranking Member Congressman Grijalva, opposes the bill.
