Press Releases

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement on the final passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act. The bill includes a provision championed by DelBene to provide U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planning, design, and construction assistance to King, Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom counties on water infrastructure projects, including drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater, for the first time.

“Between costly natural disasters, like the historic flooding in Whatcom and Skagit counties last year, decades of underinvestment in our infrastructure, and the needs of our growing population, our region’s water infrastructure is in desperate need of repair and improvement. In my district alone, there are nearly 50 water infrastructure projects that desperately need our attention. I fought for this new authority for the four counties in my district so local governments can leverage the expertise of the Army Corps of Engineers and access federal resources to improve our communities.”

Background:

• This new $200 million environmental infrastructure assistance authority includes a 75-25 federal cost-share for projects and the ability for smaller communities to leverage the expertise of the Army Corps of Engineers in improving their water infrastructure.  
• In addition to the four counties in WA-01, the authority also covers Chelan, Kittitas, and Pierce counties. Cities and counties can apply for funding through a competitive process.
• Washington state is currently only one of seven states in the country that does not have any existing environmental infrastructure assistance authorizations that local and state governments can utilize.
• The House first passed this provision in the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 (H.R. 7776) in June 2022. The bill was included in the National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House on December 8.
• President Biden is expected to sign the bill soon.

More information can be found here.