Washington, D.C. - Congressman Brian Baird today secured critical extension of a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) provision that will enable ports and municipalities to move forward with important infrastructure projects.  The House unanimously passed Congressman Baird’s bill, H.R. 3765, which was co-sponsored by every member of the Washington state delegation.  Senator Patty Murray is sponsoring similar legislation in the Senate.

“This extension is critical to the safety of many coastal communities in Southwest Washington and to the success of a number of key industries,” said Congressman Baird.  “It will help protect our local communities from devastating floods and erosion, and keep our ports open for business.” 

The extension Congressman Baird secured will continue allowing public entities, like ports and cities, to help expedite the Corps’ permitting process.  Under Section 214 of the 2000 WRDA bill, which is set to expire at the end of this month, these public entities can provide the Corps with funds to hire additional staff to process their permits.  Without this extension, the Corps’ permitting backlog would increase significantly, causing serious delays for critical projects.  The entities providing the Corps with permit processing funds are given no preferential treatment in the review of their projects.   

“The program enables the Port to have an assigned Corps staff person to work on all of our permitting projects and this added focus increases the knowledge and skill of the staff person and increases their efficiency and effectiveness over time,” said Dick Gilmur of the Port of Tacoma. “Without the 214 program, it is possible that our projects could take six to twelve months longer to complete the permitting process.”

The 2005 WRDA bill passed by the House earlier this year includes a section 214 extension.  The Senate, however, is not expected to pass its WRDA bill before section 214 expires on September 30.  The section 214 extension secured by Congressman Baird today will remain active through December 31, 2007.  Senator Patty Murray is working to pass a section 214 extension in the Senate by September 30.   

“This extension is vital to the Corps’ activities,” Congressman Baird said.  “Without it, the Corps would be forced to delay critically important projects that bring in millions of dollars in revenue and to layoff employees as early as October 1st.”   

Since Section 214 was first implemented in the 2000 WRDA, it has been primarily utilized in the Pacific Northwest by the ports of Tacoma and Seattle.  The cities of Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Diego have also funded Corps permit processing for important infrastructure projects in their jurisdictions.     

###