Several of 15th District Congresswoman Mary Miller’s provisions were included in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 that passed the U.S. House on Tuesday afternoon.
Miller’s key levee safety priorities for the Upper Mississippi River Valley changes policies giving local levee sponsors and drainage districts along the river more flexibility to maintain their systems, allowing them to better prepare for flood events by addressing federal regulatory challenges that make levee improvements more difficult.
Among some of Millers’ priorities included in the legislation was an authorization for a new Upper Mississippi River System Flood Risk and Resiliency Study, which would be used to improve flood resiliency and reduce future flood risk. The legislation also includes the first steps toward the creation of a new office of expertise in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering, which would help streamline Section 408 levee project permitting. Additionally, the bill is said to provide more flexibility for non-federal levee sponsors to work alongside federal groups and the Army Corps of Engineering to development improvement plans needed to maintain flood insurance elgibility.
The bill passed the U.S. House on Tuesday by a vote of 399-18, and now heads to the Senate for final approval before being sent to the President’s for his signature.