Water Resources Development Act of 1996

Summary

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Water Resources Projects Title II: Generally Applicable Provisions Title III: Project Modifications Title IV: Studies Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions Water Resources Development Act of 1996 - Title I: Water Resources Projects - Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to carry out specified projects for navigation, flood control, storm damage reduction, environmental restoration, shoreline erosion protection, hydropower, and hurricane damage reduction in California, the District of Columbia and Maryland, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia. Specifies total costs, estimated Federal and non-Federal costs, and funding sources and requirements. (Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary to study and, if feasible, carry out: (1) specified flood control projects in Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia (sets forth the maximum amounts of Federal funds that may be allotted for specified projects in California and Nebraska); (2) specified bank stabilization projects in Pennsylvania and Tennessee; (3) specified navigation projects in Alaska, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and New York; (4) specified shoreline protection projects in Connecticut, Florida, and New York; (5) a specified snagging and sediment removal project in Minnesota; (6) a specified environmental restoration project in California; and (7) a specified channel restoration and environmental improvement project in Utah. Title II: Generally Applicable Provisions - Revises cost sharing provisions of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (the Act) with respect to dredged material disposal areas. Deletes provisions crediting non-Federal interests with the value of dredged material disposal areas provided. (Sec. 202) Increases from 25 to 35 percent the non-Federal share for nonstructural and other flood control projects. Sets forth criteria and procedures relating to the ability of a non-Federal interest to pay for flood control or agricultural water supply. Requires: (1) non-Federal interests to prepare flood plain management plans designed to reduce the impacts of future flood events in project areas; and (2) the Secretary to develop guidelines for the preparation of such plans and review policies, procedures, and techniques relating to the evaluation and development of flood control measures. (Sec. 206) Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) carry out specified aquatic ecosystem restoration and protection projects; and (2) undertake surveys, plans, and studies to encourage innovative and environmentally sound engineering solutions to problems of national significance. (Sec. 216) Directs the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with non-Federal sponsors of navigation projects for development of long-term management strategies for controlling sediments in such projects. Title III: Project Modifications - Provides for modifications to specified flood control, navigation, beach erosion control, hurricane damage prevention, fish and wildlife loss mitigation, shoreline protection, and other projects in Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Title IV: Studies - Requires the Secretary to: (1) review Corps of Engineers capabilities regarding rural sanitation projects for rural and Native villages in Alaska; (2) credit the non-Federal share of the cost of a feasibility study on the McDowell Mountain project, Arizona, with work done by the city of Scottsdale; (3) prepare a comprehensive river basin management plan for the Santa Ynez River basin in California; (4) provide assistance to Springfield, Illinois, in developing an environmental impact statement for a water supply reservoir; and (5) conduct studies with respect to specified water projects in Arizona, California, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Authorizes studies of projects in South Carolina and the Pacific region. Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions - Deauthorizes specified projects or portions of projects in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. (Sec. 502) Reauthorizes specified projects in Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Jersey. (Sec. 503) Continues the authorization of certain projects in Michigan. (Sec. 504) Provides for Federal land conveyances in California, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington. (Sec. 505) Designates specified visitors centers, lakes, bridges, and locks and dams in California, Kentucky, Indiana, and Louisiana. (Sec. 506) Authorizes or directs the Secretary to provide assistance for: (1) specified watershed management, restoration, and development projects in Arizona, California, Georgia, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia; (2) Great Lakes remedial action plans; (3) testing procedures in the Great Lakes Dredged Material Testing and Evaluation Manual; (4) specified mining activity degradation abatement projects in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky; (5) safety improvements at the Prado Dam, California; (6) demonstrating the water quality functions found in wetlands; (7) Cocheco River, New Hampshire, encroachment issues; (8) the New York City Watershed; (9) a regional water authority in northeastern Ohio; (10) the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Water Works; (11) the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Rhode Island and Massachusetts; and (12) non-Federal levees in Pierce County, Washington. (Sec. 507) Directs the Secretary to carry out: (1) programs for the removal of silt and aquatic growth in specified lakes in New York and Illinois; (2) maintenance of specified navigation channels in California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington; (3) beach nourishment for 50 years at specified projects in Florida; (4) programs to control aquatic plants in Michigan and Pennsylvania; (5) specified flood control and rainfall drainage system improvements in Louisiana; (6) specified projects for the beneficial use of dredged material and specified erosion control measures in Maryland; (7) alternative methods for decontamination and disposal of contaminated dredged material at a project in Minnesota; (8) a specified bluff stabilization project in Mississippi; (9) Hudson River, New York, habitat restoration projects; (10) a study of flood control in Grand-Neosho Basin and tributaries near Pensacola Dam in Oklahoma; (11) a project to improve the hopper dredge McFarland; (12) specified projects for flood management and environmental enhancement in Tennessee; and (13) a specified water project for the Lower Mud River, West Virginia. (Sec. 511) Directs the Secretary to develop or establish: (1) a Great Lakes tributary sediment transport model; (2) a Chesapeake Bay restoration and protection pilot program; (3) an extension of the Earthquake Preparedness Center of Expertise for the central United States near the New Madrid fault; (4) a watershed management plan for Deep River Basin, Indiana; (5) a program for providing environmental assistance to non-Federal interests in Kentucky; and (6) a pilot program for providing environmental assistance to non-Federal interests in Pennsylvania. (Sec. 512) Requires the Secretary to assess or evaluate: (1) Great Lakes confined disposal facilities; (2) the feasibility of an alternative to the $25 annual pass for use of water resource project recreation facilities; and (3) procedures for the approval of materials used in beach restoration and nourishment. (Sec. 514) Extends the geographic jurisdiction of the Mississippi River Commission. (Sec. 516) Directs the Secretary to: (1) promote Federal and non-Federal cooperation in providing public recreation at water resources projects; (2) develop a strategy for using nonstructural measures to reduce flooding, improve water quality, and create wildlife habitat in Redwood River Basin, Minnesota; (3) work with Mississippi in managing leases in the Sardis Lake area; and (4) expedite completion of the study for the Ohio River Greenway, Indiana. (Sec. 517) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) construction assistance for specified environmental infrastructure projects in Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Virginia; (2) a New England Division headquarters facility; (3) a Lake Superior educational facility; and (4) construction of a visitors center at Seven Points Recreation Area, Pennsylvania. (Sec. 518) Increases appropriations authorized for: (1) projects of alternative or beneficially modified habitats for fish and wildlife; (2) a quarantine facility in Broward County, Florida; (3) the New York bight and harbor study; and (4) a watershed reclamation and protection and wetlands creation and restoration project along the Juniata River, Pennsylvania. (Sec. 542) Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) enter an agreement with the University of New Hampshire to provide technical assistance for a water treatment technology center addressing the needs of small communities; (2) construct and operate a dredged material containment facility for the Port of New York-New Jersey; (3) make capital improvements in the New York State Canal System; and (4) enter an agreement with Marshall University, West Virginia, to provide technical assistance to the Center for Environmental, Geotechnical and Applied Sciences. (Sec. 566) Urges the President to negotiate with Canada to eliminate tolls along, and maximize commerce through, the St. Lawrence Seaway.

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7 official files

• Passed House amended

  summary · EN · 30 July 1996

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• Reported in House (text)

  Reported in House · EN · 22 July 1996

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• Reported in House (PDF)

  Reported in House · EN · 22 July 1996

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• Reported to House with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 22 July 1996

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• Introduced in House (text)

  Introduced in House · EN · 6 June 1996

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• Introduced in House (PDF)

  Introduced in House · EN · 6 June 1996

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• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 6 June 1996

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