House, Senate eye deal to pass troubled Army Corps measure

A bill authorizing billions of dollars in Army Corps of Engineers projects has been given new life and may be approved before the end of the lame duck session. Congressional passage of the troubled biennial Water Resources Development Act for the first time since 2000 is still contingent on a final agreement on how to change the way the Corps reviews the potential environmental and other impacts of projects. Lawmakers also must resolve what amount Congress should authorize projects for overall, including major ventures in the Midwest and South coast. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sent House aides the latest in a series of offers Tuesday afternoon that includes $7 billion in projects and "modest" Army Corps overhaul, a Senate aide said.

The aide said the odds were 50-50 on whether a deal could be reached during the lame duck session of Congress, a significantly more optimistic prediction than aides were giving the bill just last week.

As of Tuesday night, a House aide said the chamber was still awaiting the Senate offer and would evaluate whether it is an "accommodating" offer that could signal whether a final agreement is feasible.

The House approved a bill last year authorizing about $4.6 billion in projects. A final bill would include both House- and Senate-backed projects that would raise the final authorization level above the latest $7 billion Senate offer, the House aide said.

While other details of the latest Senate offer are unclear, it likely does not go as far in changing the Corps as an effort supported by conservation groups and led by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., outgoing Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis. It also might not reduce bureaucratic and other delays as much as several Southern coastal lawmakers, including Sens. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., prefer.

Several major projects are still on the table, including Senate language authorizing $2.3 billion for replacing locks in the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River waterway, including $1.46 billion for ecosystem restoration; $604 million to create reservoirs and restore wetlands in South Florida, and $375 million for environmental protection, flood control and navigational improvements along the Louisiana coast.

The House bill directs the Army Corps to develop a plan for Coastal Louisiana and calls for an enhancement and further study of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River waterway, but not a specific authorization level.