Senate Passes Bipartisan Infrastructure Agreement

House of Representatives will act later this month

The Senate last month passed the 2,702-page, five-year Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes a full surface transportation reauthorization bill, in addition to funding for the electric grid, broadband, water infrastructure, resiliency and western water storage, environmental remediation, and more. 

The Western Water Title in the infrastructure bill passed by the Senate includes $8.3 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation, and aligns with the solutions advanced by a Western water coalition led by a steering committee comprised of the Alliance, Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), California Farm Bureau, National Water Resources Association (NWRA) and Western Growers. 

Last week, House Democrats put aside their differences and narrowly adopted a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, the initial step to the budget reconciliation process that could help them enact President Biden’s broad climate and social agenda this fall without GOP support. The chamber voted 220-212 to adopt a combined rule setting the terms for floor debate for the budget resolution and the bipartisan infrastructure package that passed the Senate.  The House then resumed its August recess and is not slated to return for floor activity until September 20 in order to provide House committees time to write and mark up their respective portions of the reconciliation bill during the first two weeks of this month. 

CLICK BELOW to read more about this and other articles of interest to Western water users:

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Western Drought Impacts More Water Users —Grim news for irrigators in Calif. and Colorado River Basin  
•  What’s Driving Western Wildfires?  Is it climate change, management….or something more complicated?
•  EPA Cancels Use of Chlorpyrifos, Releases BEs for 3 Other Insecticides
•  Alliance Develops WOTUS Comments for EPA, Corps—and other Clean Water Act news                      
•  Deborah Hamlin to Retire from Irrigation Association
•  Deschutes Basin Irrigation Districts Defend Habitat Conservation Plan                                    
•  Biden CEQ to Revamp Trump NEPA Regulations          

Please do not hesitate to contact dan@familyfarmalliance.org if you have any questions about the September “Monthly Briefing.”