[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 68 (Thursday, April 18, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Tillis):
  S. 4157. A bill to amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 
to improve compensatory mitigation, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce bipartisan 
legislation that aims to improve flexibility around compensatory and 
environmental mitigation for U.S Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works 
infrastructure projects. This legislation would provide the Army Corps 
with the authority to contract with a third-party provider for the 
full-scale delivery of compensatory mitigation for Civil Works 
projects.
  Compensatory mitigation refers to the restoration, establishment, 
enhancement, or preservation of wetlands, streams, or other aquatic 
resources for the purpose of offsetting unavoidable adverse impacts 
authorized by Clean Water Act section 404 permits and other Department 
of the Army permits. Not only does the Army Corps require Clean Water 
Act permittees to mitigate for discharges into U.S. waters, the Corps 
itself must also mitigate for impacts from Civil Works flood control, 
navigation, and water supply projects
  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works projects often impact 
jurisdictional waters under the Clean Water Act or terrestrial and 
aquatic species which require mitigation offsets. However, since 2015, 
the Corps has started or completed an average of just 58 percent of its 
required annual mitigation, which means about 42 percent of Civil Works 
projects have been constructed without their impacts timely addressed 
through mitigation, according to annual status reports on construction 
projects requiring mitigation.
  The urgent need to improve the delivery and durability of mitigation 
alongside Civil Works projects is even greater in California's 
Sacramento region, which is one of the most at-risk areas for flooding 
in the United States due to its location at the confluence of and 
within the floodplain of the American and Sacramento Rivers.
  American River Common Features is a Corps Civil Works flood control 
project that is critical to protect the growing city of Sacramento and 
surrounding areas. However, due to a mitigation bank credit shortage in 
the Sacramento Region, there are no available credits to offset the 
projects impacts for the Corps, and the inability to directly contract 
with a third-party risks delaying construction of this critical public 
safety project.
  This legislation would allow the Corps to directly contract with a 
third-party for the use of permittee-responsible compensatory 
mitigation, mitigation banks, and in-lieu programs, and apply 
performance standards and criteria outlined by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, DoD, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations 
issued in 2008 to improve the quality and success of compensatory 
mitigation projects for activities authorized by Department of the Army 
permits.
  As stated in the Federal Register, ``This rule improves the planning, 
implementation and management of compensatory mitigation projects by 
emphasizing a watershed approach in selecting compensatory mitigation 
project locations, requiring measurable, enforceable ecological 
performance standards and regular monitoring for all types of 
compensation and specifying the components of a complete compensatory 
mitigation plan, including assurances of long-term protection of 
compensation sites, financial assurances, and identification of the 
parties responsible for specific project tasks.''
  While the bill does not require Corps Civil Works to utilize this 
authority, clarifying the Corps' authority to directly contract with 
third-parties, as this legislation does, would improve the delivery and 
durability of compensatory mitigation projects for Civil Works projects 
across the country to ensure the construction of critical flood 
control, navigation, and water supply projects.
  I thank my colleague Senator Tillis from North Carolina for 
introducing this bill with me, and I look forward to its consideration 
for the 2024 Water Resources Development Act.
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