Authorizes projects to address flood and storm risks, improve water infrastructure

Washington (December 18, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) applauded today’s passage of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) Reauthorization Act through the Senate. WRDA is the biennial bill to authorize U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects that support the nation’s water infrastructure. The legislation that passed today includes several major priorities to address local Massachusetts needs.

“The climate crisis has arrived, and the Water Resources Development Act provides much- needed climate resiliency support to both coastal and inland communities affected by flood risk and aging water infrastructure,” said Senator Markey, Chair of the Senate Climate, Clean Air, and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee. “From Northampton to Oak Bluffs, this legislation will support studies on flood mitigation, storm risk, ecosystem restoration, and so many other important water infrastructure needs across our state.”

“These infrastructure upgrades will help prevent dangerous floods and save lives,” said Senator Warren. “I fought hard for these investments and will keep working closely with Senator Markey to protect Massachusetts communities from the worst impacts of climate change.”

The senators’ provisions in the Water Resources Development Act and Economic Development Administration Act include:

  • Authorization of feasibility studies to address flood and storm risk in Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, Scituate, Franklin County, Leominster, Taunton, Quincy, Boston, Watertown, Newton, and Westport.
  • Providing enhancements to ongoing flood protection projects in New Bedford, Fairhaven, Acushnet, and Oxford.
  • Increasing authorization for ongoing water infrastructure work from $20 million to $30 million in Lowell, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen.
  • Boston – Expedites the flood risk management and ecosystem restoration project along the Charles River.
  • Franklin and Winthrop – Authorizes $1 million for water and wastewater infrastructure for both towns.
  • Easthampton – Authorizes $10 million in Environmental Infrastructure assistance to improve the town’s wastewater outflow system.
  • Northampton – Authorizes $5 million for the Army Corps to study and assist with the flood pump control system.
  • Sandwich – Increases the project cap on a coastal restoration project from $12.5 million to $15 million, continuing to address decades of dangerous erosion caused by the federal Cape Cod Canal jetties.
  • Barnstable County – Authorizes two Government Accountability Office investigations into how to improve the permitting process nationally and directs the Army Corps to improve the online “Permit Finder” so local officials can better track the status of permits. While these reforms are national, they reflect the recommendations of the Barnstable County Dredging Advisory Committee and Cape Cod communities.
  • Cape Cod – Includes report language that encourages improved coordination between the Army Corps and Massachusetts to support the Cape Cod drawbridge.

Senator Markey also secured a provision that makes project predevelopment eligible for Economic Development Administration (EDA) grants so that communities can get support for technical assistance and tasks before construction and outside investment can occur, developed out of his Local Infrastructure Funding and Technical Assistance (LIFT) Act.

Senator Markey has long worked to ensure bipartisan water resource and infrastructure legislation includes investments for Massachusetts. In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, included Senator Markey’s provisions to increase funding for the federal assistance for the Small and Disadvantaged Communities Program to $510 million over five years, supporting the program’s efforts in guaranteeing clean drinking water in frontline communities, and to expand an existing grant program so that more municipalities could access federal funds to help develop systems to notify residents of sewer overflows. In the 2022 WRDA legislation, the senators secured project authorizations for communities including North Attleboro, Chelsea Creek, North Adams, the North Shore, Wellfleet, Truro, Sandwich and Chatham.

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