Sponsors (5)
Official title: Provide for improvements to the rivers and harbors of the United States, to provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 13, 2026 by Shelley Moore Capito · Last progress July 13, 2026
The bill accelerates and funds a wide range of water, wastewater, flood, and resilience projects — with increased support for disadvantaged communities, cybersecurity, and lead remediation — but does so at substantial federal cost and with provisions that reduce review flexibility and transfer some long‑term costs and implementation risks to local governments and communities.
State and local governments, water systems, and households gain large new and expanded drinking-water and wastewater funding (billions FY2027–FY2030) including explicit support for lead service line replacement and PFAS/emerging contaminant actions, increasing the pace of lead removal and water quality improvements.
Low-income and disadvantaged communities get dramatically lower local matching burdens (federal cost‑shares raised to ~90% or reduced non‑federal share to 10%), making previously unaffordable flood, water, and environmental projects feasible.
Local governments, nonprofits, and communities benefit from faster project delivery and clearer processes because the Corps must expedite many feasibility studies, reports, and delegated decisions and offers clearer options for technical assistance, crediting, and reimbursement.
All taxpayers face substantially higher near‑term federal spending and increased budgetary pressure from numerous new authorizations and multi‑year appropriations, which may require offsets or crowd out other priorities.
Communities and the environment risk reduced scrutiny because categorical NEPA exclusions for smaller projects and accelerated procedural rules can curtail environmental review, increasing the chance that local environmental harms are overlooked.
Local governments and taxpayers could inherit long‑term operation, maintenance, and liability costs when projects or channels are deauthorized or transferred (e.g., LA flood channels, other deauthorizations), shifting fiscal burdens to localities.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Directs Corps implementation and oversight, limits Corps project pauses, orders GAO reviews, authorizes local water projects, revises drinking water funding and SRF uses, and creates an EPA W‑ISAC support program.
Requires the Army Corps of Engineers to adopt an implementation plan, provide recurring briefings, and limit how and when Corps studies or projects may be paused, terminated, or deferred. Directs Government Accountability Office reviews of Corps rules on third‑party and non‑Federal contributions, induced flooding determinations, and engineering programs, and requires specific Corps actions including resuming certain studies and performing wildfire risk assessments for Corps infrastructure in Arizona. Reauthorizes and amends multiple water infrastructure provisions: adds a dozen local environmental infrastructure project authorizations in Alaska, Arizona, and California; modifies Corps cost‑share rules, project authorizations, property disposals, and project caps; updates Safe Drinking Water Act funding levels and State Revolving Fund eligible uses (including PFAS and lead service line replacement); and creates an EPA program to help water systems participate in the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center, funds related cybersecurity work, and directs EPA studies and regulatory changes on nonpotable aquifer exemptions and microplastics removal technologies.