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U.S. Senate passes Water Resources Development Act

The 2024 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) is on its way to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

Soy Transportation Coalition executive director Mike Steenhoek says last minute passage by the U.S. Senate was a critical step in supporting the nation’s ports and inland waterway system.

“There are two steps, step number one is the authorization step. And that’s what a Water Resources Development Act achieves, basically establishes what the strategy is. What’s the to-do list of priorities that we’ll endeavor to do.”

He tells Brownfield the arguably more difficult step is appropriating funds toward projects identified through WRDA.

“We have had some additional funding that’s been directed to some very important infrastructure projects, and many of them relate to the agricultural supply chain. So hopefully we can continue to keep that momentum going.”

Steenhoek says the coalition is encouraged by President-elect Trump repeatedly talking about the importance of infrastructure investment as a way to make the U.S. more competitive.