On September 25, NSPE endorsed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 (H.R. 3080). Introduced on September 11th by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Ranking Member Nick Rahall (D-W.Va), this legislation would streamline the infrastructure project delivery process and strengthen our nation's water transportation networks. In a letter of support to Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member Rahall, NSPE President Robert Green, P.E., F.NSPE, writes, "WRRDA would overhaul and dramatically improve the process for federal water resources development. The legislation sets hard deadlines on the time and cost of studies, consolidates or eliminates duplicative studies and concurrent reviews that can hold up projects for years, and streamlines environmental reviews. WRRDA fully offsets new authorizations with deauthorizations and cancels $12 billion of inactive projects that were approved prior to the 2007 Water Resources Development Act. This legislation maximizes the ability of nonfederal interests to contribute their own funds to move authorized studies and projects forward. Moreover, it substantially reduces project backlogs." You can read the press release, with a link to the actual letter.