H.R. 3080 and S. 601, the Water Resources Reform and Development Acts have passed the House and Senate and now reside in a conference committee to negotiate the differences between the two bills. The conference committee has met and several Members of Congress expect a final resolution to be made in January.

The Corps has generally placed a high priority on commercial business activities and fails to recognize recreational boating as part of commerce, but we all know what a critical component the recreational maritime industry has on our economy.

MRAA has long worked with Congress and the Corps to open the Harbor Maintenance Fund for this kind of dredging. As passed through the House, WRRDA would authorize some of the Harbor Maintenance Fund to smaller recreational harbors as well as increase spending targets for the fund from $7 million to $10 million for a single facility.