通过热烈的党派第114届国会驾驶立法是一场斗争,因此建筑和水产业官员很高兴看到一项大型基础设施法案登上终点线也就不足为奇了 - 《国家法案》的水基础设施改善。但是,Wiin Act的项目获得建筑资金要花很长时间。18luck官网

行业在12月16日颁布的新法律上的重点是《水资源开发法案》(WRDA)的头衔,该法案授权为30个新陆军工程兵团项目提供103亿美元的联邦资金。18luck官网非联邦机构还将帮助为许多项目提供资金。18luck官网

这些项目的当地支持者以及他们的房屋和参议院18luck官网的倡导者都竭尽全力将其纳入法案,因为他们知道授权是必要的一步。

但是对于大多数这些项目,建筑业的开始都是多年18luck官网的,主要是因为现在这些项目必须在授予合同之前进行实际拨款。一方面,国内无防御预算一直很紧张。关于即将上任的特朗普政府将为军团2018财政的民事劳动预算推荐什么的不确定性使前景更加模糊。

John Doyle, special counsel with law and lobbying firm Jones Walker LLP, says that getting Corps projects authorized is “a major milestone, to be sure, but by no means [indicates] that the project is ready to go to construction the next day, or is even close to it.”

第一个拨款障碍是为详细的初步工程和设计而获得资金。前陆军民兵官员多伊尔(Doyle)表示,完成设计工作并转移到建筑阶段通常“通常需要两年,有时三年,”。他补充说:“这可能 - 对项目的性质进行辩护,甚至比这更长。”

Three port projects contained in the last water-resources measure, enacted in 2014 —Charleston, Port Everglades, Fla., and Boston harbor—already have a leg up, receiving engineering money in the Corps’ 2016 work plan.

Jim Walker, American Association of Port Authorities director of navigation policy and legislation, notes that others from 2014 are still waiting for the federal design dollars. Most of the six port projects in the 2016 WRDA now join the list.

沃克说:“他们都在起跑门上……希望获得初步的工程和设计资金。”

what will the legislative vehicle be for the engineering and design funds? The Corps civil-works program has enjoyed bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. But Doyle says the likelihood “is probably pretty low” that all the 2016 WRDA projects will get engineering funds in the 2017 spending package that succeeds the recently enacted stopgap continuing resolution. The CR expires on April 28.

Another possibility is the appropriations measure for fiscal 2018, which begins on Oct. 1, 2017.

特朗普政府的2018财年预算提案将出现一个重要的信号,预计将于明年年初发布。特朗普的团队将为军团或任何其他建筑计划推荐多少。

但是,至少回到乔治·W·布什政府,管理和预算办公室已经在新的军团项目中纳入年度总统预算蓝图之前已经设定了一个较高的障碍。18luck官网Doyle指出,OMB对此类项目的成本效益阈值要比陆军工程师在其授权报告中使18luck官网用的项目要艰难得多。积极的“首席报告”为项目提供了WRDA法案的票。

Still, the WIIN Act and its WRDA section represent a victory for construction and water groups. If the 114th Congress had failed to pass a water-resources bill before it adjourned, the 115th Congress would have had to start from scratch on a new measure. That would have made the waiting time for engineering and construction funds that much longer.