This "virtual newspaper for an aquatic world" contains musings, science, facts and opinions-both profound and mundane-about the River region, its people and natural resources, and their nexus to the Washington, DC scene. Comments and other written contributions are always appreciated.
Monday, July 16, 2012
UPDATED: House Vote on Bill to Rebuild Levees on Floodplains Cancelled (see comment)
The U.S. House is expected to vote on Tuesday on a bill introduced by Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) that would direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to rebuild permanent levees on North Dakota lands acquired under a federal program for reclaiming floodplains (FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program). The bill (S 2039) was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate in January, and would create what Hoeven has called a "pilot project" in his home state, allowing a State or local government to "construct levees on certain properties otherwise designated as open space lands," and lifting a ban on federal levee construction on lands purchased under.
The scheduled vote was cancelled on Tuesday afternoon, likely indicating the measure did not have the votes to pass. Earlier in the week, American Rivers, the Association of State Floodplain Managers http://bit.ly/M7afKI and the conservative "R Street Institute" http://bit.ly/M7amFX had come out as opposing the levee carve-out bill.
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