The United States Senate today passed the Water Resources Development Act that includes authorization of the EAA Southern Storage Reservoir (known as S.B. 10 on the state level) written by U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18). The bill has previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives and will now be sent to the President to be signed into law.
In total, the bill contains 9 provisions authored by Rep. Mast, including a section authorizing the reservoir co-written with Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson, as well as a provision forcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to re-do the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS) that determines when the Army Corps is authorized to discharge water from Lake Okeechobee. Together, the provisions are expected to substantially reduce discharges to the east and west coasts.
“Fixing our water issues is without a doubt the most important priority for our community,” Rep. Mast said. “We know people are getting sick, animals are dying and the environment is being absolutely demolished. Authorizing the EAA Southern Storage Reservoir is a momentous accomplishment for our Treasure Coast community, and I urge the President to sign our bill into law as soon as possible.”
The House of Representatives had passed the Water Resources Development Act twice with broad bipartisan support, but the Senate had stalled the vote for months. Rep. Mast had repeatedly urged the Senate to act, telling Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently that “the Treasure Coast is literally dying while this bill languishes in the Senate.”
The final vote was 99 to 1.
Today at 3:30 p.m., Rep. Mast will host a media availability in Stuart, Fla. to discuss the big wins for the Treasure Coast in the bill and the 9 sections included in the final bill that he wrote, including the EAA Southern Storage Reservoir:
WHO:
Rep. Mast
WHEN:
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
3:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Office of Congressman Brian Mast
171 SW Flagler Avenue
Stuart, FL 34994
WHAT:
The Water Resources Development Act has been Rep. Mast’s top priority since he was sworn in as a Member of Congress. He sought out and secured a spot on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee specifically to work on this bill, which was written by the Subcommittee of Water Resources and Environment for which Rep. Mast serves as Vice Chairman. No member of the Florida delegation has had more influence or a bigger impact on this bipartisan bill than Rep. Mast.
Full details on the bill are available at mast.house.gov/wrda.
