U.S. Senator Katie Britt, Representative Terri Sewell Champion Selma in Senate WRDA Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 18, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today celebrated the passage of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024, which modifies the federal cost share for the Selma Flood Risk Management and Stabilization Project to 100%. Senator Britt and Representative Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) secured this key provision to ensure Selma’s historic buildings are maintained for future generations.

“Selma’s history—including Bloody Sunday, the courageous march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and its pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement—must be preserved so all Americans can learn from it for generations to come. Ensuring Selma’s Flood Risk Management and Stabilization project can be completed with federal funding will make all the difference to ensure this history doesn’t literally fall into the river after years of erosion along the bank of the Alabama River. I’m grateful to partner with Representative Sewell to champion the inclusion of this critical provision in the 2024 WRDA bill,” said Senator Britt.

“Throughout the past few years, we have been working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers to bring urgently needed resources to Selma to address the flooding and erosion challenges along the Alabama River,” said Representative Sewell. “I am thrilled that Congress has passed my provision to increase the federal cost share for this project to 100%. This special exception will save the City of Selma more than $9 million and help ensure that this project can move forward. I thank Senator Britt for helping us get this provision across the finish line and for her steadfast commitment to Selma’s vitality.”

“On behalf of the City of Selma, I sincerely thank Senator Katie Britt (R) and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D) for their fierce and effective advocacy supporting the stabilization of our riverbank. The 100% federal cost share equals millions that the City of Selma is no longer obligated to pay on the riverbank stabilization project. This is an amazing Christmas gift to the City. Again, Senator Britt and Congresswoman Terri Sewell, thank you,” said Mayor James Perkins.

Senator Britt and Congresswoman Sewell have been working together for years to ensure Selma receives the support it needs. In the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and the IY25 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, Senator Britt advanced $850,000 in federal funding for Selma. The legislation is awaiting full Senate approval.

Background:

The 2024 WRDA bill also includes several additional provisions that will benefit Alabama in an effort to improve navigation, flood control, and environmental management. The bill:

• Directs the Army Corps of Engineers to expeditiously provide needed technical assistance to address the current impacts to navigation at the Wilson Lock and Dam;
• Authorizes the construction of new locks at the Coffeeville and Demopolis Lock and Dams to maintain the long-term navigability of Alabama’s inland waterway system;
• Directs the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure not less than 70% of suitable dredged material is used for beneficial use and further calls for collaboration with local stakeholders to address dredging and dredging material placement in Mobile Harbor;
• Authorizes a feasibility study to address flooding in Lamar County at Luxapalila Creek;
• Increases the authorization for Environmental Infrastructure projects in Alabama from $50 million to $85 million, allowing Alabama communities to seek federal funding for certain water infrastructure economic growth projects;
• Directs the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite completion of the Chief’s Report for the Claiborne and Millers Ferry Lock and Dam Fish Passage project in Wilcox County, Alabama;
• Requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct an analysis of the distribution of funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, including the usage of credits by energy transfer ports (such as the Port of Mobile, AL) to conduct maintenance dredging; and
• Requires the Army Corps of Engineers to coordinate with relevant stakeholders to address the dredging needs along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to ensure its continued navigability.

The 2024 WRDA bill includes additional provisions to increase the efficient use of federally owned office space, including setting occupancy standards, strengthening congressional oversight and public accountability of federal real estate projects, selling certain unused federal properties, and saving taxpayer dollars.

The bill also reauthorizes and modernizes the Economic Development Administration (EDA), for the first time in nearly 20 years, and other regional commissions whose mission is to spur economic development in distressed communities across the country.

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