Bills to fund flood prevention on Oklahoma’s Arkansas River and the state’s water comprehensive plan were among those passed this week out of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
U.S. Sen. James Lankford, a member of the Committee announced what he called significant advancements for agriculture, energy and water, environmental and transportation policies in the Fiscal Year 2021 funding bills.
Under the Energy and Water bill, the Army Corps of Engineers would be directed to determine whether additional easements along the Arkansas River in northeast Oklahoma are necessary to prevent and mitigate flooding. The river flooded out of its banks last year and caused extensive damage in Tulsa, Muskogee and other cities and towns.
The Corps would also be directed to examine alternative water management strategies at Keystone Lake to reduce the impact of flooding in the region.
The same bill would include a $5 million increase to $14 million for Planning Assistance to States, a program that supports critical water planning work like Oklahoma’s Comprehensive Water Plan.
Sen. Lankford said he used the review of the bills to look for “federal inefficiency and red tape” and make sure the programs function appropriately for taxpayers.
“I hope we can move these and other important provisions to a vote of the full Senate in the days ahead so we can address some of these policy areas affecting my state.”
The same Energy and Water bill, as passed out of the committee would direct the Army Corps of Engineers to delegate lease renewals to the district level rather than requiring routine lease renewals to go through multi-level bureaucratic reviews.
The Corps would also be directed to complete a required review of its asset inventory in four years.
Another of the bills would increase funding by nearly $3 million making a total of about $173 million for the nation’s Air Traffic Control contract towers.
Source: Sen. Lankford press release
