Good news for Florida’s beaches, the Everglades and nearly every wild animal, hunter and angler in the U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ) have introduced the Army Corps of Engineers Modernization and Improvement Act of 2005. The bipartisan legislation would reform the Army Corps of Engineers by mandating independent review of Corps projects, ensuring environmental protection during construction projects, and address the Corps' multi-billion dollar project backlog.

The bill would also reduce wasteful spending on Corps projects. The legislation is supported by the National Taxpayers Union, Taxpayers for Common Sense, the National Wildlife Federation, American Rivers, and Earthjustice. "We can no longer afford to overlook the economic and environmental costs of unwarranted Army Corps projects," McCain said. "The common sense reforms needed to protect taxpayers and our vital natural resources provide the basis of this bipartisan legislation. It is time to put these practical reforms in place to ensure that limited taxpayer funds contribute to the most beneficial and sound projects nationwide." The bill also strengthens the environmental protection requirements so that the Corps would have to fully mitigate the impacts on fish and wildlife resulting from a water resources project. And, the bill makes sure that projects that have not received construction funding for four years will be de-authorized unless they receive construction funding within 30 months of being placed on a fiscal transparency report list. The bill adds further taxpayer protection by ensuring that taxpayers receive 1.5 times the benefits as the project costs.

FS