Section .123.COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN RESTORATION

On December 9, 2016, Congress passed the Columbia River Basin Restoration Act as part of the Water Resources Development Act, now known as the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act of 2016. The new Section 123 of the Clean Water Act authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a voluntary, competitive grant program for projects in the Columbia River Basin for “environmental protection and restoration programs throughout the Basin.” The Act also requires OMB to establish a cross-cut budget. The Act does not provide an appropriation at this time.

As of 12/15/2016, the WIIN Act of 2016 has not yet been signed by the President.

This Legislation is a result of the great work and collaboration of the Columbia River Toxics Reduction Working Group over the years to develop a basin wide toxics reduction and assessment work effort building off successful toxic reduction work efforts accomplished to date including: monitoring water quality, agricultural practices to reduce toxics, green infrastructure, certification programs such as Salmon Safe, increasing green chemistry, public education, pharmaceutical collections, legacy pesticide collections, and clean-up of contaminated sites. The Act calls for the formal creation of a Columbia River Restoration Working Group, there is a formal process identified in the Act that would need to be developed and implemented.

First introduced in 2010, this Act is the first legislation to officially designate the national importance of Columbia River Basin restoration. We hope to have a Working Group meeting in early 2017 to celebrate this great success.

Here is a link to WIIN: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2469/text

Here is recent press on this legislation:

http://www.dailyastorian.com/Local_News/20161213/congress-passes-columbia-river-restoration-act

http://www.eastoregonian.com/eo/local-news/20161212/congress-passes-columbia-river-restoration-act

http://www.kast1370.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4351:columbia-river-restoration-act-passes&catid=17&Itemid=101

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2016/dec/10/columbia-river-restoration-act-passes/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoTNjUzNzc5ODk5MTY5OTQzNzY5MzIaZjYwNmIxY2YwZWIzMzY1MDpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AFQjCNFJnJK0dBQXS3NgboBGRwzc23eaiA 

Please forward all inquiries to poland.melody@epa.gov or soscia.marylou@epa.gov.