BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Late in the evening on March 9, the House passed the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill. The funding for the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works – the line item from which lock and dam construction and maintenance funding comes – included an increase of $548 million from FY21 funding, and an increase over the President’s FY22 budget request.
Among the Community Project Funding – formerly known as earmarks – for inland waterways construction projects, the Navigation Ecosystem Sustainability Project (NESP) received $45.1 million. NESP prioritizes the locks and dams on the Mississippi and Illinois Waterways that need rebuilt and modernized.
“This level of funding positions LaGrange Lock and Dam at Versailles, Illinois to move into construction in FY2024,” says Jim Tarmann, IL Corn Managing Director.
The highest priority lock in NESP is Lock 25, which received full construction funding in January of this year. The second priority lock in this system is LaGrange.
Also receiving notable funding in the bill:
- Three Rivers, Arkansas: $149 million with some of that coming from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. This project is considered funded to completion.
- Upper Ohio Navigation: $12.8 million for PreEngineering and Design
- For General Operations and Maintenance: $4.57 billion
IL Corn thanks Senators Durbin and Duckworth and Congresswoman Cheri Bustos for their Community Project Funding request that will see LaGrange Lock and Dam receive the upgrades it has needed for decades. The request was a bipartisan request from Senators from IL, WI, MN and Congressmen from IL, IA, and MO to push this needed funding over the finish line.
— Illinois Corn
