James M. Jeffords: “while we are nearing completion of this bill, I would like to take a few minutes to highlight some of the projects in…”

“while we are nearing completion of this bill, I would like to take a few minutes to highlight some of the projects in the bill for my State of Vermont. Throughout our work on this bill, I have worked to find a way to use the Army Corps of Engineers' expertise in a series of ``Vermont style'' projects. I believe we have succeeded. This bill would provide $67 million in new authorities for the State of Vermont. Vermonters identified four major priorities for the Corps during my discussions with them: keep Vermont projects in the Vermont style, continue ongoing Lake Champlain efforts, address Connecticut River issues, and find a way to repair or eliminate the thousands of small dams throughout the State creating flood hazards and causing ecosystem damage. This bill addresses each of these areas. First, during our discussion on the WRDA bill, I advocated strongly for an increase in the authorization for small ecosystem restoration projects like those in Vermont. In this bill, we increase that program from $25 million to $50 million, allowing smaller, Vermont-scale projects to move forward. Second, we have continued our ongoing support of the Lake Champlain program, authorized in WRDA 2000, by adding $2 million in authority for geographic mapping and $10 million for streambank stabilization projects to protect water quality. We also authorize a study of the Lake Champlain Canal dispersal barrier to help prevent invasive species from entering the lake.…”