Jackie Walorski: “My amendment would provide a $500,000 increase for the Army Corps of Engineers Continuing Authorities Program, or CAP…”

“My amendment would provide a $500,000 increase for the Army Corps of Engineers Continuing Authorities Program, or CAP, and would pay for the increase with a small $500,000 cut from the Department of Energy's departmental administration account. For small communities struggling to pay for $25,000 projects, this minor amendment can be a major help around the country. The CAP program allows for funding of small local projects without the lengthy study and authorization process typical of most larger Corps projects. The program funds projects dealing with issues like stream bank erosion, navigation improvements, and flood control, and it is incredibly important to local communities that cannot afford to fund these studies and projects on their own. Two specific sections of the program are vitally important to my district: section 205, which deals with flood control, and section 14, which deals with stream bank erosion. The city of Peru, Indiana, lives within an area designated as a floodplain because of a ditch that runs through it, but the ditch hasn't flooded in the entire time the city has been keeping records, which is more than 80 years. This floodplain designation has made insurance premiums so expensive, business developers are reluctant to locate to the area and residents are struggling to pay their premiums. Corps engineers have been to the site, and they don't think the floodplain is correct either. The ditch hasn't flooded.…”