U.S. Senate praised for water legislation
Environmental Defense is praising the U.S. Senate's Thursday passage of a reform amendment to the multi-billion-dollar Water Resources Development Act.
The non-profit environmental organization said the amendment would subject expensive or controversial water projects to an independent design, feasibility, cost and environmental consequences review.
"Hurricane Katrina showed that something is dangerously wrong with the political way we build water projects," said Tim Searchinger, director of floodplain policy for Environmental Defense. "(Thursday's) vote for reform shows that the Senate has started to wake up."
The House of Representatives called for independent peer review in its version of the water projects bill last summer, before Katrina devastated New Orleans.
"We hope the House also will learn from Katrina the need for stronger reform," Searchinger said.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International