There is some indication that the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) may move during the upcoming Congressional lame duck session. House and Senate staff started talking last week to try and work out some of the issues between the respective versions of the bills, although neither the House nor the Senate has named official conferees as of yet.
It is our understanding that House Democrats are at the table and are participating in discussions, largely due to an interest in how or if the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is addressed, since its removal from the House committee-passed bill before floor consideration. The larger discussions are around Title VII of the Senate bill (dealing with clean and drinking water) which is typically outside the scope of the WRDA bill. While encouraging that all parties are talking, it is likely that a final WRDA bill will not be done until sometime in December. WRDA could be one of the last items addressed in the lame duck.