Dear Chairman Young:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan, budget watchdog group, is highly concerned by language in Sec. 5025 of H.R. 2557, the Water Resources Development Act of 2003, that would prematurely direct an $80 million deepening project on the Arkansas River to proceed without a completed feasibility study. We urge you to amend this section so the taxpayer can be assured the deepening project is cost-justified prior to authorization.
The Army Corps of Engineers is currently conducting a cost-benefit analysis of deepening the river in Arkansas and Oklahoma from nine to 12 feet. The second phase of the analysis is scheduled to be completed by March 2005. Considering this date is not so far in the future, we believe the project should wait until the results from the Corps' analysis verify that the project is cost-justified. Sec. 5025 waives any review and allows the Corps to build the project without any information regarding its merit. It could be a complete waste of taxpayer money, and we won't know about it until too late.
This provision goes beyond the controversial "contingent" authorizations often included in previous Water Resources Development Acts by not even conditioning authorization on a favorable Chief of Engineers report. Not only would leaving this language in place risk wasting $80 million on this particular project, it would lower the bar so that projects that have not been subjected to benefit-cost analysis are authorized.
Again, we urge you to either strike Sec. 5025 of H.R. 2557, the Water Resources Development Act of 2003, or amend it to require that the proposal to deepen the Arkansas River to 12 feet is subjected to the full feasibility process before authorization.
Sincerely,
Steve Ellis
Vice President of Programs
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