The Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) passed 417-3 by the House in late October allows the Secretary of the Army to contract out the development of previously authorized projects to “non-federal interests”—private builders or state and local governments.

The House bill closely tracks a similar bill, S. 601, that was passed by the Senate in April. Support for that P3 pilot program comes mainly from the Illinois delegation, led by Sens. Richard Durbin (D) and Mark Kirk (R) and Reps. Rodney Davis (R) and Cheri Bustos (D).