Peters Helps Advance Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill with Investments for Upgrading Soo Locks, Protecting Great Lakes and Strengthening Domestic Supply[...]

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) helped the Senate Appropriations Committee pass the Fiscal Year 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The bipartisan legislation would fund Michigan priorities including upgrading the Soo Locks and improving ports, mitigating the spread of invasive carp, and preventing flooding, as well as supporting scientific discovery and bolstering U.S. manufacturing and innovation. The bill now advances to the full Senate.

"This bipartisan legislation will deliver on key priorities in Michigan and across the country," said Senator Peters. "It will help protect our natural resources, build more resilient infrastructure, support innovative research, and safeguard our critical supply chains. I'll continue working toward its passage in the Senate and will doing whatever I can to ensure U.S. energy security and support our water infrastructure."

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is considering their own funding bills. The Senate and House will then need to reach an agreement on a final funding bill and have it pass both chambers before being sent to the President to be signed into law.

The bill includes measures led and supported by Peters, including:

Strengthening Michigan's Infrastructure:

Delivering Resources to Complete Soo Locks Project: Peters secured $450 million in federal funding for the Soo Locks construction project. Funding in this bill comes from $264 million included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' budget, as well as an additional $186 million Peters secured in a congressionally directed spending request. This combined funding should deliver the remaining resources needed to complete construction of the new Poe-sized lock.

Supporting U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: The bill provides $10.344 billion in total funding for the Corps of Engineers to support critical engineering projects for our nation's waterways.

Brandon Road Lock and Dam Funding: Peters secured language in the bill that delivers nearly $18 million for operation and maintenance of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, a critical choke point to stem the spread of invasive species in the Great Lakes.

Menominee River Deepening: Peters secured $219,000 in funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and City of Menominee to complete a feasibility study for potential harbor infrastructure improvements in the Menominee-Marinette Harbor waterway.

Funding to Support South Haven Harbor: The bill provides funding to support ongoing dredging operations at South Haven Harbor and supports extending efforts to the former Turning Basin. This project will ensure that large vessels can safely navigate to the Michigan Maritime Museum dock.

Ports and Harbors: The bill provides a historic $3.147 billion-a $319 million increase over fiscal year 2024-for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to improve navigation by dredging ports, maintain our nation's waterways, and ensure goods and people can get to where they need to be. The bill also includes funding for critical inland waterway navigation projects, which transport important commodities like grain, iron, and petroleum.

Building Resilient Water Infrastructure, Protecting the Great Lakes:

Protecting Communities from Extreme Weather: The bill continues investments in critical construction projects to protect communities from extreme weather events and more frequent flooding. This funding supports projects and programs that use natural infrastructure and environmental restoration efforts to support keystone species.

Flood Management and Prevention Measures for Midland, Michigan: Peters helped secure $600,000 for Flood Risk Management Prevention Measures in Midland and Southeast Michigan. Funding will help restore ecosystems and prevent future flood disasters.

Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study: The bill provides the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with $3 million to continue conducting its Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study, which is developing a coordinated strategy to protect 5,200 miles of Great Lakes coastline against flooding, and erosion, and identify aging infrastructure.

Bolstering U.S. Manufacturing and Innovation, Michigan's Automotive Sector

Supporting Scientific Discovery: The bill provides $8.6 billion in new directed funding-$360 million over fiscal year 2024-for the Office of Science. This funding will help continue implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The Office of Science is the largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and supports 22,000 researchers at 17 national laboratories and more than 300 universities. The bill continues to advance the highest priorities in materials research, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, biology, and clean energy research to maintain and strengthen our global competitiveness. It also boosts funding for the Office's work on artificial intelligence and advanced computing to help the Department of Energy implement the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology computing initiative.

Strengthening Domestic Critical Mineral Supply Chains: The bill includes language that supports ongoing efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources for critical minerals, due to environmental, economic, human rights and national security concerns. This provision directs the Department of Energy to prioritize funding efforts to research, develop, prototype, and deploy technology to improve the circularity of battery supply chains and battery recycling in such a way to address critical mineral sustainability and reliability concerns. Peters recently pressed the Department of Energy to prioritize efforts to facilitate battery recycling that would reduce dependence on adversarial foreign nations for critical minerals. He also introduced and passed out of committee a bipartisan bill to create an intergovernmental task force to identify opportunities to increase domestic production and recycling of critical minerals.

Supporting Clean Energy Transition: Peters secured $20 million for the Department of Energy's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, which Peters helped establish under the Inflation Reduction Act to accelerate America's clean energy supply chains through strategic investments in manufacturing and workforce development.

Advancing Vehicle Electrification Technologies: The bill includes $45 million to support the Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO). This funding will enable the VTO to continue performing critical research and development work necessary to get more clean vehicles on the road and decarbonize our transportation system. Michigan has previously benefited from this program, which has funded research projects at businesses and research institutions across the state.

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