WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today voted for and helped pass in the U.S. Senate a bipartisan energy and water spending bill, including federal funds she fought for to bolster Minot flood protections and to advance clean coal technology.

Long an advocate for strong, permanent flood protections in the Souris River basin, Heitkamp successfully pushed for the bill to include $500,000 to continue the new study for the Souris River. Securing these U.S. Army Corps of Engineers funds in the energy and water spending bill was the next step after Heitkamp successfully pressed the Administration earlier this year to include funding for Minot in its 2017 budget. 

“Five years after disastrous flooding struck Minot, this bill is another crucial step in securing the strong, permanent protections the basin needs,” said Heitkamp. “This bipartisan bill funds Army Corps efforts to study new flood protections for the Souris River basin, as I’ve long fought for, so we guarantee the 2011 flood isn’t forgotten. The U.S. Senate’s energy and water spending bill also includes $1.8 billion for Army Corps construction, which could be used for flood protections in the Fargo region. Beyond fighting for North Dakota flood projects, it’s a positive step that this bill includes resources I pushed for to support federal investments in clean coal technology and improve tribal communities’ access to energy funding.”

Heitkamp joined area leaders in Minot last week as local officials and the Army Corps signed a cost share agreement on the study of Souris flood protections, which Heitkamp helped secure. In November 2015, Heitkamp arranged for Minot Mayor Chuck Barney and City Manager Lee Staab to meet with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Army Corps in Washington to discuss federal flood protection support. Heitkamp also set up meetings for Minot officials with Senate Minority Appropriations Committee staff – who worked on the spending bill that passed today – as well as U.S. House of Representatives Minority Appropriations staff. The meetings Heitkamp set up were instrumental in gaining federal support for Minot flood protections.

In total, the energy and water spending bill provides $37.5 billion in federal funding for programs at the U.S. Department of Energy and for critical infrastructure projects administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. Heitkamp pushed to include a variety of North Dakota priorities in the bill, including provisions that would:

• Help secure permanent flood protections: Heitkamp has long pushed for strong, permanent flood protections in Minot and Fargo, and the energy and water spending bill includes $500,000 that she fought for to study new flood protections for the Souris River basin. The bill also increases the U.S. Army Corps’ construction budget by more than $732 million than the amount included in the President’s budget request, which could help with Fargo’s flood control efforts.

• Increase funding for energy research, support clean coal technology: As a staunch supporter of a national all-of-the-above energy policy, Heitkamp has pushed to find a viable path forward for coal by investing in clean coal technology that promises to make coal a lower-emissions power source. The Senate’s energy and water spending bill increases funding for ARPA-E, an energy innovation program through the Energy Department. The bill also includes funding for research into clean coal technology, which shows a commitment to carbon capture and sequestration, and could benefit UND’s Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC).

• Boost tribal energy projects: Heitkamp worked with U.S. Senator Al Franken from Minnesota to successfully add an amendment aiding tribal communities to the energy and water spending bill. Their amendment would create an energy loan program to help Indian tribes and Native communities access much-needed financing as they seek to develop energy projects and create well-paying jobs.

• Increase funding for water infrastructure projects: The bill includes more than $68 million in U.S. Army Corps funds for environmental infrastructure projects. In recent years, these funds have helped finance important North Dakota water projects that Heitkamp has pushed for in Minot, LaMoure, and Cooperstown. 

• Increase Bureau of Reclamation funding: The bill provides $158 million more than the Administration requested for the development, management, and restoration of water and related natural resources in the Western U.S. through the Bureau of Reclamation. Some of that funding could benefit rural water projects across the state and on our Indian reservations.