Tri Cities Reporter

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On April 17, 2023, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) announced the Community Project Funding requests he has submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations for consideration.

Project requests were submitted to Rep. Newhouse’s office and chosen for final submissions that best met the requirements and criteria of Community Project Funding, including community engagement and support.

The requests Rep. Newhouse has submitted are below and on his website here.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies

Astria Toppenish Hospital Behavioral Health Program

The funding would be used to construct a new 14-bed civil commitment psychiatric unit and remodel an existing 15-bed civil commitment psychiatric unit to meet state construction review regulatory standards for a 90/180-day inpatient civil commitment beds.  Once completed, the two units will meet all safety standards for court-ordered civilly committed patients, including anti-ligature safety standards. Both units will have a secured courtyard with a secure entrance to allow for discrete entry and separation from other hospital patients.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by Section 306 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, 7 U.S. Code section 1926(a).

This investment of $2.75 million in federal dollars will help deliver behavioral health treatment to those in Yakima County WA.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Adams County Law and Justice Facility Upgrade

This project will upgrade the Adams County jail which has not been accepting prisoners, even for misdemeanor offenses, for several months. These funds would be a giant step towards making improvements to both the safety and efficiency of the jail and would expedite the hiring of the additional staff necessary to reopen a facility necessary to the public safety of Adams County.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by Section 306 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, 7 U.S. Code section 1926(a).

This investment of $2.6 million in federal dollars will help to alleviate serious public safety concerns in Adams County, WA.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Family Health Centers Okanogan County Dental Expansion Project

This project will not only add general dentistry access to a dire unmet need, but it will also increase access to specialty dental services that currently patients forgo because of travel distances one and a half to two hours away.  Too often this care is not completed or completely forgone because of lack of public transportation or people being place bound by poverty factors. Family Health Centers (FHC) is a nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center that offers primary and preventive health care for residents of Okanogan County and North Douglas County without regard to their ability to pay for care. Family Health Centers has medical services in six locations and dental services in four locations plus a mobile dental clinic. These communities are extremely rural and economically challenged.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by Section 306 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, 7 U.S. Code section 1926(a).

This investment of $2.5 million in federal dollars will help communities in Okanogan County receive better access to dental care.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Nespelem Community Longhouse

This project will upgrade the Nespelem Community Longhouse would benefit the public and local Native American community by providing and making available a culturally appropriate multipurpose essential community facility (7 CFR § 3570.53) to use for communal and cultural events, including but not limited to funerals in the rural community of Nespelem, Washington. (7 Code of Federal Regulations § 3570.61 (b)). The project will address the need for a cultural appropriate physical location for the community to gather for events.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by Section 306 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, 7 U.S. Code section 1926(a).

This investment of $5 million in federal dollars will help public and community safety concerns in the Nespelem, WA community.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District Moses Lake Reduction of Harmful Algal Bloom

This project will rehabilitate Moses Lake is a 6,800-acre lake located in central Washington.  This lake has experienced poor water quality dating back to the 1960s.  In recent years, as documented by various studies and the news media, Moses Lake has suffered from harmful algal blooms (HABs).

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by Conservation Operations int the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1935 (P.L. 74-46; 16 U.S.C. 590a-590f) and the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977 (RCA) {16 U.S.C. 2001-2009)

This investment of $4,995,000 million in federal dollars, will help public and community safety concerns in the Moses Lake, WA community.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

Columbia River Section 120 Pinniped Removal Program

The funding would be used for the Columbia River Section 120 Pinniped Removal Program. Since 2002, sea lions in the Columbia River have significantly impacted endangered and threatened stocks of salmon and steelhead. Sea lions also prey on mature sturgeon below Bonneville Dam and on listed salmon and steelhead runs in the Willamette River and other tributaries to the Columbia River.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized in the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. § 1451 et seq.).

This investment of $5 million in federal dollars will help with the pinniped predation program, which serves as the single greatest mortality event for spring chinook. Impeding habituation of sea lions and subsequent predation is one of the key components to salmon and steelhead survival.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Homeland Security

Yakima County Gap to Gap Protection Project

The funding would be used to provide much longer-term flood hazard reduction by examining the causes of past levee failures and damage to critical infrastructure such as the City Wastewater Treatment Plant, I-82, and SR 24. Specifically, after plan implementation, the Base Flood Elevation at the WWTP will drop by 6.5 feet, which removes all of the plant's facilities from the 100-year floodplain.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by section 203 of the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5133), as amended by Section 1234, National Public Infrastructure Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation, of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA) of 2018.

This investment of $4 million in federal dollars, will help with the reductions in flood hazard benefit vulnerable populations south of SR 24 (which also come out of the floodplain) and interior to the Cities of Yakima and Union Gap. The project also provides additional recreational facilities adjacent to these communities and large areas of publicly accessible trees and riparian zones in the Yakima Greenway by restoring the Yakima Greenway Mainline trail, which connects Yakima and Union Gap.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

Port of Mattawa Wastewater Infrastructure Improvement Project

This project would begin work on a major expansion of our agricultural wastewater treatment system that has grown in statewide significance for the agricultural industry and more importantly as an economic engine for Mattawa, WA, a rural socioeconomically disadvantaged community (in central Washington) in which 98% of the students are minority and 92% qualify for free and reduced-price lunch. The Port of Mattawa's proposed Phase 5 wastewater treatment infrastructure expansion project would greatly expand capacity of the system, which will help to create more jobs and stimulate economic growth as it will allow for agricultural, food processing companies to continue to grow and hire more people in a disadvantaged Mattawa community.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by Title VI of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C 1381 et seq.

The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, because the Port of Mattawa’s original system is at-capacity and pushing the capabilities of this system (completed in 2008). In fact, recently the Port has had to limit users on the amount of wastewater they can send to the system, which restricts growth and production, and thus hurts job retention and creation, and economic development in the Mattawa community.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Goldendale Municipal Airport Project

This project would make safety and capability improvements to provide safe operations, facilitate economic development opportunities, secure investment to establish hangar development, and generate sufficient revenue from leases and fuel sales with the goal of eventually making the operation of the airport revenue neutral for the city.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by 49 U.S.C. 47100 et seq.

The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, because it will make airport operation conditions safer by extending the runway from forty feet to sixty feet wide. Providing safer airport operation conditions will benefit the local community and its emergency response capabilities, such as medical air transportation, firefighting, FEMA, and Red Cross efforts.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Hood River – White Salmon Interstate Bridge Replacement Project

This project would provide funding to replace the White Salmon Interstate Bridge. The funding is vital to the regional transportation network, public safety, environmental resilience, sustainability, and economy for the region as well as the states of Washington and Oregon. The 100-year-old existing bridge is nearing the end of its serviceable life and is functionally obsolete as its height, width, and weight restrictions fail to accommodate modern vehicles, and it constitutes a navigational hazard for marine freight vessels. The bridge has no sidewalks or bicycle lanes for nonmotorized active transportation and is highly vulnerable to seismic activity. This is the top priority project in the Klickitat County, Washington Regional Transportation Plan.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized in 23 USC 133.

The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, because it will create jobs, increase the resiliency and safety of the bi-state transportation network, improve competitiveness of U.S. exports, and increase tourism and recreational activities on and along the Columbia River and the agriculturally rich Hood River Valley.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

General Aviation Terminal Modernization at Pangborn Memorial Airport Project

This project would modernize Pangborn’s General Aviation (GA) Terminal in order to provide space to accommodate departing and arriving GA passengers and crew, fixed-based operators, and a flight school, as well as administrative space for Regional Port staff. Modernizing the Pangborn General Aviation Terminal will increase tourism, access to education and enrich employment opportunities within the agricultural and technology industries, not currently feasible with the current condition of the General Aviation Terminal.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by 49 USC 47102(3)(N).

The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, because it will provide sufficient apron space for GA aircraft, ensuring aircraft are able to safely navigate the apron and taxiways upon arrival and departure.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

City of Pasco Algae Nitrogen Removal for Wastewater Treatment and Biofuel Project

This project would be used to construct a biological nitrogen removal plant using algae technology as part of the PWRF phase 3 improvement project. These improvements will allow existing processors to expand their operations and allow the PWRF to received industrial wastewater. The City of Pasco is committed to upgrading its 25-year-old Process Water Reuse Facility (PWRF) to not only treat and dispose of hundreds of millions of additional gallons of industrial wastewater, but to also enter a new era of Industrial Symbiosis where the wastewater from the dairy and agricultural industry is converted into marketable renewable natural gas. This project will provide technical, high-level career opportunities and replace fossil-fuel based natural gas to significantly improve the environment.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(1) and 5305(a)(2).

The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, because it would play a crucial role in proliferating the clean energy legacy built by Hanford, as well as in achieving the State’s goal of net-zero emission energy sources by 2050 and promoting more resilient water reuse facilities.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Port of Quincy Rail Infrastructure Expansion Project

This project would expand the rail infrastructure on the northeast side of Quincy, WA, both within the Port’s current rail terminal and to nearby industrial zoned properties in the Port District. The capacity, flexibility and efficiency of the facility would be greatly increased by creating new tracks to store in-coming empty rail cars and loaded cars ready for departure without obstructing the loading tracks. The ability to assemble longer loaded trains on Port property without obstructing the existing BNSF Mainline track is critical to expanding operations. The proposed design is intended to be easily expanded in the future, including a potential extension to the east across Road O NW, to serve industrial zoned properties in northeast Quincy. More importantly, the proposed rail infrastructure additions are necessary to help attract and accommodate large job-creating industrial, manufacturing and food processing projects that want to locate on the northeast side of Quincy, as well as to keep up with the increasing growth in ocean container freight going from the Port of Quincy to the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized in section 22907 of title 49 of the United States Code.

The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, because it will provide more freight mobility options to Pacific Northwest and Washington State agricultural and food shippers and exporters, attract industrial and manufacturing projects that will create family wage jobs, lessen wear and tear on freeways, highways and mountain passes by converting over-the-road freight to rail intermodal freight, and decrease fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

Port of Warden Truck Access and Bypass Road Project

This project would build a truck access and bypass road to and from SR 170 and the Port-owned industrial zoned properties in southwest Warden, WA to help trucks bypass disadvantaged residential neighborhoods on that side of town and to help handle the increasing growth in freight from industrial, food processing and agricultural shippers. Additionally, this project will help the Port to build a truck bypass road so that trucks will not have to travel through socio-economically disadvantaged residential neighborhoods in Warden in the future.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized under 23 USC 133.

The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, because building a truck bypass and access road is critical for attracting large food processing projects, increasing safety for disadvantaged neighborhoods, as well as bringing more jobs and economic opportunities to the Warden community.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

City of Pateros Mall Revitalization Project

This project would be used for revitalization of the Pateros Mall by providing infrastructure improvements, replacing water and sewer mains, and repairs to existing facilities. The project will help protect the source of drinking water and water quality of the Columbia River as well as improve structural integrity to the concrete walls of the facility.

The project has a Federal nexus because the funding provided is for purposes authorized by U.S.C. 5305(a)(1), 5305(a)(2), and 5305(a)(4).

The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, because it is the community’s top priority, it will promote commerce, and improve opportunities and the economic vitality of the greater Pateros trade area.

Member Financial Disclosure Certification Letter

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Issues: Budget & Fiscal Responsibility

Original source can be found here.