RESTORE Act passes with House transportation vote, now moves to conference

By Whit Remer, Environmental Defense Fund

Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives included Rep. Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) RESTORE Act amendment in their final version of the Surface Transportation Extension Act. The RESTORE Act is legislation that would dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the BP gulf oil spill towards Gulf Coast restoration. Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed versions of bill.

The House passed the transportation bill by a vote of 293-127, setting up a conference with the Senate. During conference, select members from each chamber will work together to reconcile differences in the bills. Gulf Coast leaders have shown remarkable leadership in advancing the RESTORE Act to this point. Please continue to thank these members for their hard work and let your congressperson know that you want to see the RESTORE Act signed into law this summer.