I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2806 
To increase authorized funding for the Soo Locks. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 7, 2017 
Mr. BERGMAN (for himself, Mr. UPTON, Mr. WALBERG, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. 
MOOLENAAR, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. 
LEVIN, Mr. TROTT, Mr. MITCHELL, and Mrs. LAWRENCE) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To increase authorized funding for the Soo Locks. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Soo Locks Moderniza-
tion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SAULTE SAINTE MARIE, MICHIGAN. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) the Soo Locks are a critical link in the 
Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway system; 
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(2) each year, an average of 7,900 vessels carry 
80,000,000 tons of iron ore, coal, stone, grain, and 
other materials through the Soo Locks; 
(3) the Corps of Engineers reports that an un-
scheduled outage at the Soo Locks would cripple 
both navigational and industrial production in the 
Great Lakes region; 
(4) a report by the Department of Homeland 
Security concluded that a 6-month shutdown of the 
Soo Locks would result in— 
(A) 75 percent of all integrated steel pro-
duction in the United States ceasing within 2 to 
6 weeks; 
(B) in North America, the shutdown of 
100 percent of production of appliances, auto-
mobiles, construction equipment, farm equip-
ment, mining equipment, and railcars; and 
(C) 
the 
unemployment 
of 
almost 
11,000,000 people; 
(5) there have been no comprehensive improve-
ments to the Soo Locks facility in nearly 50 years; 
(6) modernizing the Soo Locks is of critical im-
portance to the economy and security of the Great 
Lakes region and the United States; and 
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(7) the Corps of Engineers believes the plan-
ning guidance required under the document of the 
Water Resources Council entitled ‘‘Economic and 
Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water 
and Related Land Resources Implementation Stud-
ies’’ and dated March 10, 1983, and updated by the 
Principles, Requirements, and Guidelines for Federal 
Investments in Water Resources (78 Fed. Reg. 
18562 (March 27, 2013); 79 Fed. Reg. 77460 (De-
cember 24, 2014)), inhibits the Corps of Engineers 
from considering in the economic evaluation of the 
Soo Locks projects the severe regional economic con-
sequences from an unplanned outage at the Soo 
Locks. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF PROJECT.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law (including regulations), and 
based on the risks and severe consequences of service 
interruption at the project, the Secretary of the Army 
shall carry out the project authorized by section 1149 of 
the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (100 Stat. 
4254; 121 Stat. 1131), at a total project cost that is equal 
to the 2017 certified cost estimate, plus or minus such 
amounts, if any, as may be required by ordinary fluctua-
tions in construction costs as indicated by engineering cost 
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indices applicable to the type of construction described in 
that section. 
Æ 
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