The Biden administration is announcing nearly $200 million in federal infrastructure grants to upgrade tunnels that carry streams beneath roads but can be deadly to fish that get stuck trying to pass through.
Some of the 169 projects that make up the first batch in a $1 billion initiative being rolled out over five years under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would upgrade the culverts or replace them with bridges to allow water — and fish — to flow more freely.
Washington state, which has been working for years under a court order to improve fish crossings under state roads, is receiving $58 million in federal grant money — the most for any state in the first round of the culvert projects.prohibiting the construction of new culverts deemed to harm fish habitats and requiring state officials to accelerate the removal of existing ones. The U.S. Supreme Court later deadlocked on the case, 4-4, allowing the lower court order to stand.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said the federal money will only add to that effort. While the most funding went to Washington and Alaska, Maine was next with $35 million. Four other East Coast states also received grants — Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia and North Carolina — but for much smaller amounts.Jessica Helsley, director of government affairs for the Wild Salmon Center, which advocates for fish crossings including culvert removal, said the effort will be much stronger with the federal government as a committed partner.
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