U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Releases Work Plans for 2012 Civil Works Appropriations

WASHINGTON (Feb. 8, 2012) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released its work plans for the Army Civil Works program through the end of fiscal year 2012 (FY12).

The Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2012, Division B of Public Law 112-74, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, signed into law by President Obama on December 23, provided total FY12 appropriations for the Army Civil Works program of $5.002 billion.  The accompanying Statement of Managers report designated $4.495 billion of that total for individual programs, projects, and activities.  USACE was to allocate the remaining $507 million, designated as additional funding for ongoing work, to individual programs, projects, and activities, generally in accordance with criteria provided in the Statement of Managers.

The Statement of Managers specified by account and program area how the Corps was to allocate this $507 million, as follows:

Investigations Account — $35 million total

    Coastal and Deep-Draft Navigation ($10 million)
    Environmental Restoration or Compliance ($1 million)
    Flood and Storm Damage Reduction ($2 million)
    Flood Control ($9 million)
    Inland Navigation ($3 million)
    Navigation ($2 million)
    Other Authorized Purposes (including but not limited to Environmental Restoration or Compliance and Remote, Coastal, or Small Watershed) ($1.2 million)
    Remote, Coastal, or Small Watershed ($2 million)
    Shore Protection ($3 million)
    Small, Remote, or Subsistence Navigation (1.5 million)

Construction Account — $253 million total

    Environmental Infrastructure ($29.7 million)
    Environmental Restoration or Compliance ($8.9 million)
    Flood and Storm Damage Reduction ($19.8 million)
    Flood Control ($59.3 million)
    Hydropower ($13.8 million)
    Navigation ($74.1 million)
    Other Authorized Project Purposes (including but not limited to Environmental Restoration or Compliance, Environmental Infrastructure, and Hydropower) ($7.9 million)
    Shore Protection ($39.5 million)

Operation and Maintenance (O& M) Account — $173 million total

    Deep-Draft Harbor and Channel Maintenance ($55 million)
    Inland Waterway Maintenance ($30 million)
    Navigation Maintenance ($34 million)
    Other Authorized Project Purposes ($24.4 million)
    Small, Remote, or Subsistence Navigation Maintenance ($30 million)

Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) Account — $46 million total

    Dredging ($5 million)
    Flood Control ($24 million)
    Other Authorized Project Purposes ($17 million)

USACE has developed a work plan for each of these specified program areas of additional funding, detailing the programs, projects, and activities that will receive this funding.

Work eligible for consideration generally included ongoing work such as contract management, claims,  earnings on certain types of contracts, legal mandates, and safety of project sites; and other ongoing Construction and Investigations work on programs, projects, activities that received funding in any year FY09-FY12; and other ongoing O&M and MR&T work.  Previously unfunded programs, projects, and activities (new starts) were not considered.

Work was selected for funding based on performance and on criteria provided in the Statement of Managers.  Funded work includes: ongoing work as described above; useful project increments; work contributing to job creation and economic growth; work in disaster areas; work that reduces risks to life and property; priority maintenance and repairs; MR&T work on the tributaries and for non-traditional purposes; and additional work on budgeted programs, projects, and activities.

In conjunction with preparation of the work plans, USACE also identified $8 million of FY12 funding in the Investigations account and $77 million of FY12 funding in the Construction account as sources to finance transfers to the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies account that had taken place in FY12, but before enactment of Public Law 112-74, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2012.  The transferred funds are being used to address critical repairs from the historic floods and storms during 2011 in the Midwest and on the Atlantic seaboard.  These financing sources included not only programs, projects, and activities that, due to changed circumstances, no longer could use budgeted amounts in FY12, but also some of the unallocated funding for ongoing work.  The work foregone by sourcing the transfers was relatively lower-performing than the funded work.

Public Law 112-77, also signed into law by President Obama on December 23, provided the Army Civil Works program with $1.724 billion of supplemental FY12 funding for disaster recovery.

The main Civil Works mission areas for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are commercial navigation, flood and storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration, as well as hydropower.  The Civil Works program additionally contributes to the protection of the nation’s waters and wetlands; the restoration of certain sites contaminated as a result of the nation’s early atomic weapons development program; and emergency preparedness and training to respond to natural disasters.

The work plans for each appropriation listing the amounts provided to various programs, projects, and activities may be found at http://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Budget.aspx.