U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Releases Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2016 Civil Works Appropriations

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Feb 09, 2016, 04:03 ET

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) yesterday delivered to Congress its Fiscal Year 2016 (FY 2016) work plan for the Army Civil Works program.

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, Public Law 114-113, of which Division D is the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (the Act) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. The Act provides $5.989 billion in FY 2016 appropriations for the Army Civil Works program, of which $5.465 billion is appropriated in four accounts: Investigations; Construction; Operation and Maintenance; and Mississippi River and Tributaries. The Act's accompanying Statement of Managers report designates nearly $4.153 billion of the total for these four accounts for specified programs, projects and activities (PPA). USACE is responsible for allocating the remaining balance of nearly $1.313 billion designated as additional funding in the four accounts to individual PPAs, consistent with the categories and criteria provided in the Statement of Managers.

"The Army Civil Works' Fiscal Year 2016 work plan will significantly advance and complete studies and construction projects that support the Nation's economy, environment and quality of life," said The Honorable Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

The Army Civil Works budget funds the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of water resources projects and focuses on the highest performing work within the three main Civil Works mission areas: commercial navigation, flood and storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration. It also funds programs that contribute to the protection of the nation's waters and wetlands; the generation of low-cost renewable hydropower; 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 nearly $1.313 billion in additional funding not allocated to specified projects in the four appropriations by the Statement of Managers is subdivided into numerous categories within these broad areas:

Navigation: $677 million
Flood Risk Management: $434 million
Other Authorized Project Purposes: $202 million

Work eligible for consideration for the additional funding generally included projects, programs and activities funded in the three previous fiscal years, and other ongoing projects, programs and activities that can attain a significant milestone or produce significant outputs in FY 2016.

The work plan identifies which projects, programs, and activities within the Civil Works program will receive the funding provided in FY 2016 to USACE, and how much each of them will receive, and includes in these amounts that the Army allocated earlier this fiscal year under a continuing resolution. With the total funding for this fiscal year, the work plan funds to completion nine feasibility studies, two projects in the Preconstruction Engineering and Design phase, and 24 construction projects or elements of projects.

Feasibility Studies Funded for Completion in FY 2016:

Illinois River Basin River Restoration – Fox River, IL
Illinois River Basin River Restoration – Ten Mile River, IL
Passaic River Above Dundee Dam, NJ (Phase I)
Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay, TX
Saginaw River Deepening, Saginaw, MI
St. John's County, FL
St. Lucie County Beaches, FL
Sulphur River Basin Reallocation, TX
Westchester County Streams (Byram River), NY

Preconstruction Engineering and Design Funded for Completion in FY 2016:

American River Watershed, Common Features Project, Natomas Basin, CA
Boston Harbor Deep Draft, MA

Construction Projects Funded for Completion in FY 2016:

Alamogordo, NM
Bethel Bank Stabilization, AK
Cape Girardeau (Floodwall), MO
Charleston Harbor, SC (Dredged Material Placement Facility)
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Dispersal Barrier, IL
Coyote & Berryessa Creeks, CA
Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers, IA
Grays Harbor (38-foot Deepening), WA
GIWW, Chocolate Bayou, TX (Dredged Material Placement Facility)
Greens Bayou, Houston, TX
Indianapolis White River (North), IN
Lower Colorado River Basin (Onion Creek), TX
Lower Snake River Fish and Wildlife Compensation, WA, OR & ID
Manatee Pass Gates, FL
Marsh Lake, MN
McCook Reservoir, IL (Stage I)
Missouri River Levee System (Unit L385), IA, NE, KS & MO (Deficiency Correction)
Oakland Harbor, CA
Port Lions Harbor (Deepening and Breakwater), AK
Pine Creek Lake, OK (Dam Safety)
Rio Grande Floodway, NM
Savannah Harbor Disposal Areas, GA & SC (Dredged Material Containment Area 13A)
Tropicana and Flamingo Washes, NV (Deficiency Correction)
Upper St. Johns, FL

Public Law 114-113 authorizes USACE to fund up to 10 previously unfunded studies and up to six previously unfunded construction projects. The Army selected 10 previously unfunded studies and six previously unfunded construction projects for funding based on performance and on considerations provided in the Statement of Managers.

The Statement of Managers stipulates that of the 10 new studies, three will be navigation studies, three will be flood risk management studies, three will be environmental restoration studies, and the tenth can be either a navigation or flood risk management study. The 10 selected studies are:

Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Channels, AK
GIWW, Brazos River Floodgates and Colorado River Locks, TX
Grand River Basin, IA & MO
Lowell Creek Flood Diversion, AK
Matagorda Ship Channel (Widening and Deepening), TX
Rio Grande Basin, Sandia Pueblo to Isleta Pueblo, NM
Savannah River Below Augusta Ecosystem Restoration, GA
Souris River, ND
Sweetwater Creek, GA
Water Resources Priorities Study

The Statement of Managers also stipulates that of the six Construction new starts, one will be navigation, one will be flood risk management, one will be environmental restoration, and the remaining three can be either navigation or flood risk management. Construction new starts in FY 2016 are:

American River Watershed, Common Features Project, Natomas Basin, CA
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Bridge Replacement at Deep Creek, Chesapeake, VA
Coyote and Berryessa Creeks, CA (Berryessa Creek) (Funded to completion)
Fargo, ND – Moorhead, MN Metropolitan Area
Marsh Lake, MN (Funded to completion)
Port Lions (Deepening and Breakwater), AK (Funded to completion)

The work plan listing the amounts provided to various programs, projects and activities for each of the four appropriations accounts can be found at http://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Budget.aspx.

The Statement of Managers (Congressional Record, December 17, 2015, page H10056 et seq.) can be found at https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2015/12/17/house-section.

SOURCE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers