Posted on March 1, 2023
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) delivered to Congress its Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 2023) Work Plan for the Army Civil Works program Feb. 27, 2023.
“The FY 2023 Work Plan for Army Civil Works continues the administration’s substantial investments in projects and actions that will strengthen supply chains and the economy by adding capacity at the nation’s waterways and ports, build resilience to the impacts of climate change by reducing flood risks of communities and restoring the aquatic environment, and promote equity in underserved communities consistent with the President’s Justice40 Initiative,” said Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328, of which Division D is the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023 (Act) and Division N is the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 (DRSAA 2023) providing $8.3 billion in appropriations plus an additional $1.48 billion in disaster-relief supplemental funding to the USACE. Today, the USACE is announcing the FY 2023 Work Plan that will fund 1,325 studies and projects in 50 states and three territories, including 69 Justice40 disadvantaged communities.
Of the $9.8 billion in appropriations provided for the Army Civil Works program in the Act and DRSAA 2023, approximately $8.8 billion is appropriated in five accounts: Investigations, Construction, Operation and Maintenance, Mississippi River and Tributaries, and the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).
The Joint Explanatory Statement – Division D report, Title I – Corps of Engineers – Civil, Department of the Army (Joint Explanatory Statement) that accompanies the Act allocates approximately $6.52 billion of the total for these five accounts to specific Programs, Projects and Activities (PPAs). The USACE is responsible for allocating the remainder in these accounts, approximately $1.92 billion, to specific PPAs, consistent with the categories, subcategories, and other direction provided in the Act and the Joint Explanatory Statement.
The remaining $1 billion in the FY 2023 Civil Works appropriations provides funding for USACE in the Expenses, Regulatory, Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies (FCCE), and Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works accounts.
The Army Civil Works program funds the planning, design, construction, and operation and maintenance of water resources projects, with a focus 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.
FY 2023 Annual Appropriations Work Plan
The FY 2023 Work Plan being announced today includes funding for 1,284 projects and studies, in 50 states, 16 Tribes, and three territories. These investments are currently assisting local communities to improve their resilience in the face of global climate change and addressing commercial improvements at coastal ports and on the inland waterways. With this funding, the Army has also engaged with environmental justice communities in the development of a strategy targeting economically disadvantaged communities’ needs. In total, the investments include:
- 21 studies and projects that will improve supply chain resilience
- 54 studies and projects that increase resilience to flooding and bolster aquatic ecosystem restoration
- 70 studies and projects in disadvantaged communities to advance President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
The additional funding not allocated by the Joint Explanatory Statement to specified PPAs in the five appropriations is subdivided into numerous categories and subcategories within these broad areas, including:
- Commercial Navigation: $667 million
- Flood Risk Management: $194 million
- Other Authorized Project Purposes: $57 million
- FUSRAP: $400 million
- Environmental Infrastructure: $18 million
- Environmental Restoration or Compliance: $28.5 million
Ongoing work eligible for consideration for the additional funding generally includes PPA that can attain a significant milestone, complete a discrete element of work, or produce significant outputs in FY 2023.
The Work Plan identifies the PPA within the Civil Works program that will receive FY 2023 funding and how much each will receive. With the total funding for this fiscal year, the Work Plan funds to completion 14 feasibility studies, six projects in the preconstruction engineering and design phase, and five construction projects or elements of projects.
Studies Funded for Completion in the FY 2023 Work Plan:
- Clairborne and Millers Ferry Locks and Dams (Fish Passage), Lower Alabama River, AL
- Tennessee Tombigbee and Black Warrior Tombigbee Rivers Deepening Study, AL & MS
- Murrieta Creek, CA (General Reevaluation Report)
- Oakland Inner Harbor Turning Basin Widening, CA
- Boise River, Garden City, Ada County, ID
- Lower Missouri River Basin, KS, MO & IA
- Kentucky River, Beattyville, KY
- Port of Iberia, LA
- Little Blue River Basin, Jackson County, MO
- Watertown and Vicinity, SD
- Hatchie/Loosahatchie, Mississippi River Mile 775-736 Habitat Restoration, TN & AR
- Columbia River Turning Basin Navigation Improvements, WA & OR
- Little Goose Creek, Sheridan, WY
- Preconstruction Engineering and Design Funded for Completion in the FY 2023 Work Plan:
- Northern California Streams, Lower Cache Creek, Yolo County, Woodland and Vicinity, CA
- Brunswick Harbor, GA
- Metro Louisville Flood Protection System, KY
- Minnesota River Bank Stabilization, Lower Sioux Community, MN
- Willamette River Environmental Dredging, OR
- Big Sand Lake Shoreline Stabilization, WI
- Construction Projects Funded for Completion in the FY 2023 Work Plan:
- Unalaska (Dutch Harbor) Channels, AK
- Manhattan, KS
- Corpus Christi Ship Channel, TX (Main Channel and Barge Lanes)
- Freeport Harbor Channel Improvements, TX
- Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Bridges at Deep Creek, VA
- The Act also provided funding for a limited number of new studies and new projects, including those proposed in the Budget. The Work Plan includes 17 previously unfunded projects within the Investigations account:
- Homer Navigation Improvements, AK
- Cave Buttes Dam, AZ
- Fruitvale Avenue Railroad Bridge, CA
- Redbank and Fancher Creeks, CA
- Sacramento River, Yolo Bypass, CA
- Charlotte County, FL
- Key Biscayne, FL
- Lafitte Area Flood Risk Management, LA (MR&T)
- Hoosic River Basin, MA
- Gulfport Harbor, MS
- Whippany River, NJ
- John Day Lock and Dam, OR & WA (Tribal Housing)
- Charleston, SC Tidal and Inland Flooding – Flood Risk Management
- Lower Moreau River Feasibility Study, SD
- Estelline Springs Experimental Project, TX
- Whitney Lake, TX
- Bonneville Lock and Dam, WA (Tribal Housing)
- Upper Guyandotte Feasibility Study, WV
Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023
The Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 provided the Army Civil Works program $1.48 billion for studies and projects, to maintain existing infrastructure, and to repair damage and dredge channels in response to floods and coastal storms.
The Army plans to leverage $764 million of the DRSAA 2023 funds to complete one feasibility study, one project in the preconstruction engineering and design phase, and three construction projects.
Studies Funded for Completion in the DRSAA 2023:
- Daytona Beach, FL
Preconstruction Engineering and Design Funded for Completion in the DRSAA 2023:
- Okaloosa County Hurricane Storm Damage Reduction, FL
Construction Projects Funded for Completion in the DRSAA 2023:
- Okaloosa Hurricane Storm Damage Reduction, FL
- South San Francisco Shoreline, CA
- Lower Mud River, Milton, WV
The DRSAA 2023 also provides Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies funding for emergency management activities for 16 projects; Mississippi River and Tributaries funding for operation and maintenance for three projects; and Operation and Maintenance funding for assessments, repairs, replacements, replenishments and dredging needed after storm activity and events on seven projects.
The FY 2023 Work Plan includes $65 million through DRSAA 2023 and DRSAA 2022 for investments in Fort Myers, Florida, following President Biden’s visit in October 2022. These funds will be used for dredging and to address extensive beach and dune erosion.
The Army is fully funding the remaining cost to construct the Lower Mud River, West Virginia project. It is providing a total of $190.7 million for this project – $148.2 million in the FY 2023 Work Plan through DRSAA 2023; and $42.5 million through the Balanced Budget Act of 2018.
Additional Information
Additional details regarding the amounts provided to various programs, projects and activities may be found at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/. Please watch for future announcements concerning additional DRSAA 2023 funding allocations.
