U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Releases Work Plan for Fiscal 2021 Civil Works Appropriations

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) delivered to Congress its Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021) Work Plan for the Army Civil Works program on January 19, 2021.On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260, of which Division D is the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021.  Of the appropriations provided for the Army Civil Works program, $7.3 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 Act’s accompanying Statement of Managers report allocates approximately $5.1 billion of the total for these five accounts to specific programs, projects and activities (PPA).  USACE is responsible for allocating the remainder in these accounts, approximately $2.3 billion, to specific PPAs, consistent with the categories, subcategories, and other direction provided in the Statement of Managers.  The allocation of these additional funds is presented in the Work Plan.

The Army Civil Works program includes funds for 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.

“I greatly appreciate the additional funding to put toward water-related infrastructure to support the national economy, public safety and environmental health of this great nation during an unprecedented time,” said The Honorable R. D. James, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

The additional funding not allocated by the Statement of Managers to specified PPAs in the five appropriations is subdivided into numerous categories and subcategories within these broad areas:

• Navigation: $1.3 billion
• Flood Risk Management: $0.5 billion
• Other Authorized Project Purposes: $0.4 billion
• FUSRAP: $0.20 billion

Ongoing work eligible for consideration for the additional funding generally includes projects, programs and activities that can attain a significant milestone, complete a discrete element of work, or produce significant outputs in FY 2021.

The Work Plan identifies the projects, programs, and activities within the Civil Works program that will receive the FY 2021 funding and how much each will receive.  With the total funding for this fiscal year, the Work Plan funds to completion 10 feasibility studies, 17 projects in the Preconstruction Engineering and Design phase, and 17 construction projects or elements of projects.

Studies Funded for Completion in FY 2021:

• Elim Subsistence Harbor, AK (Tribal Partnership Program Study)
• Clear Creek Ecosystem Restoration, CA (Tribal Partnership Program Study)
• Los Angeles County Drainage Area (Channels), CA (Disposition Study)
• Salinas Reservoir (Santa Margarita Lake), CA (Disposition Study)
• Suisun Bay Channel (Slough), CA (Disposition Study)
• Savannah River Below Augusta, GA (Disposition Study)
• Savannah River Below Augusta, GA (Feasibility Study)
• Peoria Small Boat Harbor, IL (Disposition Study)
• Bayou Cocodrie and Tributaries, LA (Disposition Study)
• Cape Fear Locks and Dams 1-3, NC (Disposition Study)

Preconstruction Engineering and Design Funded for Completion in FY 2021:

• Alaska Regional Ports (Port of Nome Modification), AK
• Craig Harbor, AK
• Arkansas River Navigation Study, AR & OK
• Three Rivers, AR
• Pajaro River at Watsonville, CA
• West Sacramento, CA
• Baptiste Collette, LA (Section 203)
• Eastern Shore, Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island, MD
• Espanola Valley, Rio Grande and Tributaries, NM
• Rio Grande, Sandia Pueblo to Isleta Pueblo, NM
• Lower Brule Sewage Lagoon, SD (Tribal Partnership Program)
• GIWW, High Island to Brazos River, TX
• Matagorda Ship Channel (Widening and Deepening), TX
• Resacas at Brownsville, TX
• City of Norfolk, VA
• Puget Sound Nearshore Marine Habitat Restoration, WA (Duckabush River Estuary)
• Tulsa West-Tulsa Levee, OK

Construction Projects Funded for Completion in FY 2021:

• Hamilton City, CA
• Napa River, CA
• Jacksonville Harbor Deepening, FL
• Albeni Falls Dam (Fish Passage), ID
• Melvin Price Lock and Dam, IL & MO (Deficiency Correction)
• Waukegan Harbor, IL (Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Pilot Program)
• Mississippi River Ship Channel, Gulf to Baton Rouge, LA
• Mississippi River Between Missouri River and Minneapolis (MVP Portion),MN & WI (Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Pilot Program)
• Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties (Forrest Heights Levee), MS
• Portsmouth Harbor & Piscataqua River, Turning Basin, NH
• Barnegat Inlet, NJ (Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Pilot Program)
• Espanola Valley, Rio Grande and Tributaries, NM
• Willamette River at Willamette Falls, OR (Disposition)
• General Edgar Jadwin Dam and Reservoir, PA
• San Juan Harbor, PR (Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Pilot Program)
• Lower Brule Sewage Lagoon, SD (Tribal Partnership Program)
• Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW), Bridges at Deep Creek, Chesapeake, VA

Public Law 116-260 requires USACE to fund eight new studies in the Investigations account, one new study in the Mississippi River and Tributaries account, and seven new projects in the Construction account.  The Army selected nine previously unfunded studies and seven previously unfunded construction projects based on performance and on considerations provided in the Statement of Managers.

The Statement of Managers stipulates that of the eight new studies funded in the Investigations account, three shall be for flood and storm damage reduction studies, of which one shall be for a coastal storm damage reduction study; two shall be for navigation studies; two shall be for environmental restoration studies; and one shall be for a multi-purpose watershed study to address coastal resiliency.  The eight selected studies in the Investigations account are:

• Claiborne and Millers Ferry Locks and Dams (Fish Passage), Lower Alabama River, AL
• North Ponte Vedra, St. Johns County, FL
• Lower Missouri River Basin, KS, MO & IA
• Boston Metropolitan Area, MA
• St. Marys River Deepening, MI
• Little Blue River Basin, Jackson County, MO
• Hatchie/Loosahatchie, Mississippi River Mile 775-736 Habitat Restoration, TN & AR
• City of El Paso, TX

The selected study in the Mississippi River and Tributaries account is Running Reelfoot Bayou, TN.

The Statement of Managers also stipulates that of the seven Construction and Mississippi River and Tributaries new starts, three shall be for navigation projects, one of which shall be for an inland waterways lock and dam modernization project, and one of which shall be for a small or medium-sized harbor; one shall be for an environmental restoration project; one shall be for an environmental restoration project or a multi-purpose project; one shall be for a flood and storm damage reduction project; and one shall be for a flood and storm damage reduction project or multi-purpose project.  The seven selected construction projects are:

• Albeni Falls Dam (Fish Passage), ID
• Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties (Forrest Heights Levee), MS
• Portsmouth Harbor & Piscataqua River, Turning Basin, NH
• Espanola Valley, Rio Grande and Tributaries, NM
• Upper Ohio, Allegheny and Beaver Counties, PA
• Morganza to the Gulf, LA
• Houston Ship Channel, TX

The Work Plan listing the amounts provided to various programs, projects and activities for each of the five appropriations accounts can be found at: https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/.