Congress Blocking Overdue Army Corps of Engineers Project Reforms
Snapshot: Way back in 2007, Congress asked for new guidelines for US Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources projects. The reform idea was broadened to include a range of federal agencies and new guidelines were developed in 2014 after an extensive review process. But before the US Army Corps of Engineers could move on them, the US Senate blocked these updated guidelines from being implemented in the US Army Corps of Engineers projects. That prohibition has been renewed every year.
What’s at stake? Consideration of nature-based alternatives, economic and social justice considerations, future conditions (climate change) considerations, and other needed reforms. Anyone who thinks the Army Corps needs to bring its project decisions into this century should look no further than an unknown person/people in the US Senate blocking those reforms.
Backstory: The US Army Corps of Engineers, like all federal agencies, was using a process developed in 1983 to evaluate the merit and impacts of its water resources projects - dams, levees, flood protection projects, etc. Congress in 2007 felt this process was outdated and did not consider a number of issues, specifically comparisons of structural and non-structural (nature-based) approaches. In the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 Congress asked the Secretary of the Army to update the “Principles, Requirements and Guidelines for Water and Land Related Resources Implementation Studies (PR&G).”
(An overview of the history and processes involved can be found in this University of Washington study from 2009).
The PR&G revisions were expanded government-wide in 2009, to include all the Water Resources Council Departments, thus covering all federal water and land resources programs. An extensive review process resulted, with studies by the National Research Council, public comments, and many interagency meetings, led by the Council on Environmental Quality CEQ).
In December 2014, the PR&G revisions were finalized, but Congress blocked their implementation by the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Department of Agriculture programs. (Summary by Congressional Research Service here.)
Subsequently, USDA has implemented many of the new PR&G provisions while the US Army Corps of Engineers continues to be blocked.
Until the Congressional block is lifted, the US Army Corps of Engineers will continue to use 36 year-old decision processes that do not include today’s land and water management science and engineering knowledge nor today’s climate change realities.