A Citizen's Guide to the Corps of Engineers
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A Citizen’s Guide to the Corps of Engineers American Rivers National Wildlife Federation Acknowledgments Principal Author: Melissa Samet American Rivers and the National Wildlife Federation are extremely grateful for the significant contributions made throughout the long history of developing this guide by Kelly Miller Reed, Joyce Wu, Peter Raabe, David Conrad, Kate Costenbader, Linda Shotwell, and Steve Ellis. This report was made possible by funding from The McKnight Foundation and The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders, advisory council members, or those who provided review. A Citizen’s Guide to the Corps of Engineers 2009 Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 .........................................................................................................................5 Inside The Corps The Corps’ History and Structure I. An Overview of the Corps ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 II. The Corps’ Organizational Structure ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2 .......................................................................................................................23 The Civil Works Program Project Planning and Construction I. The Civil Works Program ......................................................................................................................................................... 24 II. Project Planning and Construction ....................................................................................................................................... 36 III. Plan Selection Criteria ........................................................................................................................................................... 48 IV. Peer Review .............................................................................................................................................................................. 51 V. Mitigation for Civil Works Projects ....................................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 3 .......................................................................................................................67 The Regulatory Program Clean Water Act Section 404 Permits I. The Corps’ Regulatory Program .............................................................................................................................................. 68 II. Types of Section 404 Permits ................................................................................................................................................. 75 III. The Section 404 Permit Review Process .............................................................................................................................. 79 IV. Mitigation for Permitted Activities ...................................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 4 .....................................................................................................................101 The Corps and Congress Project Politics and Funding I. Authorizing Corps Activities .................................................................................................................................................102 II. Funding Corps Activities ......................................................................................................................................................106 III. Understanding the Legislative Process ..............................................................................................................................112 Chapter 5 .....................................................................................................................119 The Players Agencies, States, and Stakeholders I. Federal Agencies ......................................................................................................................................................................120 II. Presidential Support Offices ................................................................................................................................................126 III. Congressional Support Offices ..........................................................................................................................................128 IV. States, Tribes, and Local Governments .............................................................................................................................131 V. The National Academy of Sciences ....................................................................................................................................133 VI. Stakeholders .........................................................................................................................................................................135 Chapter 6 .....................................................................................................................137 The Corps and the Law Key Laws Applicable to Corps Projects I. The Legal Process ....................................................................................................................................................................138 II. Environmental Protection Laws ........................................................................................................................................142 III. Flood Insurance and Historic Preservation Laws ...........................................................................................................155 IV. Information Access and Quality Laws .............................................................................................................................157 V. Corps Planning Laws ............................................................................................................................................................161 VI. Executive Orders .................................................................................................................................................................162 Chapter 7 .....................................................................................................................167 The Corps and the Media Strategies to Spread the Word I. Designing a Media Campaign ...............................................................................................................................................168 II. Working With the Media ......................................................................................................................................................173 III. Media Tools ..........................................................................................................................................................................179 A Citizen’s Guide to the Corps of Engineers 2009 Introduction Introduction American Rivers, in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation, created this Citizen’s Guide as a resource for individuals and organizations working to improve the way the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) plans, constructs, operates, and issues permits for projects affecting the nation’s rivers, coasts, and wetlands. The guide provides a detailed overview of the Corps and of the laws, policies, and strategies that can be used to stop or improve destructive projects and permits and to promote restoration and protection of our vital water resources. I. The Corps of Engineers The Corps is the primary federal manager of the nation’s water resources. The Corps builds and maintains much of the nation’s navigation and flood damage reduction infrastructure and regulates the issuance of Clean Water Act dredge and fill and other permits to the private sector. Since its formation more than 225 years ago, the Corps has significantly transformed our nation’s rivers and coasts, constructing 11,000 miles of inland waterway navigation channels, 8,500 miles of levees and seawalls, and more than 600 dams. The agency also dredges hundreds of millions of cubic yards of material each year from the nation’s rivers and harbors. Since 1990, when Congress added environmental protection to the Corps’ mission areas, the Corps’ civil works portfolio has grown to include some of the nation’s largest and most controversial restoration projects. While Corps projects have produced some positive economic benefits for the nation, they have also caused significant environmental harm. The environmental damage has been so great that Corps projects are recognized as one of the leading reasons that North America’s freshwater species are disappearing five times faster than land based species and as quickly as rainforest species. Large-scale structural projects planned and constructed by the Corps have also increased flood risks for many communities, reduced water quality, impaired recreational opportunities, and damaged economies that rely on a healthy environment. As the nation saw all too clearly