USACE releases work plan for fiscal 2021

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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.

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/.