Shown Here:
Reported to House amended, Part I (09/22/2016)

Highlights:

This bill revises or authorizes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water resources development projects, feasibility studies, and relationships with nonfederal project sponsors. It establishes a process to deauthorize projects with an aggregate estimated federal cost to complete of at least $5 billion.

It sets forth requirements concerning: 

• harbor operations and maintenance;
• emerging harbors, donor ports, and energy transfer ports;
• navigation projects;
• flood management;
• reservoir operations and storage allocations;
• consideration of regional communities; and
• dredging alternatives.

The bill reauthorizes estuary habitat restoration projects through FY2021 and increases funding for commercial navigation costs beginning in FY2027.

To assist states, the bill contains provisions for:

• drought emergencies,
• regional district flood damage reduction projects, and
• combined funding in groups of states.

Credits or reimbursements for discrete segments of certain projects are permitted before final completion.

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council must issue regulations for environmental bank preservation projects that provide credits to offset adverse environmental impacts of construction or other required activities.  

The Corps of Engineers' authority to accept funds to expedite permits is expanded to railroad carriers and made permanent for public utilities or natural gas companies. It must designate a principal approving official to coordinate development of unmanned aircraft systems.

The Corps may operate a fish hatchery to restore threatened or endangered fish species. 

The bill authorizes various navigation, flood risk management, hurricane and storm damage, ecosystem restoration, recreation, or river shoreline projects in Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Full Summary:

Water Resources Development Act of 2016

TITLE I--GENERAL PROVISIONS

(Sec. 101) This title expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) water resources development projects are critical to maintaining economic prosperity, national security, and environmental protection; (2) Congress has required timely delivery of project and study authorization proposals from nonfederal project sponsors and the Corps of Engineers; and (3) Congress should consider a Water Resources Development Act at least once every Congress.

(Sec. 102) The Corps of Engineers must carry out a Veterans' Curation Program to hire veterans and members of the Armed Forces to assist with curation and historic preservation activities.

(Sec. 103) The Corps of Engineers must enter cooperative agreements with youth service and conservation corps organizations for services on Corps projects.

(Sec. 104) The Corps of Engineers must use its existing channel depths and dimensions authority under the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1915 to carry out navigation safety activities at harbor or inland harbor projects eligible for Corps operation and maintenance under the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (WRDA 1986), including at entrances, bends, sidings, and turning places necessary for the free movement of boats.

(Sec. 105) Under WRDA 1986, the Corps of Engineers must use at least 10% (currently, exactly 10%) of the difference between the funds made available for a fiscal year to pay operations and maintenance costs of harbors and inland harbors and the funds that were available for such costs for FY2012 as priority funding for emerging harbor projects that transit less than 1 million tons of cargo annually. Not more than 90% (currently, exactly 90%) of priority funds shall be used for high- and moderate-use harbor projects. These allocations are made permanent.

(Sec. 106) The Corps of Engineers must report on its inventory and assessment of the structural condition of federal breakwaters and jetties protecting harbors and inland harbors.

(Sec. 107) The bill reduces from $15 million to $5 million the total amount of harbor maintenance taxes for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) that a port must collect annually to be considered a donor port that is eligible to receive amounts from the Corps of Engineers for payments to cargo shippers or importers, maintenance dredging and disposal of legacy-contaminated sediment, or environmental remediation.

(Sec. 108) Beginning in FY2027, the bill makes additional funding available from the HMTF for the Corps of Engineers to pay for operations and maintenance costs assigned to commercial navigation of harbors.

(Sec. 109) The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 is amended to require the Corps of Engineers to consider regional (currently, local) communities when it makes recommendations for harbor and navigation improvements that are not justified solely by national economic development benefits.

(Sec. 110) The Corps of Engineers must establish a pilot program to carry out 10 cost-sharing projects for the beneficial use of dredged material. Project selections must be based solely on: (1) environmental, economic, and social benefits; and (2) diversity in project types and geographical locations. The projects are exempt from federal standards that require dredged material disposals representing the least costly alternatives. Regional teams that include local agencies and stakeholders must be established to identify and assist in implementation of projects.

(Sec. 111) The Corps of Engineers must establish a pilot program to accept services from nonfederal interests or commercial entities for removal of sediment captured behind up to 10 U.S. dams under Corps jurisdiction for the purpose of restoring authorized storage capacity. The nonfederal interests or commercial entities may sell or otherwise dispose of the removed sediment without compensating the Corps for the sediment's value.

(Sec. 112) For reservoirs that the Corps of Engineers is authorized to regulate for the use of storage allocated for flood risk management or navigation, the Corps may receive funds from nonfederal interests to formulate or revise operational documents.

(Sec. 113) In a state in which a drought emergency has been declared or was in effect during the year before enactment of this bill, the Corps of Engineers may enter agreements with nonfederal interests to carry out approved water supply conservation measures.

(Sec. 114) The bill removes provisions of the Water Supply Act of 1958 concerning Congress's recommendation for an interstate water compact for the operation of projects in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River System and the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River System.

(Sec. 115) For emergency repairs or restoration of flood control works or hurricane or shore protective structures, the Corps of Engineers must consult with nonfederal sponsors on the availability of nonstructural alternatives and obtain the sponsor's agreement before implementation.

(Sec. 116) Nonfederal interests are released from any obligation to operate and maintain the nonstructural and nonmechanical components of a project for environmental protection and restoration or aquatic ecosystem restoration if the Corps of Engineers determines that the project's: (1) construction has been complete for 50 years, or (2) purpose has been achieved. The Corps must issue guidance for determining when a project has returned to a condition where natural hydrologic and ecological functions are the predominant factors of the location.

(Sec. 117) The Estuary Restoration Act of 2000 is amended to: (1) reauthorize estuary habitat restoration projects through FY2021; and (2) allow nongovernmental organizations to enter the required agreements with the Corps under WRDA 1986 for flood control projects to be initiated only after the nonfederal interests agree to pay all operation, maintenance, replacement, and rehabilitation costs and the nonfederal share of construction costs.

(Sec. 118) The bill repeals provisions of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 concerning the authorization of appropriations for Great Lakes fishery and ecosystem restoration plans and projects.

(Sec. 119) The bill repeals provisions of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 concerning the use of mitigation banks for projects involving wetlands mitigation.

(Sec. 120) A Corps of Engineers coordinator and principal approving official must be designated to acquire Federal Aviation Administration authorizations for the Corps to operate small unmanned aircraft systems (drones) to support civil works and emergency response missions.

(Sec. 121) The Government Accountability Office (GAO) must report on the costs and benefits of expanding, reducing, or maintaining the federally owned hopper dredge fleet.

(Sec. 122) The Corps of Engineers must update its inventory of unneeded properties to consider: (1) economic, cultural, historic, or recreational significance; or (2) impacts at the national, state, or local level.

(Sec. 123) The Corps of Engineers may accept funds from a railroad carrier to expedite the evaluation of the carrier's permits for a project under the Corps' jurisdiction. The authority for public utilities or natural gas companies to make contributions for expedited permit processing is made permanent.

(Sec. 124) The Corps of Engineers' authority to provide nonfederal interests a credit in lieu of a reimbursement for the estimated federal share of a flood damage reduction project under repealed provisions the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 is extended to projects for which a written agreement with the Corps for construction was finalized on or before December 31, 2014. (Currently, the credit in lieu of reimbursement is limited to projects that have been constructed by a nonfederal interest before the provisions were repealed on June 10, 2014.) The credit may be applied to other water resources development projects or studies of the nonfederal interest.

(Sec. 125) The Corps of Engineers' authority to accept materials or services from nonfederal entities to repair, restore, or replace a water resources development project that has been damaged or destroyed as a result of an emergency shall include equipment failures caused by a lack of, or deferred, maintenance.

(Sec. 126) The Corps of Engineers may provide technical assistance to nonfederal interests for feasibility studies of a proposed water resources development project if the nonfederal interest contracts to pay the costs of such assistance.

(Sec. 127) The Corps of Engineers may authorize credits or reimbursements for discrete segments of a flood reduction project under WRDA 1986 before final completion of the project if the nonfederal interest can independently operate and maintain the segment without creating a hazard in advance of project completion.

(Sec. 128) The Corps of Engineers may cooperate with groups of states to prepare comprehensive plans for the development, utilization, and conservation of the water and related resources of drainage basins, watersheds, or ecosystems located within their boundaries. States may combine funds that the Corps makes available to them for such purposes.

(Sec. 129) State regional districts' flood damage reduction projects are eligible for assistance from: (1) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a levee safety program, and (2) the Corps of Engineers for flood mitigation activities. The national levee database, inventory and review procedures, and safety guidelines must be updated to include regional district participation.

(Sec. 130) The categories of "nonfederal interests" under the Flood Control Act of 1970 are expanded to include Alaska native villages, regional corporations, and village corporations among the entities that may enter partnership agreements with the Corps for implementation or construction of water resources projects.

(Sec. 131) For federally recognized Indian tribes, local cost-sharing requirements for studies and projects are waived up to a specified amount.

(Sec. 132) The Corps of Engineers must provide guidance and technical assistance for nonfederal interests to submit proposals for the Corps' annual report to Congress on the future of water resources development. The Corps must notify previous and potential nonfederal interests and local elected officials about opportunities to address local water resources challenges through the Corps.

(Sec. 133) The feasibility reports, proposed feasibility reports, and proposed project modifications for such future development reports may include projects under an environmental infrastructure assistance program.

(Sec. 134) At a nonfederal interest's request, the Corps of Engineers shall meet with a nonfederal interest prior to initiating a feasibility study for a proposed project to review a preliminary analysis of costs, benefits, and environmental impacts of the project.

(Sec. 135) The Corps of Engineers' post-authorization change reports recommending modifications to authorized projects: (1) may not be delayed by policy or priority change considerations, and (2) must be submitted to Congress upon completion.

(Sec. 136) The Corps of Engineers must establish a publicly available database on its dredging projects, including information on maintenance dredging carried out by federal and nonfederal vessels. For each project and contract, the database must include the number of private contractor bids received and the bid amounts.

(Sec. 137) The Corps of Engineers' system for electronic submission of permit applications must: (1) allow applicants to prepare permit applications, request jurisdictional determinations, and track their status electronically; and (2) address joint applications for state and federal permits. The Corps must maintain records of all permit decisions and jurisdictional determinations for at least five years and then archive those records.

(Sec. 138) The Corps of Engineers must publish data on: (1) the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of water resources development projects; and (2) water quality and water management of projects owned, operated, or managed by the Corps. But disclosure is not authorized for confidential or privileged information, law enforcement or national security information, infrastructure security information, or personal information.

(Sec. 139) The bill deauthorizes water resources development projects authorized for construction by this bill if funds have not been obligated for construction during the seven years after its enactment. The Corps of Engineers must identify for Congress any projects so deauthorized.

After 12 years, the Corps must submit to Congress: (1) a list of projects authorized by this bill that have not been completed, (2) the reasons the projects were not completed, (3) a schedule for completions based on expected appropriations, and (4) a 5-year and 10-year projection of the construction backlog with recommendations on how to mitigate such backlog.

(Sec. 140) Transmittal letters and attachments printed as House or Senate documents for certain proposed reports and recommendations transmitted to Congress for flood control or navigation improvements must be made publicly available.

The Corps of Engineers must provide the Library of Congress a copy of each final post-authorization change report for water resources projects.

(Sec. 141) The Corps of Engineers must report biennially on the metrics and project priorities used in developing each business line in the civil works budget. If a revised budget estimate is proposed, the Corps must notify each Member of Congress representing a district affected by the project.

(Sec. 142) The Corps of Engineers must report biennially on the use of natural and nature-based features in water resources development projects.

(Sec. 143) The Corps of Engineers must report annually on the amount of acquisitions it has made for civil works projects from entities that manufactured the articles, materials, or supplies outside of the United States. The report must indicate dollar values and summarize total procurement funds spent on goods manufactured inside versus outside the United States.

(Sec. 144) The Corps of Engineers must: (1) work with communities in watersheds covered by feasibility studies for proposed water resources development projects to avoid adversely affecting any local or regional water management plans for stormwater management, water quality improvement, aquifer recharge, or water reuse; and (2) incorporate the purposes of such plans into the Corps of Engineers' feasibility studies.

(Sec. 145) The Corps of Engineers must prioritize and complete its activities under the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA 2014) to: (1) contract with the National Academy of Public Administration to carry out a comprehensive review of the process for preparing, negotiating, and approving project partnership agreements and templates; and (2) report to Congress with its recommendations for improving those procedures.

(Sec. 146) The bill amends WRRDA 2014 to extend through FY2020, or through FY2025 if target total budget resources are met, the authorization for funding to donor ports and energy transfer ports for: (1) payments to cargo importers or shipping transporters, (2) maintenance dredging that benefits commercial navigation at harbors, or (3) environmental remediation related to dredging berths and federal navigation channels.

(Sec. 147) The Corps of Engineers must consult with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense (DOD) to identify national security benefits associated with the development of Arctic deep draft ports.

(Sec. 148) The Corps of Engineers' international outreach program is expanded to include informing the United States of technological innovations abroad that could improve any water resources development in the United States, including technology transfers or exchanges. (Under current law, the program is limited to informing the maritime industry and port authorities about innovations that could improve waterborne transportation.)

(Sec. 149) The Corps of Engineers must study flood risks for vulnerable coastal populations within the boundaries of the Corps' South Atlantic Division.

(Sec. 150) The GAO must analyze alternative models for managing the Inland Waterways Trust Fund and examine the costs and benefits of transferring the fund to a not-for-profit or government-owned corporation.

(Sec. 151) The Corps of Engineers may enter agreements to assume the operation and maintenance costs of an alternative project to maintenance dredging for a channel if the alternative project would lower the overall channel maintenance costs.

(Sec. 152) The Corps of Engineers may operate a fish hatchery to restore a population of threatened or endangered fish species. Nonfederal entities or federal agencies other than DOD shall be responsible for costs associated with managing such a fish hatchery that are not authorized as of the enactment of this bill.

(Sec. 153) The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council must issue regulations for environmental banks (projects to restore, create, enhance, or preserve natural resources in a designated site to provide credits to offset adverse environmental impacts) to mitigate adverse environmental impacts sustained by construction or other activities as required by law or regulation. The regulations must provide criteria for: (1) bank certification and performance; (2) priority for banks that enhance coastal resources to inundation and coastal erosion; and (3) transfers of environmental credits, cross-crediting of environmental services, and the purchase of credits to offset adverse impacts or legal liability.

TITLE II--STUDIES

(Sec. 201) The Corps of Engineers may conduct feasibility studies for the following navigation, flood damage reduction, hurricane and storm damage reduction, ecosystem or environmental restoration, water supply, flood control, and recreation projects:

• Ouachita-Black Rivers, Arkansas and Louisiana;
• Cache Creek Settling Basin, California;
• Coyote Valley Dam, California;
• Del Rosa Channel, City of San Bernardino, California;
• Merced County Streams, California;
• Mission-Zanja Channel, Cities of San Bernardino and Redlands, California;
• Soboba Indian Reservation, California;
• Indian River Inlet, Delaware;
• Lewes Beach, Delaware;
• Mispillion Complex, Kent and Sussex Counties, Delaware;
• Daytona Beach, Florida;
• Brunswick Harbor, Georgia;
• Dubuque, Iowa;
• St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana;
• Cattaraugus Creek, New York;
• Cayuga Inlet, Ithaca, New York;
• Delaware River Basin, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware;
• Silver Creek, Hanover, New York;
• Tulsa and West Tulsa Levees, Tulsa, Oklahoma;
• Stonycreek and Little Conemaugh Rivers, Pennsylvania;
• Tioga-Hammond Lake, Pennsylvania;
• Brazos River, Fort Bend County, Texas;
• Chacon Creek, City of Laredo, Texas;
• Corpus Christi Ship Channel, Texas;
• City of El Paso, Texas;
• Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Brazoria and Matagorda Counties, Texas;
• Port of Bay City, Texas;
• Chincoteague Island, Virginia; and
• Burley Creek Watershed, Kitsap County, Washington.

(Sec. 202) The Corps of Engineers must expedite feasibility studies for, and if a project is justified in a completed report, may proceed directly to preconstruction planning, engineering, and design for, the following flood risk management, ecosystem restoration, hurricane and storm damage risk reduction, and navigation projects:

• Little Colorado River at Winslow, Navajo County, Arizona;
• Lower San Joaquin River, California, including Reclamation District 17;
• Sacramento River Flood Control System, California;
• Ft. Pierce, Florida;
• Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers, Iowa;
• Mississippi River Ship Channel, Louisiana;
• North Branch Ecorse Creek, Wayne County, Michigan;
• Rahway River Basin (Upper Basin), New Jersey; and
• Upper Ohio River, Pennsylvania.

It shall expedite post-authorization change reports for a flood risk management project in Swope Park Industrial Area, Kansas City, Missouri, and a hurricane and storm damage risk reduction project in New Hanover County, North Carolina.

TITLE III--DEAUTHORIZATIONS AND RELATED PROVISIONS

(Sec. 301) This title establishes a process for the Corps of Engineers to seek comment from the public and states regarding an interim deauthorization list from which the Corps must then prepare a final deauthorization list of projects with an aggregate estimated federal cost to complete that is at least $5 billion.

The Corps' interim list must identify: (1) each water resources development project authorized for construction before November 8, 2007, for which planning, design, or construction was not initiated before enactment of this bill or for which planning, design, or construction was initiated but no funds were obligated during the current fiscal year or the preceding six fiscal years; and (2) projects identified on a list under WRDA 1986 that have received no obligations during a specified preceding period of years.

A project shall not be deauthorized if: (1) Congress disapproves of such project's deauthorization, or (2) a nonfederal interest provides sufficient funds to complete the project or a separable element of the project.

(Sec. 302) Specified portions of a navigation project in Valdez, Alaska, and Texas City Ship Channel, Texas City, Texas, shall not be subject to navigation servitude.

(Sec. 303) The Corps of Engineers must prioritize updates to water control manuals for control structures in the Los Angeles County Drainage Area in California.

(Sec. 304) The bill deauthorizes specified portions of projects for:

• Sutter Basin, California;
• Essex River, Massachusetts; and
• Salt Creek, Graham, Texas.

(Sec. 306) Flowage easements are extinguished for portions of Port of Cascade Locks, Oregon.

(Sec. 307) Unless local public officials object, portions of the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are declared to be nonnavigable waters of the United States. The declaration of nonnavigability for the Rivercenter portion of the Delaware River (currently, scheduled to expire on November 17, 2018) shall not expire.

(Sec. 308) The Corps of Engineers must prioritize the updating of the master plan for the Juniata River and tributaries project in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. It must ensure that alternatives for additional recreation access and development are fully assessed and incorporated as a part of the update.

The Corps of Engineers may accept from the Trinity River Authority of Texas certain water supply storage space in Joe Pool Lake, Texas.

TITLE IV--WATER RESOURCES INFRASTRUCTURE

(Sec. 401) This title authorizes and sets forth conditions for:

• navigation projects in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Texas;
• flood risk management projects in California, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas;
• hurricane and storm damage risk reduction projects in California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, and South Carolina;
• ecosystem restoration projects in Florida and Washington;
• flood risk management and ecosystem restoration projects in Illinois and Wisconsin;
• flood risk management, ecosystem restoration, and recreation projects in California;
• ecosystem restoration and recreation projects in California and Oregon;
• deauthorizations, modifications, and other projects in Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas.