The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) last week announced additional work that they plan to accomplish with the funding provided for disaster recovery in Public Law 115-123, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, signed into law February 9, 2018.
Among other things, Public Law 115-123 provided $17.398 billion for disaster recovery in six appropriations accounts: Investigations; Construction; Mississippi River and Tributaries; Operation and Maintenance; Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies; and Expenses.
USACE will use funds provided in the Construction account to construct 60 flood and storm damage reduction projects in 16 states and one territory. Where appropriate, these funds will be made available to eligible non-federal sponsors that have the capability and desire to complete these projects under Section 1043 of WRRDA 2014, said USACE.
According to the official announcement, “ USACE will use funds provided in the Investigations account to complete flood and coastal storm damage reduction studies in 14 states and two territories that will focus on the opportunities to reduce the overall flood risk facing the Nation. ”
They will also use funds provided in the Mississippi River and Tributaries account to construct levee and channel improvements and repair damages to 10 projects in seven states.
On April 30, 2018, USACE announced the allocation of approximately $360 million of the $608 million provided in the Operation and Maintenance account to address the highest priority O&M needs identified by USACE at 31 projects in 11 states.
With this announcement, they will allocate the full $608 million provided to 69 projects in 18 states and one territory. The funds will be used to repair damages to their projects resulting from natural disasters and to perform emergency dredging of shoaled material deposited at USACE navigation projects by natural disasters.
They previously announced on May 21, 2018, the allocation of approximately $424 million of the $810 million provided in the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies account to repair damage to 48 locally owned flood risk management projects in 11 states and one territory.
With this announcement, USACE will use approximately $645 million of the $810 million to repair damages to 81 locally owned flood risk management projects in 16 states and one territory.