: ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
USACE programs boost ports’ efforts to address water resource issues
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ne notable session at this year’s Annual Conference is “The Environmental Permitting Process.” Lynker’s Sarah Pautzke and Zach Hughes, Salus Resources Inc. are joined by Theresa Stevens, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to assist in taking the mystery out of the Environmental Permitting Process. Stevens’ presentation — USACE Regulatory 101, Nuts and Bolts — will be a great road map through the Corps’ regulatory permit process, provide relevant information, and help in getting through the permit process efficiently. Pautzke and Hughes, both leaders in supporting clients who are faced with the challenge of meeting requirements of such acts as the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, will provide useful and insightful guidance for conference attendees. While Stevens will be providing an overview of the regulatory landscape, the USACE has a number of programs that are useful to highlight as a supplement to Stevens’ presentation. These programs provide opportunities for local governments, states, tribes, and non-governmental entities to partner with the USACE to help solve their water resources problems described herein. The USACE has a breadth of technical and planning capabilities and experience in solving the nation’s most complex water resources problems. But large-scale studies and construction of huge infrastructure is not the answer to all problems. The programs described below are designed to scale support to the level of complexity and problems, targeting solutions to the needs of non-federal partners. Some programs, like the Continuing Authorities Program, include the ability to construct recommendations coming out of the initial feasibility study phase. While other programs,
36 — PACIFIC PORTS — September 2021
such as the Floodplain Management Services, and Planning Assistance to States, don’t include construction and are focused on providing technical support to analyze problems and support local decision makers and resource managers. A brief introduction to the type of work each program can support, and how they work, is below. Interested partners are furthermore invited to reach out for additional information, or to discuss whether any of these programs may be a good fit for your needs.
Continuing Authorities Program
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Continuing Authorities Program (CAP) is a group of nine water resource-related authorities contained in several different laws. The purpose of the CAP is to plan, design, and construct water resources projects of limited scope and complexity that, because of their limited cost (total federal expense per project not exceeding $10 million), do not require project-specific authorization from Congress. Example projects include: • streambank and shoreline erosion protection of public works and non-profit public services, • beach erosion and hurricane and storm damage reduction, • navigation improvements, • flood damage reduction, • and aquatic ecosystem restoration, among others. All projects in this program include a feasibility phase and an implementation phase. Planning activities, such as development of alternative plans to achieve the project goals, initial design and cost estimating, environmental analyses and real estate evaluations are performed during the feasibility phase to develop enough information to decide whether to implement the project. The feasibility phase is initially federally funded up to $100,000, and all additional study costs are typically shared 50-50 with a non-federal project partner and the USACE. The final design, preparation of contract plans and specifications, permitting, real estate acquisition, project contracting and construction, and any other activities required to construct or implement the approved project are completed during the implementation phase. The USACE and the nonfederal sponsor typically share implementation phase costs 65% federal, 35% non-federal. The federal costs per project for both phases (feasibility and implementation) are generally limited to $10 million. Regional CAP Production Center — The Regional CAP Production Center (RCPC) was established in 2015 to support each of the four South Pacific Division districts (Albuquerque,
