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1 1 (February 22, 2016)

handle is hein.crs/govcdvx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 01;0i E.$~ & February 22, 2016 Army Corps of Engineers: FY2017 Appropriations The Energy and Water Development bill provides funding for the civil program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), an agency in the Department of Defense with both military and civilian responsibilities. Under its civil works program, the Corps plans, builds, operates, and maintains a wide range of water resources facilities. The Corps attracts congressional attention in part because its projects can have significant local and regional economic benefits and environmental effects, in addition to their water resource development purposes. Corps appropriations generally are authorized in water resources development acts. Most recently, Congress enacted a water resources development act in June 2014, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA 2014; P.L. 113-121). In most years, the President's budget request for the Corps is below the agency's enacted appropriations. For FY2016, Congress appropriated almost $6 billion for the Corps, more than $1 billion more than the requested amount. The President's FY2017 request for the Corps was $4.6 billion. Recent trends in budgeted and enacted amounts are shown below in Figure 1. Figure I. Requested and Appropriated Corps Funding, FY2003-FY2017 Budget Authority (nominal $ in billions) $6.0 ..... $ 6 .0~ ~~ ~~~~ .......... .. ...................... ........... ... ...... ...... .... ..iii $4.0 '' $3.0 $2.0 $1.0 $0.0 - ;;;Annual Appropriation Budget Request ,> Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), with data from the Army Corps of Engineers. Corps funding typically is requested at the account level, with the two largest accounts being Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Construction. The Corps also sometimes submits its request by business lines (e.g., navigation, flood control, etc.). Figure 2 compares recent Corps funding totals at the account level. Figure 2. Corps Funding by Account, FY2012-FY2017 Budget Authority (nominal $ in billions) SSEXPENSES& ASA $6 .0 ... ...... ....... ........ ......... ..... . . . . . . .. R G L T R $65.0 . &N REGULATORY $5.0 lfiffi .......... FLOOD CONTROLAND ........ ....... ...COASTAL $4.0.. ..... ..... EMERGENCIES ..... FUS RAP $3 .0 .MISSI .P IRV....E.......... .........A.............AND .......... .........::::: ..........::::: .........::::: ..........::::: .........:::: $.0 ... CONSTRUCT ON , NE STG ATONS Source: CRS, with data from the Army Corps of Engineers. Notes: ASA = Assistant Secretary of the Army. FUSRAP = Formerly Used Sites Remedial Action Program. Corps funding is part of the debate over congressionally directed spending, or earmarks. Unlike highways and municipal water infrastructure, federal funds for the Corps are not distributed to states or projects based on formula or competitive grants. About 85% of appropriations for Corps civil works activities are fur specific projects. Histurically, Congress identified Corps projects to receive funding during the discretionary appropriations process in addition to those projects identified for funding in the President's budget. Since the 1 12th Congress, site-specific project line items added by Congress (i.e., earmarks) have been subject to House and Senate earmark moratorium policies. As a result, Congress generally has not added funding at the project level since that time. In lieu of traditional project-based increases, Congress has included additional funding for select categories of Corps projects within each account (e.g., additional funding for navigation work in the Construction account) and provided direction and limitations on the use of these funds. As shown in Figure 3, Congress has increased funding for these projects in recent years, and it provided more than $1.3 billion for these projects in FY2016. The Corps typically reports on its plans for this funding in work plans released several months after appropriations are enacted. .O 'T - , gnom goo , q 'S SL IN 11LULANJILiN,

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