EP 1165-2-1
30 Jul 99
CHAPTER 2
LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE, AND JUDICIAL ROLES AND POLICIES
2-1.
Legislative Branch.
a. Role. The basic legislation which governs the conduct of
the Corps civil works program consists of numerous separate enactments
of the Congress. The work of preparing and considering such
legislation is done largely in the Senate Committee on Environment and
Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure. The tendency has been for Congress to gradually
increase Federal responsibility in response to needs of the times.
Some water resources project purposes were originally established
through specific legislation. Others were established as a result of
repetitive congressional authorization of projects containing resource
purposes incidental to the "primary" project purposes. Legislation
pertinent to the water resources program of the Corps of Engineers is
listed in Appendix B. While the public laws governing water resources
are the basic source of formal, explicit policy, the Congressional
intent which may be deduced from the documented history of these
legislative statements is also an important policy source. Sources
which express the sense of Congress include House and Senate Committee
reports and resolutions and the Congressional Record of discussions
during consideration of the proposed legislation.
b. Authorizing Legislation. House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure and Senate Committee on Environment and Public
Works resolutions and specific legislation provide basic authorization
for feasibility studies by the Corps. Generally, water resource
developments recommended to the Congress in response to study
authorities may not be implemented without being specifically adopted
in law. The majority of the Corps water resources projects or
programs fall into that category. However, Section 201 of the 1965
Flood Control Act, as amended, delegated to the Secretary of the Army
the right to administratively authorize water resources developments
for which the estimated Federal cost is less than million.
Approval by the Public Works Committees is required prior to project
implementation. Additionally, subject to specific limits on the
allowable Federal expenditures, Congress has delegated continuing
authority to the Secretary of the Army acting through the Chief of
Engineers for study, adoption and construction of small projects for
navigation, flood control, beach erosion control, shore protection,
and ecosystem restoration as summarized in Table 2-1. Criteria for
design, evaluation, cost sharing and other local cooperation (with the
added requirement that local interests bear all project costs in
excess of the Federal limit, except for Section 111 projects) are the
same for these projects as for projects specifically authorized by
Congress.
c. Legislative Landmarks. The Corps civil works responsibility
began with an Act of Congress in 1824 for the improvement of rivers
and harbors for navigation. This led to legislation in 1879 creating
the Mississippi River Commission and establishment of the Board of
Engineers for Rivers and Harbors(BERH) in 1902 (Note: The BERH ceased
to exist in 1993 in accordance with Section 223 of WRDA 1992).
Legislative expansion of the Corps functional responsibility has
included:
2-1
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