EP 1165-2-1
30 Jul 99
CHAPTER 3
GENERAL POLICIES
3-1. General. It is the policy of the Corps of Engineers to develop,
control, maintain, and conserve the Nation's water resources in
accordance with the laws and policies established by Congress and the
Administration. In accordance with those laws and policies, the Corps
carefully considers and seeks to balance the environmental and
developmental needs of the Nation. Actions taken comply with all
relevant environmental statutes, have no significant safety problem,
and are in the overall public interest. The following guidelines
summarize considerations taken to insure that actions taken are in the
a. Range of Alternative Solutions. The full range of
alternative solutions to a problem including their positive and
negative impacts should be considered from the outset of the planning
activity. Any water resource management proposal should be preceded
by a thorough assessment of all relevant alternative means, including
conservation, to achieve proposed project objectives and purposes
singly or in combinations reflecting different choice criteria. Such
an assessment should include a full range of structural and
nonstructural alternatives and an unbiased analysis of both Corps and
non-Corps means of resolving water and related land use problems;
while protecting the environment.
b. With and Without Consequences. The with and without
consequences of each feasible alternative should be determined
adequately. The net effect of any proposed solution to a water
resource problem should be carefully considered under a with and
without action framework, using projections of economic, environmental
and social impacts. Beneficial and adverse project impacts may be
evaluated by measuring the differences between indicator values which
result if a proposed plan is implemented, and their values if the
natural forces of change continue to develop free of the influence of
action by the Corps. Proposed plans should include provisions for
protecting unique cultural and biological resources, such as historic
and archeological sites and threatened, endangered and otherwise
significant species and their habitats.
c. Options Foreclosed. Options foreclosed by the proposed
action should be analyzed. Changing national values and priorities
will be reflected in different approaches to the future well-being of
the general public. In a rapidly changing society the needs of the
future cannot be forecast with accuracy. Where evolving technology
provides new alternatives a primary tenet of planning should be to
maintain flexibility for the future. Phased development or deliberate
delay may frequently be better than action for which incremental need
has not been demonstrated thoroughly and the resultant effects have
not been evaluated adequately. To maintain flexibility it is
necessary to devote extra attention to those actions which would
irrevocably limit freedom of action to deal with future changes to
project-area water development problems and needs. Significant
options retained or foreclosed should be specified.
d. Cumulative Effects of the Plan. The cumulative effects of
the plan and other similar activities should be analyzed. Each
proposed water resource development activity is but a piece of a
large-scale program. The combined beneficial and adverse economic,
environmental and social impacts of individual projects, each of which
3-1
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